Weekend Report: 'Exodus' is Weak 'King'
Exodus: Gods and Kingsmissed the mark this weekend, though it still easily ruled over another very quiet weekend at the box office.
Meanwhile,Chris Rock'sTop Fivegot off to a decent start, andPaul Thomas Anderson'sInherent Vicedid big business at a few theaters in New York and Los Angeles.
The Top 12 earned $76.7 million, which makes this one of the slowest weekends of the year. Business will pick up next weekend, though it does look like this will be one of the worst Decembers in recent memory.
Playing at 3,503 locations,Exodus: Gods and Kingsopened to an estimated $24.1 million this weekend. That doesn't compare favorably to this year's previous Biblical movies, as its nearly $20 million lower thanNoah's debut and roughly on par with the much-less-expensiveSon of God.
That's not really an apples-to-apples comparison, though, as opening weekends in December are historically muted. Still,Exodusdoesn't look all that impressive against past December releases, either: it was roughly on par withThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader($24 million) andThe Golden Compass($25.8 million).
While this is definitely not a good debut, it would be premature to write the movie's obituary. IfExodusholds up like the thirdNarniamovie, it will wind up eclipsingNoah's $101.2 million; that's a fine result when considering the movie's international potential.
At the same time, though, there's reason to believe the movie won't hold up nearly as well asNarnia.It's received horrible reviews (27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), and word-of-mouth seems mixed (it has a poor "B-" CinemaScore). There's a chance, then, thatExodusplays likeThe Golden Compass,which would translate to a total below $70 million. That would be a hugely disappointing result.
It's likely thatExoduswinds up somewhere in between those two. If it follows the pattern of the last twoHobbitmovies—which opened on the same weekend over the past two years—Exoduswould wrap up in the $85 to $90 million range.
The movie's audience was 54 percent male and 65 percent over the age of 25. 3D screens accounted for 44 percent of the gross, which is an above-average result for the format.
In second place,The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1eased 42 percent to $12.7 million. That's slightly belowCatching Fire's $13.7 million fourth weekend, which is impressive considering how much lowerMockingjaywas in its first two weekends. To date,Mockingjayhas earned $276.9 million; if it followsCatching Fire's pattern from here, it will wind up as the highest-grossing movie of the year with over $335 million.
Penguins of Madagascaradded $7.2 million, which was off 34 percent from last weekend.Penguinshas now grossed $58.7 million, which is $3 million lower thanRise of the Guardiansthrough the same point. With tons of family competition entering the market in the next two weeks,Penguinsis going to struggle to get to $90 million.
Playing at 979 theaters, Chris Rock'sTop Fiveopened to $6.9 million this weekend. That's above Rock's last directorial outing,I Think I Love My Wife,which opened to $5.7 million at nearly twice as many theaters.
More so thanExodus,Top Five's true fate will be determined over the next month or so. Paramount is planning to further expand the movie, though it's unclear exactly how wide it's going to go (it's hard to imagine that they'll have it at 2,000 theaters over Christmas). If word-of-mouth catches on, there's a chance this gets to $40 million, which would be a good result.
Disney Animation'sBig Hero 6took fifth place with $6.06 million, which brings its total to an impressive $185.2 million. It will passWreck-It Ralph's $189.4 million total before Christmas. Meanwhile,Christopher Nolan'sInterstellaradded $5.45 million for a new total of $166.75 million. It's likely that this falls hard next weekend when it gives up its IMAX screens toThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
A handful of movies appear to have benefited from scoring Golden Globe nominations on Thursday. Stephen Hawking biopicThe Theory of Everythingessentially held even this weekend, dropping seven percent to $2.47 million. To date, the movie has earned $17.1 million.
Wild (2014)expanded to 166 theaters and earned $1.53 million. Fox Searchlight seems bullish on this, and announced on Sunday that it's moving up the nationwide expansion to December 19th (at least 850 locations). Fellow Fox Searchlight movieBirdman,which scored seven Globe nominations, was up 14 percent to $1.31 million, and has now earned over $20 million total.
