Amir here, with the weekend’s box office report.
It was a quiet weekend for new releases, with only one film opening wide, and it might as well have not bothered at all. I, Frankenstein opened to a catastrophic $8m on a $65m budget. By next weekend, it will most likely be out of the top ten and most definitely out of our collective memory. I really don’t have much to add the pile of ridicule that’s already been heaped on the film, chiefly because I can’t figure out what the hell it’s even about despite the good half an hour I spent this morning researching its advertisements. I will just leave you with this brilliant tweet instead:
Worst part of I, FRANKENSTEIN flopping is that we'll never get treated to @NickPinkerton's hilarious sequel title: II, FRANKENSTEIN.
— Bilge Ebiri (@BilgeEbiri) January 25, 2014Ride Along remained at the top of the chart after its strong opening weekend, though it’s sure to be dethroned when the bizarrely titled That Awkward Moment opens next week. Meanwhile, Frozen broke yet another record this week and became the highest grossing original animated film of all time. That is a fantastic feat for Disney and an indication that despite what the studios continue to believe, female protagonists can sell as many as tickets as their boy counterparts – though I don’t mean to insinuate in any way that Frozen’s appeal is limited to gender or age; it’s been successful precisely because it’s drawing everybody in. Next weekend it gets a sing-along version in theaters.
BOX OFFICE
RIDE ALONG $21.1m (cum. $75.4m)
LONE SURVIVOR $12.6 (cum. $93.6m)
THE NUT JOB $12.3m (cum. $40.2m)
FROZEN $9m (cum. $347.8m)
JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT $8.8m (cum. $30.1m)
I, FRANKENSTEIN $8.2m new
AMERICAN HUSTLE $7.1m (cum. $127m)
AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY $5m (cum. $26.5m)
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET $5m (cum. $98m)
DEVIL’S DUE $2.7m (cum. $12.8m)
On the Oscar front, Hustle and Wolf are still going strong, while Nebraska, Dallas Buyers Club and 12 Years a Slave all expanded (or re-expanded, as in the case of the latter) and did modest business. Not enough has been written about the box office success of Steve McQueen’s film, but I personally think $43 is a really solid number for a film that has been constantly dubbed 'brutal' and 'unwatchable' in the media. Irrespective of how well the nominees do in the remainder of their theatrical run, the sum total of their gross will remain the second lowest in the post-5 best picture era after 2011, when only one film (The Help) sold more than $100m.
I didn't hit the theatres this weekend but dedicated my time to some classics instead. What did you watch?