Living up to its' huge hype, Insidious - Chapter 2 continued an amazing year for horror films. The sequel to the well-liked original earned a huge $40.3 million, for a per-venue average of a huge $13,208 from 3,049 locations. I have to credit boxoffice.com for having an optimistic prediction that was right on the money, as most analysts had forecasted $30 million or less (including me). But buzz was undeniably unbelievable, and the Friday the 13th opening certainly did it some favors. Chapter Two also posted the second-biggest September opening, behind Hotel Transylvania ($42.5 million) and was director James Wan's second $40+ million opening of the year (after earlier this year's The Conjuring). Altogether, horror flicks have been huge this year, with Insidious, Conjuring, The Purge, Evil Dead and Mama all opening at #1 with $25 million or more. The first Insidious opened two and a half-years ago to $13 million, and would be a leggy hit, going on to earn nearly $55 million. The sequel's opening tripled its' predecessor, and will easily go past its' final gross. As for this film, with the huge opening and the front-loaded weekend, its' likely this will drop hard in the weeks ahead. Things could stabilize further down the road as the CinemaScore was a "B+", a high mark for a horror flick, plus no competition until October 18's Carrie remake. But a $100 million finish may be out of reach. But distributor FilmDistrict has a huge win on their hands, and the upstart distributor is certainly impressing this year with this and Olympus Has Fallen. The budget was just $5 million.
It was the weekend of the upstart distributors as Relativity Media scored a minor hit in second place with crime thriller The Family. Originally expected to struggle to hit $10 million, the flick did over-perform, tallying $14 million, for a per-venue average of $4,541 from 3,091 locations. Expectations were small for this, but no one expected it to hit this much. Yes, its' not an impressive start, but given the budget was just $30 million, and that it will probably come out ahead of that number when its' all said and done, its' a minor win. Its' also the second-biggest opening for Robert De Niro in the past decade. Relativity had their sixth-biggest opening here, and despite negative reviews and a "C" CinemaScore, will still turn a profit with overseas grosses factored in. Relativity was hoping for a debut of $11-$13 million, which was optimistic compared to analyst's expectations.
Last week's topper, Riddick, had a typically steep drop. The sci-fi thriller plunged 64% to $6.8 million, for a $31.1 million gross in 10 days. The Bruce Willis flick has done OK, and will finish north of $40 million by the time its' done. It won't be Universal's most-profitable pic of the year, but its' not going to be a flop either, as the budget was kept to only $38 million.
Lee Daniels' The Butler became the 23rd movie of the year to pass the century mark on Sunday, and continued its' solid holding ways, off 34% to $5.5 million. Since its' debut one month ago, the historical drama has earned exactly $100 million. It should go on to earn around $20 million more, which would be five times its' opening weekend. Spending six-straight weekends in the Top 5, We're The Millers is showing incredible strength, off 30% to $5.4 million, for a huge $131.6 million gross in 39 days. The R-rated comedy may just give $150 million a run for its' money.
Following two undeniably strong weekends, Instructions Not Included fell 40% to $4.9 million, for a great $27.2 million gross in 17 days. The limited release expanded to 933 locations, and averaged $5,212 per site, the second-biggest this weekend after Insidious - Chapter 2. Right now, a $35 million finish looks likely. Remaining the only choice for kids, Planes was off a miniscule 25% to $3.1 million, for a $83 million pick-up in 37 days. One more weekend left before families flock to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.
Sony released an extended "Fan Cut" of One Direction: This is Us this weekend, and as a result, the concert pic held on better. Off 39% to $2.5 million, the flick has earned an okay $27 million in 17 days, and will likely just scrape past the $30 million mark. Fellow Sony flick Elysium had a strong hold, off 33% to $2.1 million, for a $88.4 million pick-up in 37 days. All second weekend of August releases have stayed in the Top 10 for six weeks, as Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters rounded out the Top 10. The fantasy sequel was off a light 22% to $1.9 million, for a $62.1 million pick-up in 39 days, and should finish above $65 million.
Overseas, The Smurfs 2 expanded to China and topped the international circuit with $17.6 million, with its' worldwide tally approaching $300 million. White House Down added $13 million after expanding to the U.K. and Spain, with its' worldwide gross near $175 million so far. Planes expanded to a few more territories, and added $10.7 million, for a $140 million worldwide pick-up to date with still more to go. Riddick expanded to Russia and Australia and earned $9.6 million, for a early worldwide pick-up north of $50 million. There was no other data.
