SpongeBob Takes Out American Sniper
Paramount Pictures’ The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water surprised in a big way last weekend with a very strong debut of $55.37 million. The 3D animated live-action hybrid film based on the long running animated series exceeded pre-release expectations. The film opened 73 percent stronger than the $32.02 million debut of 2004’s The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie without adjusting for inflation. Without adjusting for higher ticket prices, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water delivered the fifth largest opening weekend ever for the month of February behind 2004’s The Passion of the Christ, The Lego Movie, 2001’s Hannibal and 2010’s Valentine’s Day. With no real competition for family audiences throughout February, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water should hold up better going forward than The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie did in 2004.
After leading the box office for the past three weeks, Warner Bros. Pictures’ American Sniper fell to second place last weekend with $23.29 million. The blockbuster Clint Eastwood directed film starring Bradley Cooper was down just 24 percent from the previous weekend’s performance, which was deflated by the Super Bowl. Last weekend’s hold for American Sniper was especially impressive given that the film lost its IMAX screens to Jupiter Ascending and Seventh Son. American Sniper has grossed a massive $281.39 million after 24 days of wide release. That ranks the film as the third highest grossing release of 2014 so far domestically and leaves the film just $18.61 million away from reaching the $300 million domestic milestone.
Fellow Warner Bros. release Jupiter Ascending debuted in third place with $18.37 million. The expensive 3D sci-fi film from The Wachowskis starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis debuted on the lower end of modest expectations. Jupiter Ascending was originally scheduled to open last July, but pushing the film back to February ultimately made little difference at the box office and likely hurt the film’s potential a bit.
While Jupiter Ascending at least had a presence at the box office last weekend, Universal Pictures’ Seventh Son didn’t. The pricey and long delayed fantasy film, which was originally to be released by Warner Bros., stumbled out of the gate with a fourth place debut of $7.22 million. Seventh Son debuted on the low end of expectations and represents yet another early 2015 release that audiences simply had no interest in joining the likes of Blackhat, Mortdecai and Strange Magic. It should be noted that Seventh Son has had much more of a box office presence overseas.
Project Almanac rounded out the weekend’s top five with $5.23 million. The low budget sci-fi thriller from Paramount was down just 37 percent from the previous weekend. Despite the nice second weekend hold, Project Almanac is still performing below pre-release expectations with a 10-day start of $15.66 million.
Paddington followed very closely behind in sixth with $5.22 million. The family film from The Weinstein Co. was also down 37 percent from the previous weekend, which represented a very solid hold, especially given the stronger than expected launch of
This Week | Last Week | Movie | Weekend Gross | Cumulative Gross | Weeks |
1 | N/A | The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water | $55.37M | $55.37M | 1 |
2 | 1 | American Sniper | $23.29M | $281.39M | 7 |
3 | N/A | Jupiter Ascending | $18.37M | $18.37M | 1 |
4 | N/A | Seventh Son | $7.22M | $7.22M | 1 |
5 | 2 | Project Almanac | $5.23M | $15.66M | 2 |
6 | 3 | Paddington | $5.22M | $57.12M | 4 |
7 | 6 | The Wedding Ringer | $4.72M | $55.00M | 4 |
8 | 7 | Imitation Game | $4.69M | $74.55M | 11 |
9 | 4 | Black or White | $4.54M | $13.14M | 2 |
10 | 5 | The Boy Next Door | $4.11M | $30.86M | 3 |
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.