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 "Moana" was followed closely behind by newcomer "Office
Christmas Party." The raunchy comedy picked up $17.5 million
from 3,210 locations, a solid result given its modest $45
million budget.
It's a ho-hum time for ticket sales. The movie business
continues to be in a holding pattern, eagerly awaiting the
arrival of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" next week. That film
is expected to score the second biggest December opening in
history, earning more than $130 million in North America during
its initial weekend.
Paramount expects "Office Christmas Party" will mirror
"Sisters," another R-rated comedy that premiered during the
holiday season last year, ultimately doing more than six times
its opening weekend number to end its run with $87 million. The
hope is that "Office Christmas Party" can show similar
endurance, becoming the de facto choice for college age
moviegoers and men and women in their twenties.
"The date is built for legs," said Megan Colligan, Parmount's
worldwide marketing and distribution chief. "Our audience is
definitely the party audience and they're partying a little bit,
but they'll find the movie over time."
DreamWorks and Reliance backed the film about a group of workers
who organize a huge holiday bash in order to keep their branch
from closing. Paramount is distributing the film. It boasts an
ensemble cast that includes Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman,
Kate McKinnon, Courtney B. Vance, and T.J. Miller (who made
headlines this weekend following an altercation with an Uber
driver).
Lionsgate's "La La Land" hit the right notes in limited release.
The critically acclaimed musical racked up $855,000 in only five
theaters in New York and Los Angeles. That's the year's best
per-screen average with $171,000, and the second best of all
time for a specialty film, behind only "The Grand Budapest
Hotel" ($202,792). "La La Land" is expected to be one of the
year's major Oscar contenders.
"It's such a great film," said David Spitz, Lionsgate's
distribution chief. "Audiences love it and the critical response
has been fantastic."
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"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" took third place, earning
$10.8 million. Its domestic total stands just under $200 million; a
milestone the "Harry Potter" spin-off should cross on Monday.
Paramount's "Arrival" came in fourth with $5.6 million, pushing the
science-fiction thriller's gross to $81.5 million. Marvel's "Doctor
Strange," rounded out the top five, nabbing $4.6 million to push its
stateside haul to $222.4 million.
Several Oscar hopefuls widened their reach this weekend. Focus
Features' "Nocturnal Animals" moved from 127 venues to 1,262
theaters, earning $3.2 million. The trippy Tom Ford thriller has
made $6.2 million since opening in November.
Amazon's "Manchester by the Sea" is chugging along nicely. The
acclaimed drama about a grieving janitor (Casey Affleck) more than
doubled its screen count to 367 theaters, making $3.2 million in the
process. The film has earned $8.3 million since opening last month
and will be on roughly 1,200 screens beginning next weekend.
In its second weekend, Fox Searchlight's "Jackie" moved from five to
21 theaters, grossing nearly $500,000, and pushing its total to
$860,000 after ten days of release.
Those films seem to be finding their audience. Not every awards
hopeful was as lucky. EuropaCorp's "Miss Sloane" struggled in
expansion. The political thriller about a lobbyist taking on the gun
industry earned $1.9 million after moving from four theaters to
1,648 locations.
Overall ticket sales were up nearly 10%. The box office benefited
from weak comparisons, however. The year-ago period saw the release
of "In the Heart of the Sea," a costly whaling drama that bombed
when it opened to just over $11 million.
"It was pretty much business as usual this weekend," said Paul
Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with ComScore.
That won't last. Next weekend, "Rogue One" is poised to shake things
up.
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