Box Office Analysis & Recap: 'The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies' Beats 'Annie', 'Night at the Museum'
"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" won the box office beating out "Annie" and "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb."
"The Hobbit" made an estimated $56.2 million in its debut weekend. The film has now made $90.6 million in five days and is ahead of last year's "The Desolation of Smaug." In terms of opening weekend, this installment ranks as the second worst in the middle earth films. Only "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings" opened below with $47 million. However, the five-day opening is promising for the Holiday season, which begins on Monday and does not end for another two weeks. If the film continues to play to these solid numbers, expect the film to end its run over the $300 million mark.
In second place, the third installment of "Night at the Museum" underperformed and only made $17.3 million. The opening weekend was $13 million off from the original installment which opened in 2006 and $37 million below the second installment which opened in 2009. The amount of competition most likely affected "Secret of the Tombs." However, bad reviews, the lack of an original concept and a small marketing campaign were probably more detrimental to the overall box office. "Night at the Museum" will definitely have a hard time engaging family audiences, especially with "Into the Woods," coming out next week, and "Annie."
In third, "Annie" made an estimated $16.3 million. The film's opening weekend was solid if not stellar. The film was coming in with terrible reviews and was also leaked due to the Sony hacks. However, it was helped by the Golden Globe nominations and the lack of musicals currently in the marketplace. It will be interesting to see how the film ultimately ends up playing during the Holiday season.
In fourth "Exodus: Gods and Kings" had a hard time holding on as it fell 66 percent and added an estimated $8 million. After two weeks, the bible epic has only made an estimated $38 million and does not look promising going into the Holiday week.
"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" added an estimated $7 million and has already made $289 million. The feature is still on track to end its run with $330 million and could possibly surpass "Guardians of the Galaxy."
Opening in wide release, "Wild" expanded into 1,061 theaters and made $4.1 million. After having been in limited release, the film has already brought in $7.2 million and looks to become a breakout Indie film based on its first three weekends. Starring Reese Witherspoon, the movie is already nominated for a Golden Globe and various other awards.
"Top Five" had a hard time holding on and made $3.5 million in its second weekend. The Chris Rock comedy has already made $12.4 million in two weeks.
In eighth, "Big Hero 6" brought in another $3.5 million to its solid gross. The Disney animated feature has already grossed $190 million and is still on track to reach the $200 million.
"Penguins of Madagascar" continued to flop. Falling 51 percent, the animated film brought in $3.5 million and brought its total to $34 million. The "Penguins of Madagscar" is the latest DreamWorks film to underperform following "How to Trains Your Dragon 2" and "Mr. Peabody & Sherman."
Rounding out the top 10' "P.K" opened with $3.5 million. The movie marks yet another successful Bollywood opening in the U.S.
In art house theaters, "Foxcatcher" expanded into 304 theaters. While the film made a solid $954,000, the feature, which is currently nominated for a Golden Globe, is struggling to crossover to the mainstream. While it has great reviews, the gloomy tone is not a right fit for the Holiday season.
Fox Searchlight dropped "Birdman" from 154 theaters but the film still managed to make $910,000. To date, the award-winning comedy has made $22 million. It now ranks as the second-highest grossing Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu film and is likely to surpass "Babel" if it is nominated for the Academy Awards.
The Weinstein Company continued to expand "The Imitation Game." In 34 theaters, the Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley starrer made an estimated $895,000 and brought its gross to $3.1 million. The Weinstein Company plans on expanding the feature nationwide on Christmas day and hopes to achieve the same success it had with 2010's Oscar-winning film "The King's Speech."
Sony Pictures Classics enjoyed a good opening weekend for "Mr. Turner." The biopic, which opened at the Cannes Film Festival and New York Film Festival, made $109,000 in five theaters. That is equivalent to $21,800 per theater average. The film is an awards contender and should enjoy a solid run throughout the Holiday season.
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