by Brad Brevet --- December 6, 2015
Universal's Krampus had a wonderful opening as the Christmas-themed horror comedy managed a second place finish, just behind The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, which took first place for a third weekend in a row. Creed held strong as it finds itself in a neck-and-neck battle for third place with Pixar's The Good Dinosaur, which is really struggling to find a foothold, becoming only the second Pixar film to drop more than 60% in its second weekend.
Mockingjay 2 took #1 with an estimated $18.6 million domestically along with another $32.4 million internationally. The film's international cume now sits at $296.8 million, which tops the first Hunger Games as its global cume climbs above $523 million.
In second is where I must own my wildly inaccurate projection for Krampus, which stormed the box office to the tune of $16 million. The film nearly beat my $6.5 million weekend prediction on its very first day and held on very well on Saturday. After director and co-writer Michael Dougherty saw his last film, Trick 'r Treat, sent straight to video despite support from a variety of online outlets, it would seem he's proven he has what audiences are craving when it comes to holiday-themed horror features. It will be interesting to see how Krampus plays over the coming weeks, but with a reported budget of only $15 million it's already well on its way to becoming a low budget success.
Another win for the weekend is the Warner Bros. and MGM co-production Creed, which dropped just a bit more than my predicted 38%. With an estimated $15.5 million it currently sits in third place, edging out Pixar's The Good Dinosaur. The film has nearly doubled its reported $35 million budget as it has now crossed $65 million in its first twelve days and word is director Ryan Coogler is now in talks to direct Marvel's Black Panther, a gig he shied away from previously, but has now had a change of heart.
In fourth we find The Good Dinosaur, which dropped 60.4% for an estimated $15.5 million. If estimates hold it will be the largest second weekend drop for a Pixar film ever, on the wrong side of the 60.3% drop Cars 2 had back in 2011. Difference is, after two weekends Cars 2 had already racked up $117.2 million while Good Dinosaur currently sits at just $75.9 million, and that's including two extra days thanks to its Wednesday release.
Rounding out the top five is Spectre, which is now above $184 million domestically and $792 million internationally after adding another $23 million overseas this weekend.
Looking at the week's other new releases, Spike Lee's Chi-Raq finished just outside the top twelve with an estimated $1.25 million from 305 theaters. The film's opening is Lee's best opening in some time, besting the $885k opening of Oldboy back in 2013 while opening in 278 fewer theaters.
Chi-Raq marks Amazon's first theatrical release with Roadside Attractions handling its theatrical distribution. Amazon's Head of Marketing & Distribution for Amazon Studios, Bob Berney, said of the film's weekend performance, "When we saw an early cut of Chi-Raq we knew it was crucial to get the film out as soon as possible. We're proud to support Spike's vision and could not be more pleased that Chi-Raq is Amazon's first theatrical release. The numbers out of Chicago are phenomenal. In Chicago we estimate a $15+ thousand per screen average on 22 screens. And in the majority of our 305 theaters we're one of the top three grossing films. All of this is a testament to the support of the local Chicago community and, across the board, the urgency of the situation. Chi-Raq has been recognized as a call to action to stop the violence plaguing cities across the country, not only Chicago."
Fox Searchlight released its Oscar hopeful Youth into four theaters this weekend where it grossed an estimated $80,000 ($20,000 PTA). The Weinstein's Macbeth (which will be on Amazon's streaming service shortly) tallied $67,868 from five theaters for a $13,574 per theater average.
Continuing to perform well in limited release, the Weinstein's Carol brought in $147,241 and took home the per theater crown with an average of $36,810 from four theaters. Spotlight and Brooklyn also held strong, dropping 33.6% and 38.4% respectively as both remained in the top ten.
Not opening so well was Freestyle's Mother Teresa feature The Letters, which brought in a mere $802,000 from 886 theaters.
Overall, when it comes to post-Thanksgiving weekends, this weekend wasn't too bad with the top twelve grossing just shy of $90 million, 22.9% better than last year.
Next weekend sees the release of Ron Howard's In the Heart of the Sea, which opened internationally this weekend and accumulated $17.1 million in its first four days in 38 territories. Additionally, Paramount will begin the platform release of The Big Short in seven theaters before expanding nationwide on Christmas Day.
