As expected, it was all Bond at the top once again. His latest adventure, Spectre, had a decent hold after its decisively mixed opening last weekend. Spectre was off 50% to $35.4 million, for a very solid $130.7 million 10-day start. In comparison, Skyfall was off 54% in its second weekend, while Quantum of Solace fell 60%. However, it is important to note those two films both faced Twilight movies in their second weekends, so the comparison isn't quite apples-to-apples. Spectre, next weekend, will have to deal with Katniss as The Hunger Games - Mockingjay Part II opens. However, with a Thanksgiving bump likely, Spectre seems likely, at this point, to finish over $200 million stateside. Overseas is where Bond is shining bright, however. Thanks to a strong $48 million debut in China (the biggest ever for a non-3D import), the overseas gross pulled in another stunning $153 million, for a worldwide gross of just shy of $550 million in just three weeks. At this pace, Spectre is set for a worldwide finish of over $800 million.Repeating in second place, The Peanuts Movie was off 45% to $24.2 million, for a decent 10-day gross of $82.5 million in 10 days. That's not a good hold for an animated movie, especially in early-November (Wreck-it Ralph was off only 33% while Big Hero 6 was off 38% and MegaMind 37%). But, it is possible that the movie could be front-loading a little bit because of Peanuts fanbase rushing out to see it last week. Still though, it's a little unusual considering there's no added competition. Peanuts should stabilize a bit next weekend before The Good Dinosaur arrives for Thanksgiving.
The best of the new openers was holiday comedy Love the Coopers. Opening in third place, the CBS Films release pulled in $8.4 million, for a mild per-venue average of $3,227. That's on the high-end of expectations (which were expecting in the $6-8 million range). With a budget of $17 million, Coopers could benefit from a lack of competition for older adults through Thanksgiving. The film, however, earned negative marks from critics (17% on Rotten Tomatoes), and just a "B-" CinemaScore. Not a bad start, but not a great one either.Making the Top 5 for a seventh-straight week, The Martian is continuing to show late-in-the-game stability. Matt Damon and Ridley Scott's outer space thriller was off just 26% to $6.7 million, for a strong $207.4 million pick-up in 49 days. Martian should remain in this list through Thanksgiving, and could finish as high as $235 million. Overseas, it continues to play strong, with $475 million picked up worldwide so far.
Opening in fifth place with less-than-expected was true story-based thriller The 33. Based on the earthquake that trapped 33 Chilean miners and their attempt to escape, the Warner Bros. release opened to just $5.8 million, for a weak $2,384 per-venue average. The film was originally expected to pull in $8-11 million for the weekend. Reviews weren't good (40% on Rotten Tomatoes), while the CinemaScore was a solid "A-". This could play well over the next two weeks, but, its' going to be difficult for it to even reach $20 million stateside. Overall, with a $26 million pricetag (and even with $12 million overseas this weekend), this is another disappointment for WB this year.Goosebumps continued to be a player in its fifth weekend, off just 32% to $4.7 million, for a solid $73.5 million gross in one month of release. The R.L. Stine adaptation may take a hit next weekend from fellow book adaptation Mockingjay. But still, a $85 million finish is still pretty darn good. Bridge of Spies also remained in the mix, off just 26% to $4.3 million, for a very solid $61.7 million gross in the same amount of time. Look for a finish in the $75 million range, then some possible awards season attention.
Foreign import Prem Ratan Dhan Payo opened in eighth place in just 286 locations, and earned a terrific $2.4 million ($8,392 per-venue average). Released by Fox, the foreign release was the fourth-biggest start yet for a Bollywood film in North America and has picked up $35 million so far. Hotel Transylvania 2 hung around for an eighth-straight week on the list, and was off 35% to $2.35 million. The hit animated sequel is at $165.2 million in 56 days, and $420 million worldwide. It is Adam Sandler's biggest movie ever domestically, passing Big Daddy ($164 million).
Rounding out the Top 10 in its fourth weekend was The Last Witch Hunter, which fell 42% to $1.5 million, for a dismal $26.1 million pick-up in 24 days. Meanwhile, football flick My All-American debuted to weak results, $1.4 million from 1,565 theaters ($889 per-venue average), and possible Oscar contender Spotlight opened to $1.4 million from just 61 locations ($22,925 per-venue average).
Next weekend, its all about Katniss as The Hunger Games movies comes to a close with Mockingjay - Part II hoping to out-gross Part I. The Secret in Their Eyes and The Night Before also open. Its sure to be a great weekend with Thanksgiving approaching.
