Box Office: Vampire Hospitality, Unique Internships, and Drug Wars
Sunday, September 27, 2015 at 3:00PM Though Hotel Transylvania 2 and the Anne Hathaway/Robert DeNiro pairing in The Intern surprised no one by taking the top two spots at the weekend box office, the big story was at the tail end of the top ten chart where Denis Villeneuve's possibly Oscar nomination bound cartel-drama Sicario landed despite still being in very limited release still, with less than 60 locations. That's what's called playing to sold out crowds. I split the charts below into limited and wide release though so Sicario takes the #1 spot on the limited half of the cinema equation. We just talked about that stunning drama on the podcast.
There don't seem to be estimates on SPC's German Oscar contender Labyrinth of Lies which is a pity since we're curious.
BOX OFFICE WIDE
800+ screens (Sept 25th-27th)
01 Hotel Transylvania 2 $48 NEW Tim on the director Genny Tartakovsky
02 The Intern $17 NEW
03 Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials $13.8 (cum. $51.4)
04 Everest $12.1 (cum. $22.1)
05 Black Mass $11 (cum. $42)
06 The Visit $6.5 (cum. $52)
07 The Perfect Guy $4.6 (cum. $48.7)
08 War Room $4.2 (cum. $55.9)
09 The Green Inferno $3.5 NEW
10 A Walk in the Woods $1 (cum. $27.2)
11 Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation $.9 (cum. $193.4)
12 Grandma $.8 (cum. $5.1) Review, Poster
BOX OFFICE LIMITED
Under 800 Screens - Excluding Previously Wide (Sept 25th-27th)
01 Sicario (59 screens) $1.7 (cum. $2.2) Podcast, Emily on a roll
02 Pawn Sacrifice (781 screens) $1 (cum. $1.3)
03 Lost in Hong Kong (28 screens) $.5 NEW
04 Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos (364 screens) $.2 (cum. $8.8)
05 Meet the Patels (63 screens) $.2 (cum. $.4)
06 Unbranded (58 screens) $.1 NEW
07 Sleeping With Other People (102 screens) $.1 (cum. $.3) Review
08 Stonewall (129 screens) $.1 NEW Interview, Review, Podcast
09 Goodnight Mommy (28 screens) $.1 (cum. $.2) Interview, Oscar Submission
10 Phoenix (85 screens) $.08 (cum. $2.8) Interview
11 Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (10 screens) $.04 (cum. $.2)
12 The New Girlfriend (45 screens) $.04 (cum. $.09) Review
Sicario's success excepted, it was a bloodbath at the arthouse. Stonewall met vitriolic reviews (my "D" grade review is somehow comparatively nice!) and a disastrous less than $1000 per screen average despite a fairly well publicized opening weekend. In other weak openings, 99 Holmes, the housing crisis drama with Michael Shannon and Andrew Garfield debuted on only 2 screens and Mississippi Grind, a pool shark drama with Ben Mendelsohn and Ryan Reynolds, on only one (what the hell, movies !?) and with those extremely nervous toes in movie theater waters, neither made even the top 12 at the arthouse despite well liked indie directors pairing famous stars with reliable well loved character actors to the tune of positive reviews.
Finally, we neglected to mention the opening of the French trans drama The New Girlfriend (starring Romain Duris, left) last week and though the François Ozon drama hasn't made much of a stir at the arthouse (an entire year's wait for a release after its festival debut can't have helped) but it adds to 2015's strong impression that the floodgates are now open for the T to be amply represented in LGBT cinema.
What did you see this weekend?
Reader Comments (16)
Still too swamped for the theater lately but hoping to rally soon. @ home I caught two Doris Day movies I'd never seen before - "That Touch of Mink" and "The Thrill of it all". Have to give the advantage to "Mink", but it's also maybe the most virginity obsessed of all Day's films. It's not innuendo, it's just the actual plot.
