By Chris Kavan - 11/08/15 at 08:28 PM CT
After a dismal October that gave us the worst box office numbers since 2007, a lot was riding on Spectre and The Peanuts Movie to resurrect the box office. A lot was riding on the two films and they delivered - the top 12 brought in $155 million (76% of that coming from the two new films) and coming ahead 6% of the same weekend in 2014 and a whopping 158% compared to last weekend. So give thanks to James Bond and Charles Schultz's brain child - they have delivered a win and will hopefully be a sign of good things to come for the rest of November.
1) SPECTRE
There was a lot riding on the 24th film in the James Bond series, especially coming off the record run of Skyfall. While Spectre didn't quite open up to Skyfall's numbers, it was still a fantastic start for the spy. Specre opened up with a $73 million weekend - the second-best opening for a Bond film behind only Skyfall ($88.3 million). It also wasn't quite as big a hit with critics, though audiences were much happier, awarding it an "A-" Cinemascore, the same as Casino Royale and much better than the "B-" of Quantum of Solace. It is already the eighth-highest grossing film in the series. The bigger question for Spectre is how well it holds up in the coming weeks - especially with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II dropping on November 20th. Even if it has a spectacular hold, it will be a stretch to hit $200 million (and nowhere near the $304 million of Skyfall). Most likely it will top out at around $185 million - still ahead of Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. But in better news, Spectre is having an excellent run in the international market. After a record opening in the UK, it followed up with a series-best opening in Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Belgium, Austria, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Poland, among others. With another great hold in the UK (where it has already earned over $100 million) Spectre has an international total of $223.1 million. I have a feeling hitting that $650 million mark it needs is going to be well within reach if it can keep putting up record numbers like it has.
2)
THE PEANUTS MOVIE
With Spectre bringing in the adult crowd, The Peanuts Movie would have to hope that families showed up for it - and show up they did. With a hefty 70% of its audience made up of families, The Peanuts Movie opened with a great $45 million second-place showing. The audience also awarded the film a solid "A", meaning they liked what they saw. If the film follows the same patter as Happy Feet and Wreck-It Ralph, its eyeing a total around the $175 million to $180 million range - not bad at all for a film budgeted at $100 million. The big threat, once again, comes from later in the month when Pixar unleashes The Good Dinosaur over the Thanksgiving holiday. Despite the good will and nostalgia Peanuts brought in, it won't be enough to overcome the Pixar Juggernaut. Peanuts will also not boast much of an international audiences as it only brought in $2.7 million (mostly from China). Still, it won't need too much help as it looks to be doing just fine domestically.
3)
THE MARTIAN
After several weeks atop the box office, The Martian dropped a couple spots but still only dropped 20.6% - an amazing result considering the competition. The Martian took in $9.3 million and raised its total to $197 million. It will cross $200 million this week. That total represents a new best for director Ridley Scott and its international total of $458.5 million is also a new best - topping Gladiator by $1.1 million. It should top $500 million as it still has to open in China and Japan - two important markets.
4)
GOOSEBUMPS
Also dropping a couple spots was Goosebumps, which still also had a nice hold dipping just under 30%. The Jack Black film earned just under $7 million to give the film a new total of $66.44 million. That also means that Goosebumps just topped M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit ($64 million) to become the highest-grossing "horror" film of 2015. That's good for Goosebumps but kind of sad for the horror genre. I mean, It Follows, one of the most interesting and original horror films, only managed $14 million total. But I digress - there is always streaming (catch up people!). I guess family-friendly horror is always going to win out over much more specific horror.
5)
BRIDGE OF SPIES
Rounding out the top five (and also down a couple spots) was the Tom Hanks / Steven Spielberg Cold War drama, Bridge of Spies. The film was also down a light 27.5% and has really done well in bringing in an adult audience these last few weeks. It topped $50 million, bringing in $6 million for a new total of $54.9 million. Depending on how its awards season plays out, Bridge of Spies is eyeing at least a $70 million total, though could go much higher if it gets nominated (or wins) in the next few moths. It won't be a new record for either the star or director, but is going to be a solid total any way you look at it.
Outside the top five: The week's best per-theater average belonged to Spotlight. In limited release (five theaters) the film, focusing on the Boston Globes expose of the Catholic church, brought in $302,276 for a stunning $60,455-per-theaters average. Strong limited numbers don't necessarily lead to mainstream success (cough "Steve Jobs" cough) but we'll see if this leads to any awards buzz.
Next week brings us the release of the Chilean miner drama The 33, the Christmas-themed comedy Love the Coopers and heartfelt My All American. I have a feeling none of the films are going to come close to unseating Spectre (or The Peanuts Movie for that matter).
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