Three highly-anticipated movies hit theaters this weekend, each looking to take down back-to-backbox officewinnerThe Martian. Sony’sGoosebumps, Universal’sCrimson Peakand DreamWorks’Bridge of Spiesdebuted on October 16, and, as expected,Goosebumpsended up on top.Box Office Mojoreports that theR.L. Stineadaptation took in an estimated $23.5 million, just barely beating outThe Martian, which dropped to second place with $21.5 million in its third frame in theaters.
GoosebumpsstarsJack Blackas beloved authorR.L. Stine, whose world is upended when a new neighbor moves into town. Upset about moving from a big city to a small town, teenagerZach Cooper(Dylan Minnette) finds a silver lining when he meets the beautiful girl, Hannah (Odeya Rush), living right next door. But every silver lining has a cloud, and Zach’s comes when he learns that Hannah has a mysterious dad who is revealed to be R. L. Stine (Jack Black), the author of the bestsellingGoosebumps series. It turns out that there is a reason why Stine is so strange… he is a prisoner of his own imagination!
Goosebumpsproved to be a hit with critics as well, with a solid 71% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The family adventure, which also starsAmy Ryan, who also stars inBridge of Spies,Ken MarinoandJillian Bell, opened in 3,501 theaters, pulling in a decent $6,712 per-screen average in its opening frame. The film opened in 200 fewer theaters thanThe Martian, which is still faring quite well despite relinquishing its box office crown.
The Martiandropped 41.9% this weekend, taking second place with $21.5 million, bringing its domestic total to $143.7 million from a $108 million budget. The sci-fi drama follows the quest to save an astronaut stranded on Mars. We still have a long way to go until the awards season races truly start to heat up, butThe Martianhas emerged as one of the top front runners. With an all-star cast includingMatt Damon,Jessica Chastain,Kristen Wiig,Kate Mara,Sebastian Stan,Sean Bean,Michael Peña,Chiwetel EjioforandJeff Daniels,The Martianshould easily crack $200 million domestic before it ends its theatrical run.
Bridge of Spiesopened in third place with $15.3 million, whileCrimson Peakdebuted in fourth place with $12.8 million.Bridge of Spiesis already a hit with critics, posting an impressive 92% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, whileCrimson Peakpulled a 68% “Fresh” score.Bridge of Spiesopened in 2,811 theaters, with a decent per-screen average of $5,471, whileCrimson Peakdebuted in 2,984 theaters with a $4,306 per-screen average. While these opening weekend numbers aren’t incredibly impressive,Bridge of Spieswas produced for $40 million, whileCrimson Peakhad a $55 million budget, so both movies shouldn’t have much trouble earning their money back.Hotel Transylvania 2took fifth place with $12.2 million.
The top 10 was rounded out byPan($5.8 million, $25.7 million),The Intern($5.4 million $58.7 million),Sicario($4.5 million, $34.6 million), new releaseWoodlawn($4.1 million) andThe Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials($2.7 million, $75.4 million). Universal’sSteve Jobsjust barely missed the top 10, taking 11th place with $1.5 million after the biopic expanded from four theaters to 60 this weekend. The highly-anticipated drama had an incredible debut in limited release, earning a phenomenal $521,522 from just four theaters last weekend, with an astounding $130,381 per-screen average. It’s mini-expansion proved fruitful as well, with a $25,833 per-screen average. The film expands nationwide next weekend, and we’ll surely see it somewhere in the top 10.
Opening in limited release this weekend are critically-acclaimed indie dramasRoomandTruth, along with The Assassin, Cut Snake,MeadowlandandAll Things Must Pass. BothRoomandTruthpulled in solid numbers this weekend, withRoomearning $120,000 from four theaters for an exceptional $30,000 per-screen average, whileTruthearned $76,646 in six theaters for a $12,774 per-screen average. While we couldn’t find any box office data for Cut Snake andMeadowland, The Assassin earned $48,200 from four theaters with a $12,050 per-screen average, while the documentaryAll Things Must Pass, the directorial debut ofColin Hanks, earned $20,000 from two theaters.
Also opening in a limited theatrical release isBeasts of No Nation, although many analysts weren’t sure how the critically-acclaimed drama would fare in theaters, since it was also available for streaming on Netflix. The film didn’t perform too well, earning $50,699 from 31 theaters, for a dreadful $1,635 per-screen average. The film was given a limited theatrical release so it could qualify for the Academy Awards, and it’s certainly possible this could be an early awards season candidate, given the amount of critical acclaim it has already received. The film starsIdris Elbaas an African military leader, who trains a young boy named Agu, played byAbraham Attahin his feature film debut. It will be interesting to see how this film performs while opening in theaters and on Netflix at the same time.
Looking ahead, next weekend is shaping up to be one of the busiest at the box office all year, with four new films hitting theaters andSteve Jobsexpanding nationwide. Opening on October 23 are Universal’sJem and the Holograms, starringJuliette Lewis, Lionsgate’sThe Last Witch Hunter, starringVin Diesel, Paramount’sParanormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, the final installment in the long-runningParanormal Activityfranchise, and Open Road Films’Rock the Kasbah. Debuting in limited release is The Weinstein Company’sBurnt, which will expand nationwide on October 30, Attack on Titan: Part 2, Difret, Extraordinary Tales, Heart of a Dog,Suffragette,I Smile Backand Nasty Baby. Take a look at this weekend’s box office estimates below, and check back on Tuesday for next weekend’s predictions.
