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 After two weeks of release, “Zootopia,” the critically
acclaimed story of a plucky rabbit policewoman, has earned
$142.6 million stateside. In its second weekend, “Zootopia” only
dropped 33% — an impressive show of endurance at a time when
major releases routinely see their grosses cut in half after a
big opening. The animated offering is benefiting from a lack of
family fare. It’s been more than six weeks since “Kung Fu Panda
3” landed in theaters and the next big film aimed at younger
audiences doesn’t hit until April 15 with “The Jungle Book.”
“Family audiences have been underserved for months, so this
movie is perfectly timed to get more bang for the buck,” said
Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore.
Despite the continued strength of “Zootopia,” Paramount and Bad
Robot’s “10 Cloverfield Lane” was able to connect with
audiences, earning $25.2 million from 3,391 locations. That’s a
strong return given that the film about a woman who finds
herself trapped in a doomsday bunker, waiting out the apocalypse
with the neighborhood survivalists, cost $13 million to produce.
The studio also kept marketing costs in check, holding off its
campaign until eight weeks before the film opening, with its
biggest spending coming with a Super Bowl teaser.
Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore credited Bad Robot chief J.J.
Abrams with coming up with the concept for the twisty thriller
while he was in production on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” He
said the key was to make sure that none of the advertisements
revealed any of the film’s surprises.
“We wanted to give people just enough clues to keep them
excited, interested, and wanting more,” said Moore. “That’s rare
in this day and age, when so much [information] is given out so
early.”
All was not well with “The Brothers Grimsby.” The Sony spy
comedy from Sacha Baron Cohen opened to a terminal $3.2 million
from 2,235 locations, raising questions about the comic mind
behind “Borat” and “Bruno’s” continued bankability.
“We certainly wanted more,” said Rory Bruer, Sony’s distribution
chief. “Sacha is amazing and we love him, and we tried to crack
the code on it, but it just didn’t happen for us.”
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Cohen’s most recent starring effort, 2012’s “The Dictator,”
disappointed with roughly $180 million on a $65 million budget, and
he tends to have a long period of time between projects, which may
have diminished his popularity. Whatever the case, “The Brothers
Grimsby,” with a $35 million budget, ranks as the biggest flop of
Cohen’s career. He will try to rebound with a supporting turn in
next summer’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” a sequel to “Alice
in Wonderland.”
Focus’ faith-based play, “The Young Messiah,” had a lackluster
launch, debuting to $3.4 million from 1,761 locations. Also opening,
Lionsgate’s romance “The Perfect Match,” which unfolded in 925
locations to $4.2 million for the weekend.
In limited release, Bleecker Street’s drone thriller “Eye in the
Sky” generated $117,050 from five locations for a $23,410
per-theater average. Roadside Attractions and Sony’s Stage 6 Films
also opened “Hello, My Name is Doris,” an off-beat comedy about an
older woman (Sally Field) who becomes smitten with a young
co-worker, in four screens in New York and Los Angeles, where it
pulled in $85,240 for a per-screen average of $21,310.
The domestic box office year-to-date was up more than 9% after last
weekend. However, those gains have largely been on the backs of
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which opened in 2015, but did more
than $400 million worth of business this year, as well as recent
hits like “Zootopia,” “Kung Fu Panda 3” and “Deadpool.” That’s led
to a severe case of haves and have nots. There have been a litany of
wide releases that have stumbled or fallen flat in recent months — a
collection of also-runs and bombs that includes “Whiskey Tango
Foxtrot,” “Gods of Egypt,” “The 5th Wave,” “Pride & Prejudice &
Zombies” and “Eddie the Eagle.”
“It’s a traffic jam out there,” said Dergarabedian. “The marketplace
is monumentally overcrowded and there are too many films that don’t
have a solid chance to do well.”
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