The word on everybody’s lips this weekend was Zootopia, as the animated film opened at #1 to big numbers, reportedly Disney’s biggest opening weekend of all time. With virtually no competition for the foreseeable future, expect this to keep raking in the money for a while. Everyone seems to love this film too, so the positive word-of-mouth will likely broaden its audience beyond strictly family audiences. I mean, Home was such a big hit in the same month last year, and that was a terrible movie. Hopefully, one that’s actually really good can have even bigger success.
At #2, London Has Fallen had a decent opening, especially considering the film’s atrocious reviews (currently sitting at 26% on Rotten Tomatoes). Its predecessor, Olympus Has Fallen, opened to just over $30 million in 2013, so this is quite a drop, but it could have been so much worse. Expect this film to fall quickly, though. I doubt it has much in the way of longevity.
Despite losing its top spot for the first time, Deadpool is still hanging on at #3. This week, it crossed $300 million. No one is complaining.
Finishing the weekend at #4, the Tina Fey comedy Whiskey Tango Foxtrot bombed. Fey is a witty and talented comedy icon, so I hope this doesn’t affect her career in any negative way. I’m crossing my fingers that people just weren’t that interested in a Middle East-set comedy, though I can’t shake the feeling that the film’s box office is an indication that Fey may simply not be a marketable movie star at this point.
Gods of Egypt fell three slots to #5 in its second week, while Biblical drama Risen fell two to #6 in its third. Kung Fu Panda 3 is holding strong well into its second month of release, though it predictably suffered a big blow this week by the direct competition of Zootopia, falling four slots and facing its biggest decline week-to-week to date.
After winning three Oscars, including Best Director and Best Actor, The Revenant actually rose two slots to #8 and hardly declined from last week. It’s inching closer and closer to $200 million, though I doubt that it will be able to make it there. Sports bio flop Eddie the Eagle tumbled three slots to #9, having made only $10 million after two weeks. Faring better was horror film The Witch, which hung in there at #10 and reached $20 million. Art-house horror doesn’t tend to do well at the box office for some reason (just look at the results for last year’s It Follows), so this should be considered quite a success for a tiny indie that premiered over a year ago at Sundance.
The Oscars proved to have minimal effect on winning films’ box office. Best Picture winner Spotlight enjoyed the biggest boost, rising to #14 and adding nearly $2 million to its total haul, bringing it past $40 million. An Oscar boost for Room, which won Best Actress, was totally non-existent, while other big winners The Danish Girl and Bridge of Spies have so few screens left that it hardly matters. Perhaps these films will all see huge interest on home media.
| TW | LW | Title | Gross (est.) | Cumulative (est.) | Weeks in Release |
| 1 | N | Zootopia | $73,700,000 | $73,700,000 | 1 |
| 2 | N | London Has Fallen | $21,714,000 | $21,714,000 | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | Deadpool | $16,400,000 | $311,158,132 | 4 |
| 4 | N | Whiskey Tango Foxtrot | $7,600,000 | $7,600,000 | 1 |
| 5 | 2 | Gods of Egypt | $5,000,000 | $22,848,320 | 2 |
| 6 | 4 | Risen | $3,885,000 | $28,650,923 | 3 |
| 7 | 3 | Kung Fu Panda 3 | $3,525,000 | $133,831,833 | 6 |
| 8 | 10 | The Revenant | $3,325,000 | $175,976,921 | 11 |
| 9 | 6 | Eddie the Eagle | $3,100,000 | $10,861,132 | 2 |
| 10 | 7 | The Witch | $2,485,035 | $20,895,610 | 3 |
Source: Box Office Mojo
What did you see this weekend?
