The box office was once again dominated by M. Night Shyamalan’s low budget horror movie; Spilt easily stayed in the number one spot with no competition from any of the new releases, only showing a 34% decline from its previous weekend numbers. It’s a testament to how great the word of mouth is with this film. We’ve talked about how much of an impact that ending might have made, and we’ve speculated where the next film in this series could go. Split has people talking and that got folks going to the movies this weekend.
Apparently, people weren’t talking too much about the controversy behind A Dog’s Purpose. After a 0n-set video leaked of a German Shepard reluctantly being forced to perform a stunt, an uproar and boycott around the movie seemed like it was going to drastically affect the film’s chances at the box office. That doesn’t seem to be the case as A Dog’s Purpose took the number two spot with little resistance. Whether the film will hold in the coming weeks remains to be seen.
What is pretty clear is the fate of the Resident Evil franchise. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter had the lowest domestic opening of the entire series. It’s looking like this really will be the final chapter. Strangely, it was the new release with the highest Rotten Tomatoes score this weekend. Yes, even Gold got a colder critical (and financial) reaction than this often-mocked franchise. It will be interesting to see how history looks back on the Resident Evil series, especially since the first film was something quite different than what the franchise became.
The Numbers Game
Each week, I will guess how much wide-release films will be making on their opening weekend. My estimates come from my heart and my gut. You’d think I’d use my brain, but that makes far too much sense. Fandom’s editor Nick Nunziata will also be providing his guesses because two stabs in the dark are better than one.
Last Week:
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
My Guess: $19,000,000
Nick’s Guess: $15,500,000
Actual: $13,850,000
Result: Yikes. Nick was closer but this still underperformed for us.
Gold
My Guess: $9,000,000
Nick’s Guess: $7,500,000
Actual: $3,470,000
Result: Oof. We were not on the ball this week.
A Dog’s Purpose
My Guess: $5,000,000
Nick’s Guess: $6,000,000
Actual: $18,386,020
Result: Wow. We really whiffed it across the board. We’ll try harder.
This week:
Rings
The last time we got a Ring movie was over a decade ago. Is there a clamoring for this newest entry? Rings has been delayed numerous times so that doesn’t bode well for the film’s quality. Plus, the teasers have ranged from derivative to downright silly. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of new ideas being brought to the table other than transplanting the cursed video into the Internet age. And the runaway success that is Split could damage Rings in unfathomable ways.
My guess: $13,330,000
Nick’s guess: $11,000,000
The Space Between Us
This sci-fi YA romance looks too small to breakout. The buzz for this is next to non-existent and there hasn’t been a strong marketing push either. The premise actually sounds like it has potential – boy raised on Mars moves to Earth and falls in love – but there’s little to suggest something really special here. And the holdover competiton is just too strong.
My guess: $6,500,000
Nick’s guess: $7,000,000
See you next week, box office buddies!
Source: Box Office Mojo
