“Goosebumps” Scares Up a Box Office Win

By Kip Mooney • On • In News News 0

BOX OFFICE REPORT October 16-18, 2015(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

TOP 51. Goosebumps ($23.5 million)2. The Martian ($21.5 million)3. Bride of Spies ($15.3 million)4. Crimson Peak ($12.8 million)5. Hotel Transylvania 2 ($12.2 million)

Goosebumps scared up an estimated $23.5 million this weekend, bumping The Martian from the top spot. The film got the right mix of nostalgic adults and eager kids. This is despite the fact the original series of books ended in 1997. So don't be surprised if more of R.L. Stine's adventures come to life in the coming years.

The Martian continued its stellar run (pun somewhat intended), earning an astounding $21.5 million in its third weekend. It's still tracking behind Gravity, but $200 million is in range. It also managed to beat out three other new releases.

Bridge of Spies, despite the pedigree of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, opened in third place with an estimated $15.3 million. That's Spielberg's lowest opening as director since 2004's The Terminal and Hanks' lowest opening since 1993's Sleepless in Seattle. And that still managed to beat out Guillermo del Toro's gothic romance Crimson Peak, which only took in $12.8 million. That was just a fraction above Hotel Transylvania 2 in its fourth weekend. 

Outside the top 5: - This Weekend's Indie Champ: Room, the highly acclaimed mother-son drama starring Brie Larson. It averaged $30,000 on four screens.

- Woodlawn didn't have a great weekend, but the high school football drama still managed to make $4.1 million on 1,533 screens.

- Looks like most people opted to catch Beasts of No Nation on Netflix. The film opened on 31 screens, but only averaged $1,635. 

Next week: There are a lot of movies, but nothing that will set the world on fire. There's Jem and the Holograms, The Last Witch Hunter, Rock the Kasbah and the expansion of Steve Jobs. My money would be on Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, allegedly the last film the franchise. But right now there's a dispute going on with the studio and theater owners, since the film will be available on video before the end of the year, which breaks from the traditional 90-day window. Some big theater chains are refusing to carry the movie, which limits how many people will be able to see it. Still, I'll say it takes No. 1 with $15 million.

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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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