Box office report: Hidden Figures repeats, La La Land surges
After captivating audiences to the tune of $22.8 million across its first weekend in wide release, Theodore Melfi’s Hidden Figures again rockets to the top of the domestic box office for the second week in a row, falling a slight 10 percent to an estimated $20.5 million.
The film’s take represents only the first three days of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday stretch, and will certainly climb higher into the mid-twenties when Monday figures roll in; its domestic total now stands at roughly $54.8 million on a reported $25 million budget, with no signs of stopping in the coming weeks as it translates its status as a top-earning crowd-pleaser into a prospective Oscar nominee.
Fellow awards player La La Land — which won a record seven Golden Globes last Sunday — surges with North American audiences, reaching a new peak at No. 2 with an estimated $14.5 million. Damien Chazelle’s modern musical, starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, averages around $7,846 per theater at 1,848 locations (including 148 IMAX screens) for a 43 percent increase over its three-day number last week, bringing its domestic haul to $74.1 million ($128.9 million globally) through Sunday, though Lionsgate is expecting the film to earn another $3 million on Monday. Regardless, La La Land will sit at the No. 13 spot on the all-time movie musical chart, surpassing 2014’s remake of Annie ($85.9 million) by the end of the coming week.
The latest Illuminations/Universal animated collaboration Sing spends its fourth straight weekend in the top three, finishing the three-day period with an estimated $13.8 million.
Hot on Sing‘s trail is Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which posts a solid $13.76 million over its fifth weekend in theaters. This weekend, the film surpasses Finding Dory as the highest-grossing film to be released in 2016 with $498.9 million — a number that will exceed $500 million once Monday ticket sales are counted.
Among a relatively weak crop of newcomers, STX Entertainment’s The Bye Bye Man — a horror flick that marks Hollywood legend Faye Dunaway’s first major theatrical role in years — earns an estimated $13.4 million through Sunday, becoming the only new release to notch a spot among the weekend’s top five grossers. STX is expecting $15 million with holiday sales included, a total that more than doubles the film’s modest $7.4 million production budget. The Bye Bye Man hit largely with the distributor’s core demographic, attracting an audience comprised primarily of young women (61 percent were female, 75 percent were under the age of 25).
Outside the top five, a wealth of fresh or expanding titles fail to catch on with audiences. The third Mark Wahlberg/Peter Berg project, Patriots Day, debuts in wide release at No. 6 as the pair’s weakest opener yet, nabbing a soft $12 million for the three-day ($14.25 four-day). Still, the project — about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings — scores a rare A+ grade from polled moviegoers on CinemaScore.
Paramount’s Monster Trucks — made for an astronomical $125 million — takes in a paltry (but expected) $10.1 million ($14.1 million four-day) at No. 7, though it managed to pull off a stellar A grade on CinemaScore. The actioner, starring Lucas Till, Jane Levy, and Rob Lowe, attracted an audience base that was 60 percent under the age of 25, according to the studio. It opened in an additional 17 territories this weekend, earning around 34-37 percent more than the comparable Pete’s Dragon in Australia and Malaysia.
At No. 8, Jamie Foxx’s Sleepless takes in a so-so $8.5 million for the three-day, while Ben Affleck’s latest directorial effort Live By Night flops as it widens nationwide, amassing a lowly $5.4 million over the weekend.
Also premiering in wide release this weekend is Martin Scorsese’s Silence. Following a limited run that launched Dec. 23, Silence made $1.94 million over its first three days, which Paramount estimates will grow to $2.3 million by Monday’s end. The film, a passion project for Scorsese, was produced for around $45 million after nearly three decades of gestation.
Year to date box office is down approximately 4.2 percent from the same frame last year. Check out the three-day weekend box office estimates below.
1. Hidden Figures – $20.5 million
2. La La Land – $14.5 million
3. Sing – $13.81 million
4. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – $13.8 million
5. The Bye Bye Man – $13.4 million
6. Patriots Day – $12 million
7. Monster Trucks – $10.5 million
8. Sleepless – $8.5 million
9. Underworld: Blood Wars – $5.8 million
10. Passengers – $5.6 million