Weekend Wrap-Up: Ouija Wins, But Stars Softer Than Expected
October 28, 2014
As expected, Ouija won the race for first place, but it finished on the very low end of expectations. On the other hand, John Wick beat expectations earning second place. Overall, these two results balanced out, but this still resulted in the box office falling 12% from last weekend to $116 million. More importantly, it was 13% higher than the same weekend last year. 2014 is still behind 2013, but it is chipping away at the deficit, which has fallen to under $300 million at $8.20 billion to $8.49 billion. 2014 is still behind last year's pace by 3.4%, but if it can close that gap by the same amount in November and December, then at least by the end of the year, it will have closed the gap enough to call it a spiritual victory.
Ouija landed in first place, but with just $19.88 million during its opening weekend. I thought the proximity to Halloween would boost its box office numbers, but clearly the reviews had a bigger than expected effect. Granted, a Tomatometer Score of just 10% is devastating, but usually horror movies are critic-proof. Worse still, its legs will be terrible. I suspect it will do well on Halloween, but after that, it will fade from theaters rather quickly.
John Wick opened in second place with $14.42 million over the weekend. This isn't a strong opening, but it was better than most people were expecting. Additionally, its reviews are amazing at 86% positive, while its internal multiplier was relatively strong at 2.65. This suggests its legs will be an asset and by this time next week, it will have surpassed its production budget at the box office. Assuming it can do as well internationally, it will break even early on the home market.
Fury was close behind with $13.36 million over the weekend for a total of $46.41 million after two weeks of release. Given its reviews and the relatively solid sophomore stint, the film is on pace to match its $80 million production budget, or at least get very close. If it can match this internationally, then it might break even sometime on the home market.
Gone Girl landed in fourth place with $11.04 million over the weekend for a four-week total of $124.04 million. It is by far the best fall release so far. That will change, possibly by the second weekend in November.
The Book of Life fell 41% to $10.05 million over the weekend giving it a ten-day total of $30.16 million. This puts it behind the pace of Alexander and Movies With Long Names Annoy Me and even behind the pace of The Boxtrolls. Maybe it will get a boost from Halloween next weekend, but even so, its box office numbers will be disappointing.
St. Vincent expanded wide reaching sixth place with $7.75 million over the weekend for a total of $8.88 million, including its limited release run. Its per theater average suggests it won't expand further, but it should still stick around long enough to become one of the bigger limited releases of the year.
The Best of Me was the only film in the sophomore class not in the top five. It fell 54% to just $4.62 million over the weekend for a total of $17.55 million after two. Its ten-day total is lower than the opening weekend average for Nicholas Sparks' career.
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Filed under: Weekend Estimates, St. Vincent, Ouija, The Boxtrolls, The Book of Life, Fury, Fury, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Gone Girl, The Best of Me, John Wick, Nicholas Sparks