The Imitation Game(five Globe nominations) earned $850,262 at 25 locations, which translates to a massive $34,010 per-theater average. The movie's release pattern has so far mirrored that ofThe King's Speech,which was also from The Weinstein Company; that suggests thatThe Imitation Gamecould expand nationwide on Christmas.
Paul Thomas Anderson'sInherent Viceopened to $328,184 at five locations this weekend. That translates to a per-theater average of $65,637, which is a strong result: the only 2014 releases ahead of it areThe Grand Budapest Hotel,The Imitation Game,BirdmanandBoyhood.
Still,Inherent Vice's average was lower than that of Anderson's last three movies: it's less than half ofThe Master's $147,262 average, and is also belowThere Will Be BloodandPunch-Drunk Love.
Warner Bros. is planning a nationwide expansion forInherent Viceon January 9th.
Around-the-World Roundup: 'Hobbit' Finale Opens to $117.6 Million Overseas >>
Discuss this story with fellowBox Office Mojofans onFacebook.On Twitter, follow us at@boxofficemojo,and follow author Ray Subers at@raysubers.
Forecast:
•'Exodus' to Reign Supreme at the Box Office This Weekend
Last Weekend
•'Hunger Games' Leads One of the Worst Weekends of the Year
This Timeframe in Past Years:
• 2013 -'Smaug' Sets Fire to Box Office, Misses First 'Hobbit's Mark
• 2012 -'Hobbit' Takes December Record, Misses $100 Million
• 2011 -Disappointed Debuts From 'Sherlock,' 'Alvin' Sequels
• 2010 -'Tron' Recycles the Power
• 2009 -'Avatar' Soars in Debut
• 2008 -'The Day the Earth' Stalls
• 2007 -'Legend,' 'Chipmunk' Enliven Box Office
• 2006 -'Pursuit' Overtakes 'Eragon,' 'Web'
• 2005 -'King Kong' Mighty But No Monster
Related Charts
•Weekend Box Office Results
• Yearly Box Office
Meanwhile,Chris Rock'sTop Fivegot off to a decent start, andPaul Thomas Anderson'sInherent Vicedid big business at a few theaters in New York and Los Angeles.
The Top 12 earned $76.7 million, which makes this one of the slowest weekends of the year. Business will pick up next weekend, though it does look like this will be one of the worst Decembers in recent memory.
Playing at 3,503 locations,Exodus: Gods and Kingsopened to an estimated $24.1 million this weekend. That doesn't compare favorably to this year's previous Biblical movies, as its nearly $20 million lower thanNoah's debut and roughly on par with the much-less-expensiveSon of God.
That's not really an apples-to-apples comparison, though, as opening weekends in December are historically muted. Still,Exodusdoesn't look all that impressive against past December releases, either: it was roughly on par withThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader($24 million) andThe Golden Compass($25.8 million).
While this is definitely not a good debut, it would be premature to write the movie's obituary. IfExodusholds up like the thirdNarniamovie, it will wind up eclipsingNoah's $101.2 million; that's a fine result when considering the movie's international potential.
At the same time, though, there's reason to believe the movie won't hold up nearly as well asNarnia.It's received horrible reviews (27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), and word-of-mouth seems mixed (it has a poor "B-" CinemaScore). There's a chance, then, thatExodusplays likeThe Golden Compass,which would translate to a total below $70 million. That would be a hugely disappointing result.
It's likely thatExoduswinds up somewhere in between those two. If it follows the pattern of the last twoHobbitmovies—which opened on the same weekend over the past two years—Exoduswould wrap up in the $85 to $90 million range.
The movie's audience was 54 percent male and 65 percent over the age of 25. 3D screens accounted for 44 percent of the gross, which is an above-average result for the format.
