James Bond and Charlie Brown teamed up to revive a floundering box office this week, as Hollywood rebounded from a poor October.
Coming in first place this weekend is Spectre (read our review), the new 007 movie. It brought in $73 million in its first three days. That’s a very strong opening, but its considerably below the $90.5 million that Skyfall brought in when it debuted in 2012. That can most likely be accounted for the mixed reviews that Spectre received, as it was not as acclaimed as its predecessor. Still, the new Bond is off to a good start, and Spectre posted the second-highest opening of the Daniel Craig era.
The film should be able to hold well early on, since there’s still a couple of weeks until The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. Even though the reception hasn’t been as strong as Casino Royale or Skyfall, the general consensus is that Spectre is still an entertaining time at the movies, and it has been a while since moviegoers got an accessible blockbuster with widespread appeal. When international grosses are taken into account, Spectre has already made back its production budget (worldwide total: $296.1 million), so Sony has a much-needed hit.
Coming in second is The Peanuts Movie (read our review) with $45 million. While Charlie Brown and the gang could not contend with James Bond, it still had a solid debut thanks to its multi-generational appeal and positive reviews. Families have had solid options to choose from in the last couple of weeks, but most of them have been of the Halloween variety. Now that we’re into November working our way to the holiday season, something like Peanuts is going to be in high demand. It should display strong legs through its theatrical run, given the popularity of the source material and word-of-mouth.
Ridley Scott’s The Martian falls to #3 with $9.3 million. The sci-fi flick has now brought in $197 million domestically, becoming the director’s highest-grossing film in the States.
Coming in fourth is Goosebumps, which grossed $6.9 million in its fourth weekend. The film increased its domestic total to $66.4 million.
Rounding out the top five is Bridge of Spies with $6 million. Steven Spielberg’s potential Oscar contender is now up to $54.9 million in the States.
Animated sequel Hotel Transylvania 2 fell to #6 due to Halloween passing and the presence of The Peanuts Movie. It’s now at $161.2 million domestically.
At #7 is Burnt, which took in $3 million in its second weekend. The Bradley Cooper vehicle has made a weak $10.2 million in its run thus far.
Coming in eighth is The Last Witch Hunter with $2.6 million. The failed franchise-starter is now up to $23.5 million domestically. It’s gotten a small boost from the international markets, as its worldwide total is $84.3 million. Still, Lionsgate had to have been hoping for a lot more.
Comedy The Intern came in at #9 after it made $1.8 million over the weekend. It increased its domestic total to $71.4 million.
Finishing off the top ten is Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension. The found footage horror film brought in $1.6 million and has now made $16.2 million domestically.
[NOTE: These are only weekend box office estimates — based on Friday and Saturday ticket sales coupled with adjusted expectations for Sunday. Official weekend box office results will be released on Monday, November 9 — at which time we’ll update this post with any changes.]
