Weekend Estimates: Dracula Nearly Gets Girl
October 12, 2014
What was largely expected to be a fairly comfortable win for Gone Girl this weekend turned out to be a bit of a squeaker, thanks to a better-than-expected $23.46 million estimated opening for Dracula Untold. The vampire actioner won the day on Friday, but couldn’t maintain its pace, with $8.7 million on Saturday, against Gone Girl’s $11.3 million. Projections for today have it potentially falling into third place behind Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day on Sunday, which doesn’t bode well for its legs long-term.
Alexander itself is projected to make $19.1 million for third place over the weekend. Given its relatively low budget (reported at $28 million), and Disney’s ability to milk it on TV for years to come, the film will be a nice little money-maker.
With the Fall season kicking off, the market is suffering from an over-abundance of new releases this weekend, and the film that suffered most is The Judge. Its $13.3 million opening is respectable for a drama, but is well short of its $50 million production budget. In sixth place, Addicted is looking at rosier financial prospects thanks to an impressive $7.6 million from 846 theaters (for an average of $8,983). By targeting African-American audiences, the film won’t have the overheads associated with films aimed at broader audiences.
Speaking of targeted releases, the big surprise in the top 10 this weekend is Meet the Mormons. The documentary, whose title pretty much explains the film, will post around $3.5 million for the weekend from 317, making it the only film in the top 10 with a theater average over $10,000.
In limited release, two films reporting so far stand out. St. Vincent predictably tops the theater averages with $121,054 from four venues. Its $30,000 average is very solid, but not, perhaps, as spectacular as might have been expected. Whiplash will average around $24,000 in six theaters. Both films have great reviews and should stick around as Awards Season starts to heat up.
Bruce Nash bruce.nash@the-numbers.com
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Dracula Untold, St. Vincent, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, The Judge, Addicted, Gone Girl, Whiplash, Meet the Mormons