In second place,The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1eased 42 percent to $12.7 million. That's slightly belowCatching Fire's $13.7 million fourth weekend, which is impressive considering how much lowerMockingjaywas in its first two weekends. To date,Mockingjayhas earned $276.9 million; if it followsCatching Fire's pattern from here, it will wind up as the highest-grossing movie of the year with over $335 million.
Penguins of Madagascaradded $7.2 million, which was off 34 percent from last weekend.Penguinshas now grossed $58.7 million, which is $3 million lower thanRise of the Guardiansthrough the same point. With tons of family competition entering the market in the next two weeks,Penguinsis going to struggle to get to $90 million.
Playing at 979 theaters, Chris Rock'sTop Fiveopened to $6.9 million this weekend. That's above Rock's last directorial outing,I Think I Love My Wife,which opened to $5.7 million at nearly twice as many theaters.
More so thanExodus,Top Five's true fate will be determined over the next month or so. Paramount is planning to further expand the movie, though it's unclear exactly how wide it's going to go (it's hard to imagine that they'll have it at 2,000 theaters over Christmas). If word-of-mouth catches on, there's a chance this gets to $40 million, which would be a good result.
Disney Animation'sBig Hero 6took fifth place with $6.06 million, which brings its total to an impressive $185.2 million. It will passWreck-It Ralph's $189.4 million total before Christmas. Meanwhile,Christopher Nolan'sInterstellaradded $5.45 million for a new total of $166.75 million. It's likely that this falls hard next weekend when it gives up its IMAX screens toThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
A handful of movies appear to have benefited from scoring Golden Globe nominations on Thursday. Stephen Hawking biopicThe Theory of Everythingessentially held even this weekend, dropping seven percent to $2.47 million. To date, the movie has earned $17.1 million.
Wild (2014)expanded to 166 theaters and earned $1.53 million. Fox Searchlight seems bullish on this, and announced on Sunday that it's moving up the nationwide expansion to December 19th (at least 850 locations). Fellow Fox Searchlight movieBirdman,which scored seven Globe nominations, was up 14 percent to $1.31 million, and has now earned over $20 million total.
The Imitation Game(five Globe nominations) earned $850,262 at 25 locations, which translates to a massive $34,010 per-theater average. The movie's release pattern has so far mirrored that ofThe King's Speech,which was also from The Weinstein Company; that suggests thatThe Imitation Gamecould expand nationwide on Christmas.
Paul Thomas Anderson'sInherent Viceopened to $328,184 at five locations this weekend. That translates to a per-theater average of $65,637, which is a strong result: the only 2014 releases ahead of it areThe Grand Budapest Hotel,The Imitation Game,BirdmanandBoyhood.
Still,Inherent Vice's average was lower than that of Anderson's last three movies: it's less than half ofThe Master's $147,262 average, and is also belowThere Will Be BloodandPunch-Drunk Love.
Warner Bros. is planning a nationwide expansion forInherent Viceon January 9th.
Around-the-World Roundup: 'Hobbit' Finale Opens to $117.6 Million Overseas >>
Discuss this story with fellowBox Office Mojofans onFacebook.On Twitter, follow us at@boxofficemojo,and follow author Ray Subers at@raysubers.
Forecast:
•'Exodus' to Reign Supreme at the Box Office This Weekend
Last Weekend
•'Hunger Games' Leads One of the Worst Weekends of the Year
This Timeframe in Past Years:
• 2013 -'Smaug' Sets Fire to Box Office, Misses First 'Hobbit's Mark
• 2012 -'Hobbit' Takes December Record, Misses $100 Million
• 2011 -Disappointed Debuts From 'Sherlock,' 'Alvin' Sequels
• 2010 -'Tron' Recycles the Power
• 2009 -'Avatar' Soars in Debut
• 2008 -'The Day the Earth' Stalls
• 2007 -'Legend,' 'Chipmunk' Enliven Box Office
• 2006 -'Pursuit' Overtakes 'Eragon,' 'Web'
• 2005 -'King Kong' Mighty But No Monster
Related Charts
•Weekend Box Office Results
• Yearly Box Office
