By Chris Kavan - 10/13/13 at 11:41 PM CT
After an impressive opening weekend, it looks like audiences are still attracted to Gravity. And it turns out there is room for two adult dramas as Tom Hanks found out with one of his best openings in five years. All in all it was a very strong October weekend - even if most of the fireworks were made by the top three films (leaving scraps for the rest). It also meant the weekend was down about 10% compared to last year. The good news is that with these kind of numbers - the rest of October should be just as strong.
1) GRAVITY
Gravity continued to do impressive business at the box office, and after watching it myself, I can certainly see why it appeals so much to audiences. Dropping just 21% from its opening (the best non-holiday hold for any movie with a $40+ opening) Gravity added $44.3 million, giving it a new total of $123.4 million (and blasting passed its $100 million budget). Of not, the 3D screens made up 82% of this figure - that's up from the 80% from last weekend and shows that word-of-mouth over seeing this on the big screen worked wonders. The film brought in $9 million from IMAX alone - the best second-week showing in that format just topping The Dark Knight Rises ($8.99 million). All sings point to Gravity having a great run - it should keep most 3D screens through early November and it should be able to top $250 million easily with $300 million a distinct possibility.
2)
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
Although it competed for roughly the same audience as Gravity, it turns out adults have plenty of room for films as Captain Philips opened to rather impressive $26 million. That represents the best opening for Hanks since 2009 when Angels & Demons opened with $46.2 million. It helps wash out the taste of under-performing titles like Larry Crowne and Cloud Atlas. It also earned an "A" cinemeascore from audiences (62% over 35 and slightly more male at 52%). Compared to similar dramas, it opened better than both Argo ($19.5 million) and Zero Dark Thirty ($24.4 million). This film might not do as big of numbers as Argo or Gravity will, but it should easily be able to breeze passed its $55 million budget.
3)
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2
The animated sequel was the only other film this weekend to earn over $10 million at the box office. Dipping 32% from last weekend, the film took in $14.2 million for a new total of $78 million. It has fallen slightly behind the original film through the same period, though it still looks like Cloudy 2 will still be able to pass the $100 million mark before it runs its course.
4)
MACHETE KILLS
Coming in well below the original film's opening of $11.4 million, Machete Kills had one of the worst openings of the year for a wide-release film (alongside Paranoia) at just $3.8 million. Despite packing in multiple stars from Mel Gibson to Lady Gaga, fans of the grindhouse throwback are apparently content to wait to view this one at home. Those that did decide to show up awarded it a lackluster B- cinemeascore, meaning Machete isn't going to stick around long and will be lucky to even break $10 million. It might be loads of fun - but I'm thinking if we see another Machete, it could go straight to video.
5)
RUNNER RUNNER
After a disappointing opening, Runner Runner took a huge 52% hit and managed just $3.72 million for a new total of $14.1 million. It just goes to show that all the star power in the world isn't going to help you out if you have a lackluster story and script.
Outside the top 10: Enough Said added 169 theaters and officially entered the nationwide market and enjoyed the lowest drop out of any film in the top 12 (down just 11.8%) and added $1.9 million (11th place) and, featuring one of the last roles for James Gandolfini, the comedy now stands at $8.1 million.
On the other end of the spectrum, the latest incarnation of Romeo and Juliet, with Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth as the star-crosses lovers, was an indie disaster, scraping up just $509,000 from 461 theaters. Perhaps it's time to give The Bard a rest?
Next week we have the release of the Carrie remake, with Chloë Grace Moretz as the psychokinetic teen and Julianne Moore as her even more psycho overly-religious mother. We also get action/thriller Escape Plan that even though has Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger I literally have seen zero marketing so I expect little out of it.
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