2015 started off pretty strongly at the box office. Not amazingly, but considering there was only one new film in wide release it still was a solid weekend. “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” stayed at the top of the box office for the third week earning $21.9 million which is down 47% from week two.
Following it up were the two big releases from last week, “Into the Woods” and “Unbroken,” both dropping about 40% from last week. In fourth place was the only new release, “The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death,” which did about $5 million less than the original. The original also had Daniel Radcliffe while this sequel has…someone named Jeremy Irvine. It was also heavily front-loaded, getting a majority of it’s results on Friday. That usually isn’t a good sign. Don’t expect to see it in the top 5 next week.
Next week, “Taken 3” is the big release while “Inherent Vice” hits around 400 theaters.
| Rank | Title | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Total Gross | Week # | |||||
| 1 | The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | WB | $21,910,000 | -46.5% | $220,767,000 | 3 | |||||
| 2 | Into the Woods | BV | $19,066,000 | -38.6% | $91,209,000 | 2 | |||||
| 3 | Unbroken | Uni. | $18,358,000 | -40.0% | $87,801,000 | 2 | |||||
| 4 | The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death | Rela. | $15,145,000 | – | $15,145,000 | 1 | |||||
| 5 | Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb | Fox | $14,450,000 | -28.5% | $89,726,000 | 3 | |||||
A quick note on budgets and dollar figures:
Films making back their budgets is a good sign, but that is just the money to film. It doesn’t include distribution and marketing. Marketing can cost as much as a film. That big Superbowl spot is spendy. So take that into account when judging a films success. Hitting $100 million isn’t the same as it once was.
All dollar amounts in the top 5 come from estimates based on ticket sales unless noted otherwise. Occasionally this article will be published when actual results come out, which is usually late Monday afternoon. For more about this and other ins and outs of movie tracking click here.