When estimates rolled out last week, Rogue One appeared to win the weekend but due to a strong showing on Sunday, Hidden Figures leaped ahead of the Star Wars prequel and won the weekend once the final numbers were released. Last week I said the film had potential to be a true word of mouth hit due to great reviews, Oscar buzz and it receiving the oh so rare A+ CinemaScore.
It looks like the word of mouth is indeed strong because Hidden Figures is the number one movie in America once again with a solid gross of $20.4 million. I predicted it land in this area over the four days but this is the amount without the holiday factored in so the film is going to look even more solid once those numbers roll out. That’s only a slim drop of 10.3% week to week and it brings its domestic total to $54.8 million. The $25 million film should be a lock for $100 million at the domestic box office and while the film is great and worthy of its praise, the big box office certainly helps its chances in regards to it receiving some love when the Oscar nominations come out.
Beyond the first place film, my predictions were way off for the rest of the top five but I’m pleased to see La La Land continue to surge as it finishes in second place with $14.5 million. That’s an increase of 43.1% week to week and it winning seven out of seven Golden Globes last Sunday couldn’t have hurt either. It’s clear that this is the one to beat at the Oscars and Lionsgate should be applauded for how they gradually rolled this one out. It has a gross of $74 million so far and still has much more life in it. Really interested in seeing how high this one will go.
Out of all the weekend’s new and expanding releases, I wasn’t expecting to see The Bye Bye Man in the top five but it landed in fifth place with a gross of $13.3 million. The younger demographic came out for this one and opening on Friday the 13th helped it out big time on opening night. It actually opened in second on Friday and was very close to what Hidden Figures grossed on that particular day. The film will be a one weekend wonder but with a $7.4 million budget, the film will be deemed successful in the end. I see a sequel coming that will probably also be dumped in January.
Patriots Day finishes in sixth place with $12 million and I have to wonder why things went so wrong for the film this weekend. It has solid reviews and did well in limited release so I was expecting it to be close to what Hidden Figures grossed this weekend but it fell well below those expectations. I’m guessing the subject matter is a bit rough for some and, despite the good reviews, I think it being unmentioned this awards season probably hurt it a bit as well. Much like Hidden Figures, it did earn a solid A+ CinemaScore so those who did see it did really enjoy it so there is potential for it to rebound from the lower opening but it’s going to be a bit of a battle for the $45 million film.
The news was more dire for Monster Trucks which grossed $10.5 million to land in seventh place. Writing was on the wall for a long time with this one due to its massive budget ($125 million) and causing parent company Viacom to take a $115 million write-down last year. Reviews were bad but it did receive an A CinemaScore so the target audience seems to enjoy it but the good news stops right there for the film.
Another new release lands in eighth with Sleepless grossing $8.4 million over the weekend. Despite starring Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, the film just seemed to smell like something that was being dumped in January to be quickly forgotten about. I know some people that didn’t even know about the film until this weekend so that should say a lot. It received a decent B+ CinemaScore but it will most likely be an afterthought by next weekend.
News was pretty bad for one of the other expanding films this weekend with Live By Night expanding to eleventh place and $5.4 million. This is not good for a film that cost $65 million to make and the lukewarm reviews didn’t help matters as well. I thought this could’ve pulled ahead more do the talent involved but audiences seemed to see right through all the style and A-list talent and decided to stay away.
Audiences also seemed to stay away from our last expanding film as well. Silence grossed $1.9 million to land in sixteenth place and while it is only in 747 theaters, the numbers should be better for the Martin Scorsese passion project. I think the subject matter is a bit divisive and it has also been absent from most awards season talk which is a surprise considering reviews are good enough and the talent involved.
Check out the rest of the top 10 below:
January 13-15
- Hidden Figures – $20.4 million
- La La Land – $14.5 million
- Sing – $13.8 million
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – $13.7 million
- The Bye Bye Man– $13.3 million
- Patriots Day– $12 million
- Monster Trucks– $10.5 million
- Sleepless – $8.4 million
- Underworld: Blood Wars– $5.8 million
- Passengers – $5.6 million
