As expected, Matt Damon and Ridley Scott topped the box office charts, as The Martian rode strong reviews (94% on Rotten Tomatoes) and buzz to a near-record opening. The outer space dramedy pulled in a huge $55 million, for a per-venue average of a strong $14,357 from 3,831 locations. That basically ties Gravity ($55.8 million) for the biggest opening weekend ever in the month of October. In the meantime, it outpaced all expectations, which had projected a debut in the $40-45 million vicinity. Space thrillers are becoming more and more common in multiplexes, as The Martian follows Gravity and Interstellar (which earned $47 million on its debut last year) in a string of commercially-successful genre entries. However, it is important to note that both of those titles were boosted by IMAX grosses, whereas The Martian only had 3D (which accounted for 46% of business), which might give this one an advantage in terms of attendance.The main question here, is, will The Martian hold as well as Gravity ($275 million) in the long run? Word-of-mouth appears strong ("A" CinemaScore, with a strong recommendation from my old youth leader). Competition for males doesn't seem like much of a factor until the new James Bond movie, Spectre arrives in November. In that case, it could still hold very well, but it might be difficult to replicate Gravity's insane 23% second weekend decline. Overseas got off to a strong start, pulling in $46 million from roughly 40% of the international marketplace. At its current rate, The Martian could definitely earn over $500 million worldwide, if Asia turns out to be strong.
After its strong debut last week, family audiences continued to flock to Hotel Transylvania 2. The animated sequel held better than expected, off just 32% to $33 million, for a very solid $90.5 million gross in 10 days. That's even better than the 36% drop the first movie had in its second weekend, and the sequel is outpacing the first movie's $76 million gross through its 10th day. Unless Pan and fellow Sony family movie Goosebumps cause it a lot of trouble, Hotel 2 seems fairly likely to finish ahead of its predecessors' $148 million domestic gross, and become Sony Pictures Animation's first movie to pass $150 million domestically.
Meanwhile, after a strong limited debut, critically-acclaimed thriller Sicario expanded nationwide to decent results. The Emily Blunt flick earned $12.1 million, for a decent per-venue average of $4,609. That's about in line with what was expected, though it obviously doesn't compare well to the $29,107 per-venue average from last week. However, with fantastic reviews (93% on Rotten Tomaotes) and an A- CinemaScore, this could play well through October. Sicario currently is scoring better Oscar buzz than The Martian. Distributor Lionsgate produced the film for $30 million, and the film has earned $15.1 million since its limited opening two weeks ago.
After a solid start last week, Nancy Meyers' The Intern held on well, off just 35% to $11.6 million, for a decent $36.5 million pick-up in 10 days. The Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway-starring flick should continue to hold well in the coming weeks. The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials was off 46% in its third weekend to $7.7 million, for an OK $63.2 million pick-up in 17 days. The sequel, however, is continuing to trail its predecessor, which had earned $73.6 million through the same point (the first Maze Runner only dropped 33% in its third weekend). Scorch Trials, however, did pass the $200 million mark worldwide this weekend thanks to solid overseas business.
Black Mass continued to fall fast, dropping another 47% to $5.9 million, for a decent, if unspectacular $52.5 million gross in 17 days. Losing its IMAX screens, Everest plummeted 58% in its third weekend to $5.2 million, for a disappointing $33.2 million pick-up in 17 days. Unless it finds footing late in the game, the mountain-climbing thriller will likely close its run around $50 million stateside. Overseas, the Universal thriller is faring better, with over $100 million earned from international territories so far.
M. Night Shyalaman's The Visit continued to hold well, off 41% in its fourth weekend to $4 million, for a very solid $57.7 million gross in 24 days, and should continue to level off slowly thanks to no additional competition. War Room made the Top 10 for a sixth-straight week, as it continued to hold strong. The Kendrick Brothers drama was off just 34% to $2.8 million, for a strong $60.5 million gross in 36 days, passing the final gross of Son of God ($59 million) and is at almost 20 times its $3.5 million budget. Rounding out the Top 10 in its fourth week was The Perfect Guy, which fell another 50% to $2.4 million. Sony's third movie in the Top 10 has earned a solid $52.6 million in 24 days.
Just outside the Top 10 was another Sony release, The Walk. Opening in 448 IMAX 3D locations, the Robert Zemeckis flick disappointed, opening to only $1.6 million ($3,460 per-venue average), for a $2 million 5-day launch. This was below expectations, which studios had pegged the well-reviewed (86% on Rotten Tomatoes) flick to earn at least $5 million for the 5 days. But clearly, The Walk couldn't come close to Everest's huge IMAX-only number last week ($7.5 million). The high-wire act will expand nationwide to 2,500+ locations next week.
Look for a review of Hotel Transylvania 2 to hit the web this evening. Also look out for reviews of Woodlawn and Everest in the next week and a half.
Next weekend brings Joe Wright's long-awaited Pan, and the nationwide expansion of The Walk. Will October get even stronger? We shall see.
