It was kind of an epic weekend for complete bombs, as Jem and the Holograms and Rock the Kasbah suffered two of the worst wide release openings ever, ParaNormal Activity and The Last Witch Hunter bellyflopped on the back of awful reviews, and most sadly, Steve Jobs performed way under expectations in wide release after its sterling two-week run in limited. We'll start with the last one first, since Universal had fairly high hopes for the biopic on the Apple CEO, considered a heavy Oscar contender and with some exceedingly good reviews to go with it, but this is an example of a film with narrow appeal, after its scorching PTA just two weeks ago failed to translate to mainstream success with audiences. It still managed an "A-" Cinemascore, but it will be interesting to see how the low box office affects its Oscar chances.
The top five was mostly filled by holdovers, as The Martian came in first with another 15 million for a new total of 166 million- that movie's own Oscar hopes are rising by the day. Goosebumps fell to second place and Bridge of Spies pulled off a miniscule drop of just 26 percent to remain in third, also helping the Spielberg film's chances for awards recognition. The Last Witch Hunter was the only new release to crack the top five, pulling in 10 million, a low number for Vin Diesel, while Hotel Transylvania 2 rounded out the chart with another 9 million.
Top 5:
- The Martian- 15.9 million
- Goosebumps- 15.5 million
- Bridge of Spies- 11.4 million
- The Last Witch Hunter- 10.8 million
- Hotel Transylvania 2- 9 million
In limited release, Suffragette opened on 4 screens for 77k, a PTA of about 19k, not a great start for the wannabe Oscar hopeful, whose chances seem to be dimming by the day as well, with reviews not particularly glowing for the film. We're at the time of year where so many adult driven movies are crowding the theaters that many of them will inevitably end up left out in the cold, which to me is most disappointing for Steve Jobs- I'll have a review coming this week, but I really loved the film and wish they'd kept it in limited release a while longer. Next up we have the Sandra Bullock comedy Our Brand is Crisis against Bradley Cooper in Burnt- both films are not doing well with critics, so they will probably be underperformers while we wait for the release of the new Bond film Spectre on Nov. 6th.
