Not much to write about this week — people must have stayed home in a Super Bowl fever, since all three new releases flopped.
Kung Fu Panda 3 topped the chart for the second week in a row, and it’ll likely pass Ride Along 2 in a week or so to become the highest-grossing film to date of 2016. I know that it’s stupidly early to say things like that, but let’s try to make this fun, shall we?
At #2 was Hail, Caesar!, the new all-star Coen Brothers comedy. I honestly wasn’t expecting this to be the biggest success among the week’s three new releases, and the fact that it is makes me very happy. We should always applaud the times when real cinema for adults finds an audience, since there’s always far too much coming out of Hollywood that was made just to sell toys. Still, these are hardly huge box office numbers, especially for a film featuring so many movie stars. However, after its opening weekend alone, Hail, Caesar! has already made nearly as much money as the Coens’ brilliant Inside Llewyn Davis did in its entire run.
The resilient The Revenant and Star Wars: The Force Awakens stayed strong at #3 and 4, respectively. The former remains at the front of the Oscar race this year, having just won the DGA Award over the weekend. This could very well be your Best Picture winner this year, though it’s fun that things are less certain than usual this year. The latter, meanwhile, passed the $900 million mark this week, which is just astounding.
The week’s two other new releases, The Choice and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, opened very weakly at #5 and 6, respectively. These are terrible box office results, and both films will be lucky if they make it to the end of February.
The Finest Hours slipped three spots to #7 this week. Has anyone actually seen it? It’s strange to me that such a “major” title has had such nonexistent buzz. Also dropping three spots was Ride Along 2 at #8, though it continues to be the year’s biggest hit so far. Rounding out the Top 10 were The Boy and Dirty Grandpa, which remarkably continue to do nearly identical business after three weeks.
| TW | LW | Title | Gross (est.) | Cumulative (est.) | Weeks in Release |
| 1 | 1 | Kung Fu Panda 3 | $21,000,000 | $69,050,957 | 2 |
| 2 | N | Hail, Caesar! | $11,440,000 | $11,440,000 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 | The Revenant | $7,100,000 | $149,703,403 | 7 |
| 4 | 3 | Star Wars: The Force Awakens | $6,890,000 | $905,961,469 | 8 |
| 5 | N | The Choice | $6,085,000 | $6,085,000 | 1 |
| 6 | N | Pride and Prejudice and Zombies | $5,200,000 | $5,200,000 | 1 |
| 7 | 4 | The Finest Hours | $4,715,000 | $18,380,000 | 2 |
| 8 | 5 | Ride Along 2 | $4,520,000 | $77,206,830 | 4 |
| 9 | 7 | The Boy | $4,098,000 | $26,895,684 | 3 |
| 10 | 6 | Dirty Grandpa | $4,050,000 | $29,389,753 | 3 |
Source: Box Office Mojo
In limited release, 45 Years climbed to the top of all films screening in fewer than 600 theatres, thriving on Charlotte Rampling’s Best Actress nomination. I shamefully have not seen this one yet, despite adoring director Andrew Haigh’s previous film, Weekend. I’ll definitely be checking it out within the next week.
The 2016 Oscar Nominated Short Films program and the Maggie Smith vehicle The Lady in the Van continued to do strong business, each crossing $1 million this week. Ip Man 3, meanwhile, crossed $2 million.
New release The Monkey King 2 — a 3D fantasy martial-arts extravaganza from China — rounded out the Top 5 limited release chart this weekend. Starring Hong Kong pop star Aaron Kwok and legendary Chinese actress Gong Li, the film is a sequel to one of the most successful films of all time in China.
| TW | Title | Gross | Cumulative | Weeks in Release |
| 1 | 45 Years | $475,908 | $1,986,820 | 7 |
| 2 | 2016 Oscar Nominated Short Films | $427,455 | $1,213,854 | 2 |
| 3 | The Lady in the Van | $353,227 | $1,217,449 | 10 |
| 4 | Ip Man 3 | $275,786 | $2,126,511 | 3 |
| 5 | The Monkey King 2 | $166,391 | $166,391 | 1 |
Includes only titles that have never screened in wide release.
Source: Box Office Mojo
What did you see this weekend?
