Weekend Box Office Report: "Miss Peregrine" and "Deepwater Horizon" Decent but Fail to Really Impress.

Overall business was down 23% from this same weekend last year, when The Martian opened at #1 with $54 million.


As expected, Tim Burton's adaptation of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children debuted on top, but it didn't quite break out. The YA fantasy pulled in $28.9 million, for a solid $8,197 per-venue average. Altogether, that's in line with The Maze Runner ($31 million) and is slightly higher than Burton's last big-budget effort, Dark Shadows ($27 million). For the iconic director, this is his first #1 opening since Alice in Wonderland back in 2010. In the face of a $110 million budget, however, its far from spectacular. Reviews were solid (65% on Rotten Tomatoes), and the CinemaScore was a "B+". There is a chance this might play well through Halloween, but, then again, YA films don't usually hold up well. Overseas got off to a solid start, with $36 million from a handful of territories. Distributor 20th Century Fox was expecting around $25 million.







However, Burton fared a bit better than Mark Wahlberg, as his survival thriller Deepwater Horizon opened to $20.2 million in second place ($6,205 per-venue average). The true story thriller opened in line with expectations, but it's only a little over half of Wahlberg's last major thriller, Lone Survivor ($39 million, and that had a more restrictive R rating). Its entirely possible that Deepwater Horizon was hurt from competition from other true story thrillers such as Sully and to a lesser extent, Snowden. What's even more troubling is that the budget was originally $156 million, with tax credits lessening it to $120 million. The film is proving to be a harder sell overseas, with $12 million in a handful of territories so far. With an "A-" CinemaScore and good reviews (83% on Rotten Tomatoes), this could play decently through October. But its going to need a lot of overseas strength in order to find profit for distributor Lionsgate, who predicted around $20 million.





After topping last weekend, The Magnificent Seven retreated to third place with a 55% drop to $15.6 million, for an OK $61.5 million pick-up in 10 days. Westerns are usually pretty front-loaded, and its looking more and more likely that the Antoine Fuqua production will fall short of $100 million stateside. Overseas, its faring better, with $40 million so far. Last week's other opener, Storks, had a much better hold, off 37% to $13.5 million. The Warner Animation production has earned a mild $38.5 million so far and also is likely to not reach $100 million stateside. And, in another shot in the wing, it bombed in China this weekend.

The only real winner from what has been a fairly weak September, Sully was off 39% in its fourth weekend to $8.3 million. The Tom Hanks and Clint Eastwood flick has earned a very good $105.3 million in 24 days and should wind up above $130 million stateside.


Meanwhile, after being pushed back several times, comedy Masterminds finally made its way into theaters, with quiet results. The PG-13 comedy pulled in a weak $6.5 million, for a weak $2,150 per-venue average from 3,042 locations. For Relativity Media (who just emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy), that's a minor improvement over The Disappointments Room, but its nowhere near enough to be a success. No budgeting info was released, but a lot of people thought of it to be in the $30-40 million range. Reviews were mixed-to-negative (36% on Rotten Tomatoes), and audience reception was about the same ("B-" CinemaScore).

Expanding to semi-wide release, Disney's true story drama The Queen of Katwe failed to really garner much attention. In a distant seventh place, the Mira Nair film earned $2.5 million (dismal $2,009 per-venue average from 1,242 theaters). True, the Mouse House didn't put much marketing effort behind it, but after a decent limited launch, it might could have done better. A 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an "A+" CinemaScore will help word-of-mouth get around, but it probably won't be enough to really get it off the ground (the debut is low enough). Disney did only have a $15 million budget, so it won't be a costly miss though (especially with all the big hits they've had). They are hoping for awards season love though. I saw this movie on Saturday, and will have a review up on the blog in the next couple days.







Remaining a trooper in its sixth weekend, Don't Breathe was off 37% to $2.4 million, for a still-strong $84.7 million in 42 days. Horror films don't usually play that long in this list do they? Bridget Jones' Baby fell 50% in ninth place to $2.3 million. The comedy sequel is bombing in the U.S. with just $21 million in 17 days, but it is more than making up for that overseas, with a huge $100 million pick-up from foreign territories so far. Snowden rounded out the Top 10 with a 52% drop to $2 million, for a very disappointing $18.7 million gross in 17 days, with very little to go.

Next weekend, October starts with the book adaptation The Girl on the Train, controversial historical thriller The Birth of a Nation, and the teen comedy Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life. We shall see how all three fare this coming weekend.