Box Office: Spectre Silences Competition With $73 Million Bow

Box Office, Columns, News, Top Story

The November debuts of Spectre and The Peanuts Movie were the proverbial shot in the arm that Hollywood needed after a poor October where you had new releases where openings ranged from $5 million (Burnt) to $23 million (Goosebumps).

The latest James Bond adventure, which could conceivably be Daniel Craig’s last if it weren’t for being contracted for a fifth outing as 007, debuted with $73 million. That estimated figure is around $15 million less what Skyfall made when it opened in 2012. In last week’s recap I suggested that it would finish with $65 million, while The Peanuts Movie would make around $50 million.

I was close. Off by $8 million for Bond and $5 million for Charles Schultz’s gang.

Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest, a television staple around the holidays, had its first animated film from Blue Sky Studios, the same outfit responsible for the Ice Age series, and it appears the characters are a hit with kids as well as adults who can remember watching the TV specials growing up. Look for this one to continue to have legs well into November as the holidays fast approach.

The success of the two newcomers allowed The Martian to take third with $9.3 million. That’s only a 20% drop in attendance for a film finishing its sixth weekend in release. It is one of the few fall releases that has been a multi-quadrant hit as it nears $200 million in the U.S. and $460 million worldwide.

Elsewhere, Bridge of Spies continues to play to adult eyes a month into its run on less than 3,000 screens. The combination of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks and period setting has been too good to pass up, unlike Sandra Bullock’s Our Brand Is Crisis, which has only brought in $6 million in two weeks (vs. $54.9 million for Spies).

As far as The Last Witch Hunter goes, I think Vin Diesel is thinking less about a sequel and more about finding ways to do crazy stunts with cars and saying “I am Groot” thirty different ways. $23.5 million in three weeks is not a figure Lionsgate was hoping for. $40 million, maybe; not less than $25 million. Rounding out the top 10 is The Intern and the final Paranormal Activity. Both are nearing their runs on premium screens, one fast, the other a modest winner over the course of seven weeks.

In limited release, Roadside Attractions’ cancer pic Miss You Already with Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette performed best with $572k on 384 screens. But Spotlight had the better per-screen average with $60,455 as it made $302k overall. Fox Searchlight’s Oscar hopeful Brooklyn played on five screens and made $181k, while Bryan Cranston in Trumbo made $77k, also on five screens.

Upcoming we have The 33, My All-American and Love the Coopers. I fully expect Spectre and The Peanuts Movie to maintain the top two spots, followed by the likes of Coopers, The Martian and Goosebumps and The 33. Let’s see how my predictions pan out.

Top 10 below.

01. Spectre – $73 Million
02. The Peanuts Movie – $45 Million
03. The Martian – $9.3 Million ($197.m)
04. Goosebumps – $6.9 Million ($66.4m)
05. Bridge of Spies – $6 Million ($54.9m)
06. Hotel Transylvania 2 – $3.5 Million ($161.3m)
07. Burnt – $3 Million ($10.2m)
08. The Last Witch Hunter – $2.65 Million ($23.5m)
09. The Intern – $1.8 Million ($71.4m)
10. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension – $1.65 Million ($16.2m)

Travis Leamons is one of the Inside Pulse Originals and currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Inside Pulse Movies. He's told that the position is his until he's dead or if "The Boss" can find somebody better. I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order!