REAL LIFE HERO FLICK SOARS PAST A TRIO OF DISAPPOINTING NEWCOMERS
For a second consecutive weekend, Warner Bros. hero drama Sully continued to fly past the competition. The Clint Eastwood/Tom Hanks drama took the top spot at the box office for the second straight weekend, easily defeating a handful of underwhelming newcomers.
Few were surprised when Sully, based on “The Miracle on the Hudson,” dominated the box office it’s opening weekend. Moviegoers were likely in the mood for a home grown hero story while observing the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11, but after potting an additional 22 million this weekend (pushing Sully’s two-week total past 70.5 million) it appears that domestic audiences are still hungry for a feel good story (Captain “Sully” Sullenberger landed his passenger jet on the Hudson river in January 2009 after his engines failed). You have to wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that every time they turn on their TVs or computers, they’re bombarded with caustic, poisonous political messaging and name-calling? Sully’s performance is spread equally across both red and blue states in the U.S.-an anomaly for movies inspired by actual events. If that is indeed the case, Sully could prove to have quite the box office legs.
Following Sully were a trio of new releases that completely fell flat on their opening weekends. A pair of studios tried to re-boot/restart existing franchises with nearly identical results. Lionsgate Films’ attempt to re-start the Blair Witch Project franchise misfired this weekend when The Blair Witch only managed to draw 9.6 million. Right behind that supernatural flop was Universal’s Bridget Jones Baby, which failed harder with only 8.2 million to its name (suggesting that it may be time for Miss Jones to call it a career after this).
But perhaps none were as disappointing as Open Road Films’ new political biopic Snowden. An obvious award season vehicle, Snowden was still expected to hit the 10 million dollar mark it’s opening weekend but barely scraped past 8 million. Snowden is the lowest grossing wide release debut in director Oliver Stone’s lengthy career and hopes that potential awards recognition could help boost its flagging box office are anemic. At the very least, Blair Witch will probably post a humble profit given its small production budget (5 million) while Snowden (40 million) and Bridget Jones (35 million) will likely lose their respective studios money (even Jones’ strong British performance probably won’t be enough to salvage it).
A number of summer holdovers round out this weekend’s top ten earners. Sony’s profits-coming-out-the-ears horror Don’t Breathe came in fifth with 5.6 million (73.8 million total), Warner Bros. Suicide Squad shot it’s way to seventh with 4.7 million (313.7 million total), Kubo and the Two Strings was ninth with 2.5 million (44.2 million) and Disney’s family adventure Pete’s Dragon came in tenth with 2 million (for a 72.8 million total).
Sony’s thriller when The Bough Breaks came in sixth with 5.5 million (for a two week total of 22.7 million) and Lionsgate’s animated The Wild Side was eighth with 2.65 million (for a total of 6.6 million total). All in all, aside from Sully’s strong performance and all the newcomers falling flat on their faces, it was a typically quiet September weekend. Next weekend, though should provide plenty of autumn box office drama.
Sony’s remake of the classic western The Magnificent Seven opens next weekend and it will be interesting to see if the presence of veteran Denzel Washington and rising star Chris Pratt convince audiences to give it a shot. Audiences have recently given up on westerns and in turn so has Hollywood, especially ones that cost an eye popping 95 million to make. Will this be another costly remake for Sony, who took a financial beating from Ghostbusters this summer? Or can Seven’s star power overcome the obstacles? Stay tuned and don’t spill the popcorn.
Picture: Warner Bros.
Numbers: Box Office Mojo
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