Weekend Wrap-Up: Untold Nearly Undoes the Competition, But Gone Remains
October 14, 2014
There were four new releases in the top ten, plus another that just missed that mark. Despite the competition, Gone Girl remained in first place and it earned a little more than expected. The biggest surprise was Dracula Untold, which earned first place on Friday and nearly took first place over the weekend. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day grabbed third place, while there were other reasons to celebrate lower on the chart as well. Overall, the box office was on par with last weekend at $147 million. It was technically higher, but by 0.2%. Compared to last year, the box office was 26% higher, which was much better than anticipated. 2014 is still well behind 2013 by more than $300 million at $7.87 billion to $8.18 million, but every little bit helps. At this point, we are more concerned about limiting the losses than we are worried about completing the comeback.
Gone Girl remains in first place with $26.41 million over the weekend for a ten-day total of $77.89 million. It fell just 30%, which is amazing in this day and age. Even with possibly Award-worthy reviews, this was a surprisingly strong sophomore result. At this pace, the film will reach $100 million by this time next week, while it is on pace to become the biggest hit in David Fincher's career.
In retrospect, it is not that surprising that Dracula Untold did this well over the weekend. It's a movie about Dracula opening in October, so perhaps it is not a shock that it came in second place with $23.51 million over the weekend. Granted, the reviews are terrible, which is why I was pessimistic, but Annabelle also earned terrible reviews and it still did well at the box office. Perhaps this means Ouija will also be a hit when it debuts in a couple of weeks, regardless of what the critics think. On the downside, the movie was expensive to make costing $100 million for its combined budget, $70 million for its production budget, so it will need to stick around a while if the studio is to see any returns on its investments.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day also opened better than expected, earning $18.36 million, which is a good amount for a live action family film. It's not that far back from Diary of a Wimpy Kid and that movie turned into a three-film franchise. I'm not saying that will happen here, but with good reviews, it should have good legs and as long as it can get past $50 million, it should break even sooner rather than later.
Annabelle fell to fourth place with $15.86 million over the weekend for a total of $61.65 million after two weeks of release. Bad reviews and a genre that historically has had short legs explains this decline. That said, if it can get a boost from Halloween, it might be able to reach $100 million.
The Judge landed in fifth place with $13.12 million. Its reviews were mixed, which likely had a huge impact on its opening and certainly won't help its legs. It won't match its $50 million budget domestically, so unless it is a hit internationally, it won't break even any time soon.
Addicted opened in seventh place with $7.49 million in just 846 theaters. It had the best per theater average in the top ten, which is some reason to celebrate. On the other hand, its Tomatometer Score is in the single digits. Granted, there are not a lot of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but it would take several positive reviews in a row just to lift its score to mediocre.
The only film in the sophomore class not in the top five was Left Behind, which barely managed to grab a spot in the top ten. It fell 55% to just $2.83 million over the weekend for a running tally of $10.85 million after ten days of release. It will see its theater count decline rather rapidly from now on.
Meet the Mormons just missed the top ten with $2.51 million in just 317 theaters. There are still no positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, so this result is a little surprising.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Dracula Untold, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, The Judge, Addicted, Gone Girl, Left Behind, Annabelle, Meet the Mormons, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, David Fincher