With just one week left beforeStar Wars: The Force Awakenshits theaters on December 18, this weekend was expected to be less than impressive. Warner Bros.‘In the Heart of the Seais the only new wide release, with most projections predicting it would make enough to unseatThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, which has won at thebox officefor three weeks in a row.Box Office Mojoreports thatIn the Heart of the Seacouldn’t quite overtakeThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, which won for the fourth weekend in a row with $11.3 million, just aboveIn the Heart of the Sea’s second place take with $11 million.
In the weekend before blockbusters such asAvengers: Age of UltronandJurassic Worldopened, the box office saw a significant downturn, as fans got ready for those highly-anticipated movies to hit theaters. It’s no surprise that this weekend will not be any different, sinceStar Wars: The Force Awakensis expected to be one of the biggest movies this year. Last month,Star Wars: The Force Awakensalready broke a box office record by taking in $50 million in advance ticket sales, shattering the record of $25 million by 2012’sThe Dark Knight Rises. There was speculation thatStar Wars: The Force Awakenscould reach upwards of $100 million in pre-sales before opening day, but no updated figures have been released.
In the Heart of the Seais set in the winter of 1820, when the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance. The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, but that told only half the story.In the Heart of the Seareveals the encounter’s harrowing aftermath, as the ship’s surviving crew is pushed to their limits and forced to do the unthinkable to stay alive. Braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, the men will call into question their deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, as their captain searches for direction on the open sea and his first mate still seeks to bring the great whale down.
In the Heart of the SeastarsChris Hemsworth,Tom Holland,Cillian Murphy,Benjamin Walker,Charlotte Riley,Brendan Gleeson,Ben Whishaw,Frank Dillane, Michelle Fairley and Paul Anderson.Ron Howarddirects this adaptation of Nathaniel Philbrick’s book, with Charles Leavitt,Rick JaffaandAmanda Silverwriting the screenplay adaptation. Even with the star power ofChris Hemsworth,In the Heart of the Sea, which cost an estimated $100 million to produce, is now set to sink at the box office after this lackluster opening.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2’s $11.3 million take brings its domestic total to $244.6 million, with a worldwide total of $564.5 million.The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2opened with $102 million, the lowest of all four films in the franchise. While we’ll have to wait and see if it can surpass $300 million domestically, it seems like a long shot that it will surpassThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1’s domestic total of $337.1 million. It’s possible that these middling grosses could help put an end to the trend of studios splitting the final novel of a trilogy into a two-part movie, but we’ll have to wait and see.
HoldoversThe Good Dinosaur($10.4 million) andCreed($10.1 million) stayed put in third and fourth place, respectively, while Universal’sKrampus, which performed better than expected last weekend, opening with $16 million, dropped from second place to fifth place with $8 million, rounding out the top 5.Krampushas already turned a profit, since it was produced for just $15 million, following a horned beast who punishes naughty children at Christmastime. When dysfunctional family squabbling causes young Max (Emjay Anthony) to lose his festive spirit, it unleashes the wrath of the fearsome demon. AsKrampuslays siege to the Engel home, mom (Toni Collette), pop (Adam Scott), sister (Stefania Owen) and brother must band together to save one another from a monstrous fate. The supporting cast includesAllison TolmanandDavid Koechner, withMichael Dougherty(Trick ‘r Treat) directing.
Rounding out the top 10 isSpectre($4 million),The Night Before($3.9 million),The Peanuts Movie($2.6 million),Spotlight($2.5 million) andBrooklyn($1.9 million). Universal’sLegend, which features a critically-acclaimed dual role fromTom Hardy, was expected to expand nationwide this weekend, but it only added 46 theaters for 107 total, earning $301,000. The film opened November 20 in limited release, earning $86,836 from four theaters for a $21,709 per-screen average, but it’s per-screen average has been dropping steadily since then, despite adding more theaters each week. Opening in limited release this weekend is Paramount’sThe Big Short, which took in an impressive $720,000 from eight theaters for a whopping $90,000 per-screen average. This financial drama is set to expand nationwide on December 23. GKIDS’ The Boy and the World earned $6,968 from two theaters for a $3,484 per-screen average, although box office data wasn’t released yet for Gravitas Ventures’ Bleeding Heart, Lionsgate Premiere’sDon Verdeanand Freestyle Releasing’s The Girl in the Book.
Looking ahead to next weekend,Star Wars: The Force Awakenswill finally hit theaters, alongside Universal’sSistersand 20th Century Fox’sAlvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chip. While it’s somewhat unusual for a movie as big asStar Wars: The Force Awakensto have any competition whatsoever, bothSistersandAlvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chipare aimed at very different demographics, but we’ll have to wait and see how they perform against a behemoth likeStar Wars: The Force Awakens. Until then, take a look at the projections for the week of December 11 below.
