Bond Continues Its Tight Grip on the Box Office

By Kip Mooney • On • In News News 0

 

BOX OFFICE REPORT November 13- 15, 2015(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

TOP 51. Specture ($35.4 million)2. The Peanuts Movie ($24.2 million)3. Love the Coopers ($8.4 million)4. The Martian ($6.7 million)5. The 33 ($5.8 million)

 

James Bond's web of shadows continued to tangle up the box office. Spectre retained the top spot, earning an estimated $35.4 million. That's a typical drop for a big blockbuster. It's not doing nearly business as Skyfall, but it's still well on its way to out-doing both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace (though that doesn't account for inflation of course).

The Peanuts Movie settled for peanuts again, taking in around $24.2 million. It's still going to top $100 million, but it's not nearly the hit Fox expected and won't end up nearly as big a hit as lots of other animated movies this year. (Even ones not based on major properties, like Home.)

Love the Coopers didn't do huge business. $8.4 million isn't great, but about what most family Christmas movies do their opening weekend. The movie was a sizable hit with senior citizens, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and should do just fine through the holidays. That was enough to finally push The Martian down to No. 4 and beat out the Chilean miner drama The 33.

Outside the top 5: - This Weekend's Indie Champ: Spotlight, about the Boston Globe's investigation into child abuse in the Catholic Church. It stayed the champ, earning an average of $22,925 on each of its 60 screens.

- My All-American, a biopic on Texas Longhorns' legendary safety Freddie Steinmark, did even worse than the team did against West Virginia. It made only $1.3 million on more than 1,500 screens. For perspective, that's even worse than Indian romance Prem Ratan Dhan Payo did on 286 screens. Ouch.

- And speaking of painful experiences, Angelina Jolie-Pitt's relationship-in-turmoil drama By the Sea only opened with $95,440 on 10 screens. That's hardly an impressive opening for a movie with these big stars. Abysmal reviews might have had something to do that.

Next week: All will kneel trembling before The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2. It's the final chapter, so there's not exactly a ceiling. Still, I don't think it will be quite as high as Catching Fire, so let's say $155 million next weekend, but sure to make $400 million before it's all said and done. Secret in Their Eyes and The Night Before will just have to pick up the scraps.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

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