It was a very bad weekend to be a newcomer at the American box office this weekend, and even for some films – looking at you, Steve Jobs – that were trying to expand. It was, however, very good news for The Martian, which rebounded back to the top of the charts after being dethroned by Goosebumps last weekend, earning $15.9 million in its fourth week of release.
The blend of scares and laughs conjured from the books of author R.L. Stine still took advantage of Halloween’s creeping approach, as the Jack Black-starring Goosebumps had a solid second weekend, taking in $15.5 million for a $58 million US total. And Steven Spielberg’s Bridge Of Spies held on well, making $11.3 million despite a smaller cinema screen count than the top two. People do seem to like that combination of Spielberg, Tom Hanks and history.
You have to head down to fourth place to find the first of the weekend’s new arrivals, as Vin Diesel’s The Last Witch Hunter, arriving with fairly terrible world of mouth, only managed a quiet launch and $10.8 million. Seems audiences weren’t rushing to see Diesel slay supernatural creatures or even have him do the action thing outside of films not named Fast & Furious. A few weeks ago, Diesel had been talking up sequels, but we’re not sure Lionsgate and Summit will be rushing to pull the chain for the greenlight just yet. Perhaps if international cinemagoers embrace the film? We’re not going to hold our breath in any regards. Hotel Transylvania 2, meanwhile, flapped its vampire bat wings and stayed in fifth place with $9 million.
On the more dramatic scare front, there was little good news. Despite a powerhouse formula that has spawned several low-budget/high-return successes, a prime spot a week before Halloween and lots of chatter about this being the big finish for the series, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension barely said boo to a goose with a paltry $8.2 million. While the lower budget (not reported) should mean this one is less of a worry, it’s still a disappointing end for what started as something of a sensation. The film was apparently hurt by Paramount signing an exclusive deal with a couple of cinema chains and also moving up the movie’s VOD release, which alienated other companies.
Universal, which had been riding high this year with several huge films, has seemingly hit a road bump with a few of its releases, one being Steve Jobs. Though it boasted Danny Boyle directing an Aaron Sorkin script and a compelling subject matter covered in an interesting way, it just hasn’t ignited after expanding its screen count. The film made $7.2 million this weekend, pushing its current total to $9.9 million. Perhaps Apple should have spent a couple of their billions on tickets, but knowing Tim Cook’s feelings towards the film, we didn’t see that happening.
Crimson Peak (the second of this week’s Universal films not performing how they might) saw little boost from the oncoming spooky weekend, slipping to eighth with $5.6 million and $22.4 million in the States so far. The Intern fell a couple of places to ninth with $3.8 million and Sicario was down to 10th, earning $2.9 million.
Though we don’t normally venture beyond the top 10, just a quick mention of two other poor performing new arrivals, as Bill Murray comedy Rock The Kasbah crashed into 13th place with $1.5 million (from 2,012 screens, so this wasn’t exactly a limited release) and another real disappointment for Universal, Jem And The Holograms, with the adaption of the toys/cartoon series doing truly, truly, outrageously badly and landing with a splat in 15th off of $1.3 million.
To see The Martian fire its ascent booster over the rest of the charts in the full listings, head to Box Office Mojo.
from Empire News
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