Four new movies hit theaters over the weekend and the best they could muster was 4th place. “The Last Witch Hunter” earned that honor while “Jem and the Holograms,” “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension.” “Rock the Kasbah” and “Steve Jobs” all bombed.
Really, the only surprise is “Steve Jobs” which went into expansion without anyone noticing. The fact that “Jem and the Holograms” got made is more surprising than it having a terrible opening. The Sixth “Paranormal Activity” had a very small theater opening and they plan to release it on VOD shortly, plus they have tiny budgets so they don’t have a ton of concern over mediocre openings.
Really just an odd weekend at the theaters, even Bill Murray couldn’t get any cash. He actually had one of the worst openings of all time. At least a few people watched Vin Diesel LARP.
| Rank | Title | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Total Gross | Week # | |||||
| 1 | The Martian | Fox | $15,732,907 | -26.1% | $166,188,055 | 4 | |||||
| 2 | Goosebumps | Sony | $15,525,901 | -34.3% | $43,738,043 | 2 | |||||
| 3 | Bridge of Spies | BV | $11,374,203 | -26.0% | $32,590,400 | 2 | |||||
| 4 | The Last Witch Hunter | LG/S | $10,812,861 | – | $10,812,861 | 1 | |||||
| 5 | Hotel Transylvania 2 | Sony | $8,883,348 | -29.8% | $148,175,889 | 5 | |||||
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 film’s 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.