Movie Goers Seeking An Escape Gift Hollywood Another Strong Weekend; Doctor Strange and Trolls Continue to Dominate and The Accountant Isn’t Going Anywhere
It was a perfect storm for the box office this weekend. A pair of strong new titles, a group of strong holdovers from last weekend and American Veteran’s Day on a weekend; there were plenty of reasons fans checked out the Cineplex last weekend. According to some estimates, this weekend saw a 50 percent spike in business over the same weekend last year. Perhaps the most compelling theory is that millions of Americans (and some Canucks) disappointed in the results of last Tuesday’s Presidential election were desperately seeking an escape and found one in a movie theatre. Regardless of why, it was welcome news after a lack lustre summer and a very forgettable fall.
The Holdovers
Doctor Strange and Trolls held onto their spots from last week, claiming the number one and two spots respectively. Strange added another 43 million to its domestic gross (for a ten day total of 153 million) but has collected nearly half a billion dollars word wide. Last week I wondered if it could catch Suicide Squad’s domestic total of 325 million. While that now looks unlikely (though not impossible), it could surpass Squad’s global earnings of 745 million and looks like yet another runaway hit for Disney this year.
Perhaps more impressive though, is Trolls second weekend performance. Dreamworks Animation’s latest feature experienced an anemic 25% drop from its first weekend, adding 35 million to a total of 94 million domestically. While Trolls 224 million worldwide gross may not look like much compared to Doctor Strange’s stratospheric totals, it’s nothing to sneeze at either. It looks like Dreamworks may have a new franchise in its arsenal, just in time for its 2018 jump to Universal’s ownership umbrella. And don’t forget, as recently as a month ago just about everyone had written Trolls off as box office bomb. Maybe there’s something to be said for 90’s nostalgia during politically charged and divisive times?
One of the big questions going into this weekend was how Mel Gibson’s war drama Hacksaw Ridge would perform its second week. It looks like Gibson’s latest attempt at a comeback benefitted from Veteran’s Day the most, only dropping two spots to fifth spot on the weekend’s top ten. More impressive is Ridge only dropped 30 percent its second weekend, capturing 10.6 million for a ten day domestic total of 32.1 million. The better news for Gibson and company (particularly studio Lionsgate Entertainment) is that both Hacksaw Ridge and leading man Andrew Garfield are attracting some Oscar buzz. If Gibson can steal an Oscar or two, his return to Hollywood’s good graces could be one the year’s feel good stories.
The New Kids in Class
As good as this weekend was for the holdovers, it wasn’t too shabby for the newcomers either. While none of them were expected to dethrone Doctor Strange for the top spot (that honour will go to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them next weekend), they still performed admirably during a very strong weekend. Topping that list was the sci-fi flick Arrival, which debuted in third with an impressive 24 million. While that number doesn’t exactly blow the doors off any records, it does exceed the 16-18 million most insiders predicted it would open with and is a pretty strong performance for star Amy Adams. It isn’t too bad for a science fiction film with a budget of 47 million (Arrival started out as an independent before Paramount bought its domestic distribution rights for a pretty sum).
Almost Christmas also turned in a strong debut performance, pulling in 15.1 million its first weekend. That was good enough for fourth spot and looks even better when compared to its 17 million dollar production budget. It may also benefit from the absence of other Christmas movies until the raunchy comedies Bad Santa 2 and Christmas Party hits theatres later this year. Although if last year’s tepid box office performance of Seth Rogen’s The Night Before is any indication, audiences may still prefer more traditional Christmas fare.
The Accountant Is Still Hanging Tough
Over the last month, Ben Affleck’s The Accountant has quietly outperformed everyone’s expectations and turned into one of Warner Bros. many small gems of the year. The Accountant weathered all the newcomers and held onto the sixth spot for the second consecutive week, collecting an extra 4.4 million in its fourth frame. It now boasts a domestic total of 77.5 million and is performing better than Boo! A Madea Halloween (8th place), Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (9) and Inferno (10). Every one of those titles was released after The Accountant and each has slipped beneath it on the top ten.
Next week everyone will be watching to see if Fantastic Beasts can duplicate Doctor Strange’s magic and exceed its expectations the way Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme did. Right now it’s predicted to rake in 70 million domestically and this is one magician’s duel worth watching. Until next time, stay safe and order the small soda.
Image: Dreamworks Animation/Fox Studios
Numbers: Box Office Mojo
