Weekend Box Office (August 28 - 30, 2015)
THIS WEEKEND The North American box office slumped to its lowest point of 2015 which was not too surprising since the frame before Labor Day weekend is usually among the slowest of the whole year. Staying in the number one spot for a third straight time was the hip hop drama Straight Outta Compton with an estimated $13.2M, off 50%. Marketshare leader Universal has collected an impressive $134.1M to date on its way to $160-170M.
The faith-based drama War Room delivered a terrific opening in second place despite playing in only 1,135 locations as the Sony release grossed an estimated $11M for a potent average of $9,692. The PG-rated story of how prayer can help with marital problems connected with its target audience and had little competition to deal with.
Tom Cruise's hit Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation slipped only 28% to an estimated $8.3M in its fifth round boosting Paramount's cume to $170.4M. The Weinstein Co. saw a soft bow for its Owen Wilson thriller No Escape which opened to an estimated $8.3M from 3,355 sites for a weak $2,470 average. Total since the Wednesday launch was just $10.3M.
Holdovers followed, all with under $5M a piece. Sinister 2 tumbled 56% to an estimated $4.7M for Focus while the Warner Bros. action title The Man From U.N.C.L.E. fell 40% to an estimated $4.4M. Cumes are $18.5M and $34.1M, respectively.
Fox's Hitman: Agent 47 grossed an estimated $3.9M, down 54%, for a new total of $15.3M. The Gift dipped just 27% to an estimated $3.1M giving STX $36M so far. The dino-smash Jurassic World jumped back into the top ten with an estimated $3.1M and was followed by fellow summer hit Ant-Man with an estimated $3.1M as well. Cumes to date are $643.1M and $169.2M, respectively.
Zac Efron struck out with his new DJ drama We Are Your Friends which failed to make the top ten on opening weekend. Warner Bros. saw just an estimated $1.8M from 2,333 theaters for a puny $772 average.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $63M which was down 24% from last year when Guardians of the Galaxy stayed at number one with $17.1M; and down 26% from 2013 when The Butler remained in the top spot with $14.9M.
Compared to projections, War Room opened higher than my $8M forecast while No Escape was on target with my $10M five-day prediction. We Are Your Friends came in below my $6M projection.
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Be sure to check back on Monday for final studio figures and again on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when The Transporter Refueled and A Walk in the Woods both open.
| # | Title | Aug 28 - 30 | Aug 21 - 23 | % Chg. | Theaters | Weeks | AVG | Cumulative | Distributor |
| 1 | Straight Outta Compton | $ 13,133,560 | $ 26,364,020 | -50.2 | 3,142 | 3 | $ 4,180 | $ 134,019,735 | Universal |
| 2 | War Room | 11,351,389 | 1,135 | 1 | 10,001 | 11,351,389 | Sony | ||
| 3 | Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation | 8,155,581 | 11,451,746 | -28.8 | 3,095 | 5 | 2,635 | 170,242,111 | Paramount |
| 4 | No Escape | 8,111,264 | 3,355 | 1 | 2,418 | 10,172,124 | Weinstein Co. | ||
| 5 | Sinister 2 | 4,665,341 | 10,542,116 | -55.7 | 2,799 | 2 | 1,667 | 18,526,943 | Focus |
| 6 | The Man From U.N.C.L.E. | 4,431,136 | 7,317,374 | -39.4 | 2,706 | 3 | 1,638 | 34,142,762 | Warner Bros. |
| 7 | Hitman: Agent 47 | 4,224,446 | 8,326,530 | -49.3 | 3,273 | 2 | 1,291 | 15,645,177 | Fox |
| 8 | Ant-Man | 3,073,116 | 4,055,465 | -24.2 | 1,690 | 7 | 1,818 | 169,205,642 | Disney |
| 9 | Jurassic World | 3,010,770 | 947,550 | 217.7 | 1,239 | 12 | 2,430 | 642,978,555 | Universal |
| 10 | The Gift | 3,004,313 | 4,282,360 | -29.8 | 1,934 | 4 | 1,553 | 35,830,756 | STX |
| 11 | Minions | 2,875,080 | 3,828,720 | -24.9 | 1,976 | 8 | 1,455 | 324,755,670 | Universal |
| 12 | American Ultra | 2,851,916 | 5,454,284 | -47.7 | 2,778 | 2 | 1,027 | 10,540,025 | Lionsgate |
| 13 | Fantastic Four | 1,782,398 | 3,733,632 | -52.3 | 1,675 | 4 | 1,064 | 52,745,496 | Fox |
| 14 | We Are Your Friends | 1,767,308 | 2,333 | 1 | 758 | 1,767,308 | Warner Bros. | ||
| 15 | Ricki and the Flash | 1,702,684 | 2,982,315 | -42.9 | 1,716 | 4 | 992 | 23,484,234 | Sony |
| 16 | Trainwreck | 1,670,350 | 2,460,015 | -32.1 | 957 | 7 | 1,745 | 105,081,865 | Universal |
| 17 | Vacation | 1,628,162 | 3,018,405 | -46.1 | 1,555 | 5 | 1,047 | 54,943,586 | Warner Bros. |
| 18 | Pixels | 1,536,865 | 2,144,316 | -28.3 | 1,005 | 6 | 1,529 | 70,971,829 | Sony |
| 19 | Inside Out | 1,349,972 | 1,594,360 | -15.3 | 763 | 11 | 1,769 | 344,519,079 | Disney |
| 20 | Shaun the Sheep | 1,092,821 | 1,513,365 | -27.8 | 1,358 | 4 | 805 | 16,339,388 | Lionsgate |
| Top 5 | $ 45,417,135 | $ 64,001,786 | -29.0 | ||||||
| Top 10 | 63,160,916 | 85,356,247 | -26.0 | ||||||
| Top 20 | 81,418,472 | 102,336,777 | -20.4 | ||||||
| Top 20 vs. 2014 | 81,418,472 | 100,219,176 | -18.8 |
This column is updated three times each week: Thursday (upcoming weekend's summary), Sunday (post-weekend analysis with estimates), and Monday night (actuals). Opinions expressed in this column are those solely of the author.
Last Updated: August 30, 2015 at 4:10PM ET
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