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 Overall ticket sales plunged as "Chappie," a science-fiction
adventure about a sentient robot, topped charts with a weak
$13.3 million from 3,201 locations. Going into the weekend, Sony
Pictures was aiming for a debut of roughly $15 million and some
analysts expected the film could hit $20 million. Reviews were
tepid, and the picture is the latest in a long line of R-rated
new releases such as "Fifty Shades of Grey" and "Focus," which
may have hurt it with moviegoers looking for something that
appeals to kids as well as adults.
"There's been a glut of R-rated movies starting from the first
of the year," said Rory Bruer, Sony's worldwide distribution
chief. "I think there's some R-rated fatigue."
The odds may have been against "Chappie" from its inception.
Original science-fiction films have had a rocky go of it at the
box office of late, with "Seventh Son," "Jupiter Ascending" and
"Project Almanac" all crashing on the shoals of audience
indifference. Blomkamp may be on safer ground with his next
project, a new installment in the "Alien" franchise.
"Chappie" was produced for $49 million, and Sony isn't ready to
concede defeat on the picture just yet, predicting it could make
a profit when foreign markets are taken into account. Bruer
notes that Blomkamp's previous films, "District 9" and
"Elysium," were able to stick around for a long time after their
debuts.
"The movie plays well, and the uniqueness of the characters is
going to drive a conversation that I do believe will help the
film in the coming weeks," he said.
It was a dispiriting weekend overall for the business, with
ticket sales down roughly 35% from the year-ago period - a
weekend that saw the debuts of "300: Rise of an Empire" and "Mr.
Peabody and Sherman." That also took a chunk out of the
substantial lead that the exhibition industry had maintained
over 2014's first quarter numbers. Ticket sales are now up
roughly 5% over the previous year's, but two weeks ago they
topped them by roughly 10%.
"The market has been so strong lately, I'm not surprised to see
such a big down weekend," said Phil Contrino, vice president and
chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. "Things have to slow down at
some point."
"Chappie" fared better than "Unfinished Business," another
R-rated whiff. The business trip comedy eked out a gloomy $4.8
million across 2,777 locations. It ranks as the lowest debut of
Vaughn's career, raising serious questions about his appeal. The
"Wedding Crashers" star has headlined an array of flops over the
past four years, including "The Dilemma," "Delivery Man," "The
Internship" and "The Watch." A lot is riding on the second
season of "True Detective" to return Vaughn to audiences' good
graces.
Twentieth Century Fox distributed the $35 million film, which
New Regency financed. The opening crowd for "Unfinished
Business" was 55% male and 54% over the age of 25.
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"Sometimes this happens where a film doesn't connect with an
audience," said Spencer Klein, executive vice president of
theatrical distribution at Fox. "Fortunately, this hasn't happened
too often to us."
There was one diamond in the crop of dinged-up new releases -- "The
Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." The comic tale of retirees
making new lives for themselves in India bowed to a sterling $8.6
million across 1,573 locations. Fox Searchlight is distributing the
comedy which was co-produced by Participant Media and cost a mere
$10 million to produce.
"This audience of moviegoers wants to see something different, and
there hasn't been much out there for them," said Frank Rodriguez,
senior vice president of distribution at Fox. "This market of
specialty crowds and more mature audiences has been underserved."
"The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" will add approximately 300
screens to its current crop of venues next weekend, Rodriguez
predicted. The first picture stuck around for months, eventually
making $46.4 million, but this film had a wider debut and should be
more front-loaded. The film played older and female, with more than
65% of the crowd comprised of women and the same percentage over the
age of 50.
"Our core audience came out this weekend, but it's comprised of
moviegoers who don't always rush out immediately," said Rodriguez.
"We think this is the kind of film that could stick around."
Last week's champ, the Will Smith heist picture "Focus," had to
settle for runner-up status, taking second place on the charts with
$10 million. That brings the film's take to $34.6 million.
Among holdovers, "Kingsman: The Secret Service" took in $8.3
million, pushing its take to $98 million, while "Fifty Shades of
Grey" added $5.6 million to its $156.4 million haul. "The SpongeBob
Movie: Sponge Out of Water" continued to benefit from being one of
the only family-friendly releases in the market, picking up $7
million and driving the picture to $149 million at the Stateside box
office.
At the arthouse, Sony Pictures premiered the spin-doctor documentary
"Merchants of Doubt" on four screens where it earned $20,327, while
"The Hunting Ground," a look at sexual violence on college campuses,
added $8,936 from two screens to its $45,822 gross.
Roadside Attractions and Black Label Media's critically adored
thriller "71" capitalized on good reviews, earning $70,590 after
expanding from four to 16 screens in New York and Los Angeles.
Next weekend brings Disney's live-action version of "Cinderella" and
with it a chance at box office redemption.
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