As expected, The Martian held onto the top spot with relative ease, and it also held on very strong for a sci-fi flick. The critically-adored Ridley Scott production was off just 32% to $37 million, for a strong $108.7 million gross in 10 days, becoming the 21st movie of 2015 to pass the century mark domestically. As far as comparisons go, The Martian didn't have as insane of a hold as Gravity (which eased just 23% in its second week), but it did hold better than Interstellar (which was off 40% in its second week). But still, sci-fi flicks tend to drop at least 50% in their second outings, so chalk it up to strong word-of-mouth as the reason why the film is playing well so far. Next weekend will bring some minor competition in the form of Bridge of Spies, but still, positive word-of-mouth should carry this at least through the rest of October. Overseas continues to be huge, with the worldwide gross passing $200 million (with still much more to go).Repeating in second place, despite added competition, Hotel Transylvania 2 had another very solid hold. The animated sequel was down 39% in its third weekend to $20.4 million, for a very strong $116.9 million pick-up in 17 days. In comparison, the first Hotel Transylvania was down 36% in its third weekend to $17 million, and had earned $102 million through its 17th day. Next weekend will bring a little bit more competition with fellow Sony flick Goosebumps, but Transylvania won't have any real animated competition until after Halloween (when The Peanuts Movie kicks off the Holiday movie season on November 6). Overseas, the animated sequel has passed $200 million worldwide.
Meanwhile, opening in third place with very disappointing results was fairy tale origin story Pan. The Joe Wright fantasy adventure opened to just $15.3 million, for a per-venue average of a very mild $4,357 from 3,515 locations. With a $150 million production budget, this is nowhere near the numbers distributor Warner Bros. was looking for. Starting its marketing effort nearly a year ago, Pan was originally scheduled for July, but was delayed at the last minute due to some production issues (though I'd more blame it on the competition with Ant-Man and Minions). The October release date decision turned out to not be a good one, and Hotel Transylvania 2 ended up stronger than anticipated. Reviews were bad (25% on Rotten Tomatoes), while the CinemaScore was a decent "B+". Add in competition from Goosebumps next week, and this may not hold well in the long run. And this is a rare case where overseas won't save it either (it only earned $20 million from 85% of the international marketplace this weekend). WB didn't release any comment on the film's performance, but one thing's clear, the live-action fairy tale realm is clearly Disney's domain.It wasn't all bad news for Warner Bros. this weekend, however. Their dramedy, The Intern, had a very strong hold in its third weekend, off just 26% to $8.7 million, for a solid 17-day pick-up of $49.6 million. Intern is benefiting from an older audience that usually comes out later in a movie's run. Look for this to continue playing well for the remainder of the month.
Potential Oscar contender Sicario held decently, off 38% to $7.6 million, for a $26.9 million gross since its limited opening 24 days ago. Despite a lot of competition for adults, the critically-acclaimed thriller should continue to find an audience in the weeks ahead. The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials stabilized nicely in its fourth go-round, off just 31% to $5.4 million, for a decent, if unspectacular $70.8 million in 24 days (off $12 million from the first movie through the same point). Overseas is where Scorch has been doing solidly, earning nearly $250 million worldwide so far.
Expanding to nationwide release, The Walk, despite strong reviews (86% on Rotten Tomatoes), failed to get much of an audience. The Robert Zemeckis film only reached seventh place and $3.7 million, for a per-venue average of an abysmal $1,482 from 2,509 locations. After its not-good IMAX only start last week, it seemed like a genuinely good number was not in this film's future. Walk did receive an "A+" CinemaScore, which could help it level off decently. However, this opening is just too low. Sony had a $35 million budget on the film, and they expressed disappointment with this result. Since its IMAX start last week, The Walk has earned $6.4 million.Black Mass continued to fall quickly, off 47% to $3.1 million in its fourth weekend. The Johnny Depp crime thriller has earned $57.6 million in 24 days, with not much more to go. Everest also continues to fall fast, off 46% to $3.07 million, for a disappointing $38.3 million gross in 24 days. Everest is saving face overseas, however, as the climbing thriller has picked up $120 million internationally so far. Rounding out the Top 10 in its fifth weekend was The Visit, which continued to benefit from no horror competition. The well-received M. Night Shyalaman flick was down 37% to $2.5 million, for a very solid $61.2 million gross in one month of release.
Next weekend, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg enter the mix with Bridge of Spies. They will face off against Jack Black (Goosebumps) and Guillermo del Toro (Crimson Peak). Also opening in wide release is the latest Pure Flix movie, Woodlawn (which I got to see an advance screening of a couple weeks back, review coming Wednesday or Thursday). Will all four of these movies bring in strong business? We shall see what we shall find.
