The Martian Beats Out New Releases

With all five of last weekend’s (Oct. 23-25) new wide releases disappointing to various degrees, 20th Century Fox’s The Martian and Sony Pictures’ Goosebumps continued to lead the box office. It was a very close race between the two, with The Martian ultimately outpacing Goosebumps by $207,006 over the weekend.

The Martian, starring Matt Damon, returned to No. 1 at the box office last weekend beating out new releases.
(Photo: 20th Century Fox)

The Martian took in $15.73 million last weekend. The blockbuster Ridley Scott directed 3D sci-fi film starring Matt Damon was down a slim 26 percent. After losing a bit of momentum the previous weekend, The Martian stabilized very nicely last weekend due in part to the weekend’s new releases collectively being even softer than expected. The Martian has grossed $166.19 million in 24 days.

Goosebumps followed closely in second with $15.53 million. The 3D horror comedy starring Jack Black was down 34 percent from its previous weekend’s debut. Goosebumps experienced a solid second weekend hold and likely got an extra boost from Halloween falling next Saturday. Goosebump’s 10-day take stands at $43.74 million.

Disney Studios’ and DreamWorks’ Bridge of Spies held up very nicely with a third place take of $11.37 million. The critically acclaimed Steven Spielberg directed thriller starring Tom Hanks fell only 26 percent from the previous weekend. Bridge of Spies has grossed a promising $32.59 million in 10 days. Bridge of Spies is likely to continue to hold up well going forward thanks in part to strong word of mouth.

Lionsgate’s The Last Witch Hunter delivered the weekend’s top debut with a fourth place take of $10.81 million. The Vin Diesel led action film opened below expectations. The Last Witch Hunter is likely to be front-loaded. It should be noted that The Last Witch Hunter carried the largest price tag of this weekend’s five new releases.

Hotel Transylvania 2 rounded out the weekend’s top five with $8.88 million. Sony’s Adam Sandler led 3D computer animated film dropped just 30 percent from the previous weekend. As like Goosebumps, Hotel Transylvania 2 probably also received a boost from family audiences who wanted to catch the film before the arrival of Halloween next weekend. Hotel Transylvania 2 continues to impress with $148.18 million in 31 days. That places the film 14 percent ahead of the $130.38 million 31-day take of 2012’s Hotel Transylvania.

Paramount Pictures’ Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension was even softer than expected with a sixth place debut of $8.07 million. Moviegoers clearly had no desire for a sixth installment of the low budget horror franchise and the decision to shorten the film’s theatrical window before it quickly arrives on video on demand, which resulted in the film playing in a modest 1,656 locations, didn’t help matters either. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension debuted a disappointing 56 percent below the $18.34 million start of last year’s Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. While The Marked Ones opened in 1,211 more locations than The Ghost Dimension, it didn’t have the added advantage of higher priced 3D admissions that The Ghost Dimension has.

After a promising two-week start in limited release, Universal Pictures’ Steve Jobs stumbled as it expanded into wide release with a seventh place take of just $7.11 million. The Danny Boyle directed drama starring Michael Fassbender was the weekend’s biggest disappointment when taking into account expectations. Despite strong reviews, the film’s appeal with moviegoers in major metropolitan areas clearly isn’t transferring over to moviegoers throughout the rest of North America. Last weekend’s performance for Steve Jobs barely outpaced the $6.71 million debut of 2013’s Jobs, which was received far less favorably by critics. The 17-day total for Steve Jobs stands at $9.82 million. Word of mouth appears to be positive for the film.

Meanwhile, Open Road’s Rock the Kasbah and Universal’s Jem and the Holograms both were downright flops with respective starts of only $1.47 million and $1.38 million. Both films performed below low pre-release expectations. The Bill Murray led Rock the Kasbah was hampered by poor critical reviews and from the immense current competition for adult moviegoers. Jem and the Holograms didn’t appeal to fans of the 1980s animated television series and didn’t have much potential to begin with.

Mark Heckathorn

Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.