End of the year!
Weekend Report: 'Hobbit,' 'Unbroken,' 'Into the Woods' Score on Final Weekend of 2014
by Ray Subers -- December 28, 2014
Unbroken and Into the Woods did big business over Christmas weekend, though first place once again belonged to The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
Overall, the box office was quite strong on the last weekend of 2014: the Top 12 earned an estimated $189.4 million, which makes this the highest-grossing weekend of the year.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies eased 24 percent to an estimated $41.4 million. In comparison, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King fell 30 percent to $50.6 million on the exact same weekend back in 2003. This is also the biggest second weekend yet for the Hobbit trilogy, though each of those weekends were before Christmas, not after.
The final installment in the Hobbit trilogy remains on track to at least match The Desolation of Smaug's $258 million, though $300 million now seems to be out of reach.
Opening at 3,131 theaters, Angelina Jolie's Unbroken took second place with an estimated $31.7 million. Including Christmas Day, the movie has so far earned $47.3 million.
Those numbers are comparable to Django Unchained, which earned $30.1 million on its first weekend in late December 2012. Among World War II movies, the three-day debut ranks fourth all-time, and is noticeably higher than fellow 2014 entries Fury (2014) ($23.7 million) and The Monuments Men ($22 million). This is even more impressive when taking in to account the fact that Unbroken doesn't really have any recognizable on-screen talent.
Unbroken's strong debut can be attributed to a few factors. The source material—Laura Hillenbrand's bestselling novel of the same name—has been widely read in the past few years. As has been reinforced time and time again, popular books often translate in to popular movies (see Gone Girl, The Fault in our Stars, etc.). Also, while the movie didn't have any on-camera stars, it did have a huge presence in the director's chair. Angelina Jolie is one of the biggest stars in movies today, and she has worked tirelessly over the past few months to get the message out about this movie.
It also helps that the material itself was quite appealing, particularly for holiday moviegoers. Universal did a great job positioning this as an inspirational true story about American war hero Louis Zamperini, who recently passed away at the age of 97. The marketing campaign emphasized the redemptive elements of the story, which likely connected with Christian moviegoers.
This is the eighth $25-million-plus debut for Universal Pictures this year (second only to 20th Century Fox). More impressively, this is their fifth $30-million-plus debut for an "original" movie following Lone Survivor, Ride Along, Neighbors and Lucy.
Unbroken's audience was 52 percent female and 71 percent over the age of 25. They awarded the movie an "A-" CinemaScore, which suggests word-of-mouth will be solid. The movie is poised to earn at least $130 million total, and could go quite a bit higher if it picks up a handful of Oscar nominations.
Playing at 2,440 theaters, Into the Woods opened to an estimated $31 million this weekend. Including its Christmas Day gross, the Disney musical has so far earned $46.1 million.
That opening is generally in line with 2012's Les Miserables, which took in $48.8 million over its first four days and $27.3 million on its first weekend. The three-day weekend ranks third all-time for a musical behind High School Musical 3: Senior Year and Enchanted.
Into the Woods had a lot working in its favor. The fantasy elements aligned nicely with the Disney brand, which is very popular right now on the heels of Frozen and Maleficent. The source material is also a favorite for musical theater fans, and this seemed like a reasonably faithful adaptation. It also helps that the movie had a stacked cast that included Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt and Anna Kendrick.
The movie's audience was 54 percent female and 55 percent were 25 years of age or older. It received a "B" CinemaScore, which isn't particularly good for a family-friendly movie. If it plays like Les Miserables from here, it will close with around $140 million.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb earned an estimated $20.6 million in its second outing. That's up 21 percent from last weekend, which is a really strong week-to-week gain (even for this time of year). To date, the final chapter in the Night at the Museum franchise has taken in $55.3 million, and it now appears poised to close with $100-million-plus.
Annie (2014) added $16.6 million, which is up five percent from opening weekend. The musical remake has now earned $45.8 million, and remains on track to close with over $80 million.
Playing at 2,478 theaters, The Gambler opened in seventh place with a weak $9.3 million ($14.3 million including Christmas Day). In comparison, The Wolf of Wall Street took in over $18 million on the same weekend last year. With poor word-of-mouth ("C+" CinemaScore), mixed reviews, and no awards prospects, this is going to burn off quickly; it's highly unlikely that it tops $50 million in the long run.
The Imitation Game expanded to 747 theaters on Christmas Day, and went on to earn an excellent $7.93 million over the three-day weekend. Compare that to The King's Speech, which earned $4.5 million over its first weekend in nationwide release (also at Christmas). With many awards nominations on the way, the World War II code-breaking drama will almost certainly earn over $50 million total.
Playing at 1,307 theaters, Tim Burton's Big Eyes opened to a disappointing $2.99 million this weekend ($4.4 million four-day). In the long run, this could wrap up under $20 million.
The Interview opened at 331 theaters and earned $1.81 million this weekend ($2.85 million including Christmas Day). The controversial Seth Rogen/James Franco comedy wasn't playing at any of the major theater chains (AMC, Regal, etc.), but was available to rent for $6 on YouTube and Xbox Live.
Debuting at four locations, American Sniper took in an estimated $610,000 this weekend ($850,000 including Christmas Day). That translates to an exceptional $152,500 per-theater average, which ranks 11th all-time. More impressively, it ranks second all-time for a live-action movie at more than one location, behind March's The Grand Budapest Hotel. Sniper expands nationwide on January 16th.
Selma opened at 19 locations and earned an estimated $590,000. While that's less than Sniper, it's still a rock solid result (a $31,053 per-theater average is quite good). The civil rights drama—which also functions as a Martin Luther King, Jr. biopic—expands nationwide on January 9th. With exceptional reviews and strong awards prospects, this will likely be a major player in the new year.
