It was a dark, award-baiting weekend at the box office, with a star-studded, thought-provoking drama doing well enough to grab number one, but not well enough to put off those Oscar voters who hate handing best picture nods to movies that grab lots of cash.
Prisoners opened at number one with $21 million, which is great if you want that award buzz, but a little short of the promise of making a profit against a $46 million budget. Perhaps word of mouth might give the critically popular movie a boost going into next weekend, but director Denis Villeneuve is probably more interested in the thoughtful reviews than the cash haul for his first wide release feature film.
Chris Brown's latest feature Battle of Year took a beating (unfair pun?), both at the hands of critics (less than 10% on RT) and at the hands of audiences who only coughed up $5 million to hand the $20 million drama a weak fifth place.
The movie that earned the most cash per theater was the 3D/IMAX re-release of The Wizard of Oz. With only $3 million it came in ninth place over all, but with only 318 venues it cahsed in to the tune of almost $10,000 per showing. Of course it doesn't hurt that ticket prices for the showings were elevated for that 3D/IMAX experience.
For the full weekend top ten, check out the chart below:
Prisoners *
$21,430,000Total: $21,430,000LW: N
THTRS: 3,260
Insidious Chapter 2
$14,500,000Total: $60,855,000LW: 1
THTRS: 3,155
The Family (2013)
$7,000,000Total: $25,641,000LW: 2
THTRS: 3,091
| 4. | Instructions Not Included | $5,700,000 | Total: $34,262,000 | LW: 6THTRS: 978 |
| 5. | Battle of the Year * | $5,000,000 | Total: $5,000,000 | LW: NTHTRS: 2,008 |
We're the Millers
$4,670,000Total: $138,176,000LW: 5
THTRS: 3,003
Lee Daniels' The Butler
$4,304,000Total: $106,452,000LW: 4
THTRS: 2,931
Riddick
$3,672,000Total: $37,180,000LW: 3
THTRS: 3,022
| 9. | The Wizard of Oz (3D/IMAX) * | $3,022,000 | Total: $3,022,000 | LW: NTHTRS: 318 |
Planes
$2,861,000Total: $86,543,000LW: 7
THTRS: 2,446
This poll is no longer available.
