Weekend Wrap-Up: The Revenant Stumbles, but still Tops Chart with $16.01 Million

January 26, 2016

The Boy

It was a typical January weekend in many respects. There were three wide releases, all of which earned bad reviews, while none of them were big hits. However, none of them bombed either and there were six films to earn more than $10 million over the weekend. The Revenant led the way with $16.01 million, but that wasn't enough to help the overall box office. Week-over-week, the overall box office fell 32% to $114 million. Meanwhile, The Revenant earned less than 25% of what American Sniper earned this weekend last year and this resulted in a 28% drop year-over-year. Worse still, the 5.9% lead 2016 had over 2015 at the end of last weekend has evaporated and been turned into a 2.1% deficit at $838 million to $856 million. It is obviously very early in the year and this losing streak might end next week, so there's no reason to panic yet.

The Revenant rose to first place with just $16.01 million. This is a terrible result, as many predicted it would earn more than $20 million over the weekend. That said, it has $119.20 million after a month of release and it is about a week away from topping its $135 million production budget.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens climbed a spot to second place with $14.08 million over the weekend for a total of $879.11 million after six weeks of release. The film should remain in the top five next weekend, but it is unlikely it will get to $900 million by then.

Ride Along 2 fell 65% to $12.46 million over the weekend for a total of $58.61 million after two. At this point, the studio is likely thinking they should hold off on a third film in the franchise until after the home market numbers.

Dirty Grandpa was the worst new release in terms of reviews, as its Tomatometer Score was a mere 7% positive. That said, it had the best opening, earning $11.11 million over the weekend and securing fourth place. I suspect its will drop quickly next weekend.

The Boy was next with $10.78 million during its opening weekend. It also had the best reviews, but they were only 26% positive. Horror films also tend to have really short legs, so it will very likely collapse next weekend.

The 5th Wave just missed the top five, but it was close with $10.33 million. It too is dealing with terrible reviews and its target audience (teenage girls) tend to front-load a film as well. It should disappear from theaters quite quickly. On the other hand, worldwide, its box office has matched its $38 million production budget, so it could break even on the strength of its international numbers.

Looking in on the sophomore class, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi and Norm of the North both fell 44%. 13 Hours fell to $9.03 million over the weekend for a total of $32.76 million after two weeks of release. It will match its production budget domestically, but its international chances are not as strong. Norm of the North only managed $3.83 million over the weekend for a total of $14.02 million after ten days of release. The film's theater average fell to just $1,588 and it has direct competition, so it will disappear from theaters quickly.

- weekend box office numbers

- The 5th Wave Comparisons
- The Boy Comparisons
- Dirty Grandpa Comparisons

Filed under: Ride Along