Saw the great new documentary "Peace Officer" about the militarization of the police. It won both the Jury and Audience award at SXSW. I found it very powerful and thought provoking. It focuses on the personal story of a former police chief who formed a SWAT team in a small town in Utah just to see the same team kill his son in law in a home confrontation. Incredibly moving stuff and highly recommended.
i haven't even heard of this SFO Troy so thanks for sharing.
Good for Anne Hathaway... I wasn't sure if her career really was over due to the public hatred.
Pleased and surprised for "The Intern" - that's way more than "Ricki and the Flash" managed, for instance.
I am interesting to know what others think of 'The New Girlfriend.' Lots to like, but the whole was a bit scattered for me.
Yesterday I was Everest, which was OK. Mostly catching up on TV Friday and Saturday, though.
Today I attended my first NYFF screening - Marcel Ophuls extraordinary, monumental documentary Memories of Justice. It's about the Nuremberg trials, post WWII German denial, the Algerian War, Vietnam, war crimes, art, moral relativism... A movie with so many layers, digressions and shades of grey that it's almost impossible to encapsulate. Suffice to say I was completely blown away by it. An overwhelming tour de force, and one of the best documentaries I've ever seen - and with Ophuls there to do an intro and Q&A, as if the movie wasn't enough. A very special experience.
My showing of Sicario this early afternoon was totally packed, which I wasn't expecting. Good to see a strong box office report for it! And much like after I saw Edge of Tomorrow, Emily Blunt seriously inspires me to get in shape.
None of the top 10 would even get $1 from me. I saw The New Girlfriend in a festival and it is pretty great. Heard the Sandra showmance may already be over since Our Brand is Crisis is a dud, and it was only for PR.
I did not like THE NEW GIRLFRIEND. Especially from Ozon who should know better than to treat subject matter like that so frivilously. It's not that he made a comedy, it's that he made it so shallow and didn't utilize the story to truly say anything about any of the characters.
Johnny Depp in BLACK MASS isn't happening, right? The movie isn't happening elsewhere and nobody seems particularly jazzed about his performance enough to make it to the final five.
Mississippi Grind is a wonderful movie, I hope the distributors can figure out a way to find an audience for this smart film. This was one of my favorites at TIFF this year.
99 Homes is also very good, with fine performances by Shannon and Garfield.
I didn't see any mention of MEET THE PATELS. Did any of you see MEET THE PATELS? Great critics review and great audience response.
I made a deal with the guy I'm dating that for every horror film I make him watch (or Law and Order: SVU marathon I make him sit through) I have to watch a Harry Potter movie, starting with the first, which is every bit as inert as I remember (the reason I never returned to the franchise thereafter). Thankfully, the second one is marginally better. I consider it a small price to pay to introduce someone to The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, and The Omen for the first time.
I had seen "The New Girlfriend" at the Outfest Film Festival. While I'm a big fan of Ozon and the film looks beautiful, It was a little disappointing. The film was lacking in passion and really needed more of a sense of fun, considering the plot.
I did see "The Intern" and it was an entertaining bit of rom-com fluff. Thankfully, the romance did not involve Hathaway and DeNiro.
Eh, still watching pretty bad movies from the public library near the cabin in the woods. I saw John Wick and liked it well enough for what it was, a junky B movie with lots of mayhem. But with not too much at stake (they're all bad guys), it didn't even carry the gravitas of, say, Taken.
Then I watched The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I suppose there are worse ways to employ "elderly" British thespians, but my only walk away intrigue was to wonder just how tall Dev Patel really is, or is everyone around him really truly shrinking? :-)
Saw "The Contender" for the first time as the buzz around "Room" reignited by interest in finally seeing Joan Allen's Oscar-nominated performances (and her other critically acclaimed ones). Really was surprised by the way the film went, and it was nice seeing it as a showcase for her. I'm a tiny bit surprised Jeff Bridges managed an Oscar nomination for his role, as it wasn't a very showy one at all.