Ride Along 2, the umpteenth consecutive hit for the inarguably bankable Kevin Hart (and to a lesser extent Michael Bay's latest explosion filled thriller) serves as our monthly reminder --as if we needed one -- that the bulk of moviegoers would rather watch shoot-em-ups than Oscar nominated films. But congrats to Kevin Hart. He's on his fifth year of consistently big opening weekends now. If he's not one of the highest paid stars out there he needs to find new representation.
Meanwhile in alternate universe Oscar land: The Revenant showed amazing legs in its second wide release weekend, suggesting that Leonardo DiCaprio has yet another gargantuan hit on his hands. Leading the Oscar nominations surely didn't hurt. [More after the jump...]
BOX OFFICE WIDE
Estimates January 15th-17th
01 Ride Along 2 $34 *new*
02 The Revenant $29.5 (cum. $87.6) The Costumes, The Production Design
03 Star Wars: The Force Awakens $25.1 (cum. $851) Review & Podcast & BB-8
04 13 Hours $16 *new*
05 Daddy's Home $9.3 (cum. $129.2)
06 Norm of the North $6.6 *new*
07 The Forest $5.7 (cum $21.1)
08 The Big Short $5.2 (cum. $50.5) Reviewish, Review & SAG Ensemble
09 Sisters $7.1 (cum $74.8) Review
10 The Hateful Eight $6.3 (cum. $41.4) Hated It & Podcast
BOX OFFICE LIMITED
excluding previously wide
01 Carol $1.3 (cum. $6.9) 790 screens Podcast, Oscar Snub, Greatest Pick-Up Line, Adapting Patricia Highsmith, First Impressions
02 Room $.7 (cum. $5.9) 293 screens Brie's Globe Win, First Impressions
03 The Danish Girl $.6 (cum. $8.6) 479 screens Podcast, Screenplay, & Eddie Interview
04 Anomalisa $.2 (cum $.8) 37 screens Podcast & Review & Festival Capsule
05 Detective Chinatown $.2 *new* 33 screens
06 Youth $.1 (cum. $2.2) 94 screens Reviewish, Campaign, & Podcast
07 Son of Saul $.1 (cum. $.3) 21 screens Review, Interview, Foreign Film Nod
08 45 Years $.1 (cum $.4) 14 screens Capsule, Podcast
09 Mustang $.09 (cum. $.3) 57 screens Interview, Review, Foreign Film Nod
10 Trumbo $.08 (cum. $7.3) 66 screens on SAG's Ensemble
Also getting a post nomination bump this weekend were The Big Short (dipping only 15% which is pretty incredible considering it lost 700 screens) and Room (which added back 205 screens it had lost and managed its best weekend yet) and to a lesser extent Brooklyn and Spotlight.
Nomination morning didn't help everyone moving into the weekend. The Weinstein Company in particular had it rough (mostly because they keep relying entirely on Oscars as their box office hook). The Hateful Eight was already sinking when it missed in all but three categories and though Carol continuted its expansion and received a healthier six nominations -- it's almost wide now -- without the all important Best Picture nomination or the nice gimmick of a double Best Actress nod it doesn't have as much of a hook for marketing as it otherwise might have. It would be nice if being a masterpiece were enough of a marketing hook but... well... F*** YOU, REALITY.