Monday, November 03, 2014

Box Office Update: Ouija Wins Again

UPDATE: 'Ouija' Edges Out 'Nightcrawler'

The holdover horror film Ouija and the Jake Gyllenhaal thriller Nightcrawler both claim victory for Halloween weekend.



 It's really bad news for Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth who star in the film adaptation of S J Watson's debut bestselling novel, Before I Go to Sleep.

How did the original Saw do in its re-release celebrating its 10th anniversary?

Pamela McClintock of THR:

Thanks to a Halloween boost, Universal's holdover Ouija held far better than expected in its second weekend to tie with Jake Gyllenhaal's new indie crime-thriller Nightcrawler for the North American box office crown.

Ouija took in an estimated $10.9 million from 2,899 theaters for a 10-day domestic total of $35 million. Open Road Films' critically acclaimed Nightcrawler, playing in 2,766 locations, is also estimated a weekend take of $10.9 million.

The race won't officially be called until Monday morning when final grosses are tallied, although most rivals have Ouija slightly ahead.

Box office observers had expected Nightcrawler to win by a safe margin, but Ouija fell just 45 percent, far less than most horror titles.

That doesn't mean it was a great weekend overall. Revenue was down 20 percent from the previous frame after moviegoing plummeted on Halloween itself (it's the first time in six years that the holiday has fallen on a Friday). Hollywood studios considered the weekend such a wash that they didn't release one new film, leaving the marquee free for indie offerings -- and the rerelease of Saw.

Saw, celebrating its 10th anniversary, came in well below expectations, grossing just $650,000 from 2,063 locations as horror fans clearly opted for Ouija.

Produced and financed by Bold Films, Nightcrawler marks the feature directorial debut of Dan Gilroy and stars Gyllenhaal as a hungry freelance journalist who looks to further his career by exposing L.A.'s underground crime scene. Open Road Films is handling the $8.5 million film domestically.

Nightcrawler also stars Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed and Bill Paxton.

Halloween or no Halloween, Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth's British sci-fi thriller Before I Go to Sleep quickly bombed at the U.S. box office for distributor Clarius Entertainment, earning an estimated $2 million from 1,935 theaters.

That makes it the worst wide opening of Kidman and Firth's respective careers, not accounting for inflation. Kidman's previous lowest was Birth ($2.4 million) in 2002, while Firth's was The Last Legion ($2.7 million) in 2007.

Scott Free, Millennium and StudioCanal partnered on Before I Go to Sleep, directed by Rowan Joffe and distributed by Clarius Entertainment in the U.S. Based on the book by S. J. Watson's book, the film stars Kidman as a woman who wakes up every day of her life with no memory for her life she was in early early twenties.

Elsewhere, Fury, Gone Girl and The Book of Life rounded out the top five, while Bill Murray's indie comedy St. Vincent sported the best hold of the year for a film in its second weekend in nationwide release. St. Vincent, from The Weinstein Co. and Chernin Entertainment, grossed $7.8 million from 2,552 locations for a domestic total of $19.5 million and a decline of zero percent.


Next Up: Disney/Pixar Animation Studios debuts its really fun looking Big Hero 6 that follows robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) who, after a tragic event, turns to inflatable and huggable robot companion Baymax (Scott Adsit).  With a dangerous plot unfolding on the streets of San Fransokyo, Hiro transforms a group of like-minded friends –Go Go Tomago (Jamie Chung), Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez) and Fred (T.J. Miller) – into high-teach heroes determined to save the day.

 Christopher Nolan's sci-fi film Interstellar is here. It follows a group of scientists who travel through a wormhole into another dimension while on a mission to save mankind.

Matthew McConaughey Jessica Chastain Casey Affleck Michael Caine Anne Hathaway and veteran character actor Bill Irwin  Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for a Dream) Mackenzie Foy (The Conjuring The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2) John Lithgow Wes Bentley David Oyelowo David Gyasi Game of Thrones actor Elyes Gabel Matt Damon and Timothee Chalamet star in the pic.

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