As expected, Po and the Furious Five remained on top, but didn't hold very well either. Kung Fu Panda 3 fell 49% from its' decent, if unspectacular opening weekend to $21.2 million, for a 10-day total of $69.3 million. The drop is identical to that of Kung Fu Panda 2, but that came off of an extended frame. 3, on the other hand, had to deal with the Big Game (without it, it might would have earned $23-25 million). Still though, that's not a good hold for a well-reviewed animated film. The animated threequel should save some face next weekend, as the extended President's Day Weekend will mean extra business on Sunday and Monday, and it has earned over $100 million in China so far. But the film is trailing How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Croods and Home through the same point.
Meanwhile, the Coen Brothers settled for second place as Hail, Caesar! opened generally in line with its low expectations. The 50's Hollywood throwback earned $11.4 million, for a $5,087 per-venue average from 2,232 locations. Even if its in line with what was expected, its still not a very good number, considering its the lowest opening the director brothers have had to date. Super Bowl Weekend may not have been a great decision for distributor Universal to release the film. Reviews were very good (79% on Rotten Tomatoes), but audiences were surprisingly distasteful with an alarming "C-" CinemaScore (a rare situation where audience reception contrasts negatively from critical reception). Being a movie more for older audiences, there's a chance Caesar holds well through February. The budget for the flick was only $22 million (the actors involved probably only worked for peanuts, some sources say it was $50 million). Universal was projecting a $10-12 million opening.It was a close race for third place, but Star Wars: The Force Awakens just edged into third place. Holding onto that spot for a second-straight weekend, the blockbuster record-smasher was down 37% from last weekend to $7 million, and became the first movie ever (unadjusted for inflation) to pass $900 million domestically (its at $906 million in eight weeks of release). President's Day Weekend should boost it further (that is, if Deadpool doesn't get in the way).
The Revenant was off 46% to $6.9 million. The 12-time Oscar nominee has earned $149.5 million since its limited release seven weeks ago. Alejandro G. Inarritu's survival flick did have its hardest drop to date, but that's obviously due to the Big Game. Look for it to possibly rebound next weekend.
Meanwhile, in sixth place was the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation, The Choice. With no real starpower, the romcom opened below expectations and with dismal numbers, as expected, with $6.1 million, for a $2,300 per-venue average. The Lionsgate release opened with half of last year's The Longest Ride, and also came in several notches under The Best of Me. There is a chance The Choice could hold well next weekend with Valentine's Day being on Sunday, but it will likely disappear after that. The budget was only $10 million, but this is a disappointment no matter how you slice it. Reviews were horrible (8% on Rotten Tomatoes), though the CinemaScore was a decent "B+".The final new release, book adaptation Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, wound up being a major misfire in sixth place, earning just $5.3 million, for an abysmal $1,817 per-venue average. That was half of what was expected, which distributor Sony (Screen Gems) was predicting a $10-12 million debut. Teenagers were obviously distracted on Sunday, but even so, without the Big Game would have only propelled this up to around $7 million. Part YA adaptation, part fantasy horror, the Seth Grahamme-Smith novel adaptation apparently suffered from social media inflation. The budget was $28 million, so Sony's financial exposure will be minimal on here.
Following its disappointing start last week, Disney's The Finest Hours fell 53% to $4.8 million, for a dismal $18.5 million gross in 10 days. The Coast Guard thriller may or may not hit $30 million by the time it finishes, or less than half of its $75 million budget. Ride Along 2 followed with a 46% dip to $4.6 million, for a decent, if unspectacular $77.2 million gross in 24 days. Kevin Hart and Ice Cube's sequel is still safely in the black against a $40 million budget, but a final domestic finish around $90 million will be far short of the original's $135 million final gross.
The Boy continued to have a solid run for a small-budget horror flick, off 46% to $4.1 million, for a decent $26.9 million gross in 17 days, and already outgrossing The Forest ($26.1 million). With no horror competition next weekend, this might wind up around $35 million. Dirty Grandpa rounded out the Top 10 in its third weekend, off 47% to $4 million, for a decent $29.4 million in 17 days, and should approach $40 million. Not bad for a low-scale, terribly-reviewed Robert De Niro flick.
And that's it for this weekend. Next weekend brings the R-rated superhero flick Deadpool, anticipated comedy sequel Zoolander 2 and female-driven comedy How to Be Single. All 3 films should do great business over the extended frame. We shall see what we shall find next weekend.
