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 "This continues to be a movie for everyone," said Chris
Aronson, Fox's head of domestic distribution. "It's not just
entertaining. It's life affirming. It celebrates the triumph of
the human spirit and that's so important in these times."
"Hidden Figures" is a latecomer to the awards season race, but
the film, which stars Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer as
African-American scientists and mathematicians in the early days
of the space program, ranks as one of the most successful dramas
of 2016. So far, it has earned $60.4 million. That commercial
success could translate into Oscar attention when Academy Award
nominations are announced next week.
It will likely face fierce competition from "La La Land," a
critically beloved movie musical with Emma Stone and Ryan
Gosling. Fresh off its sweep of the Golden Globe awards, "La La
Land" sang and danced its way to $17.5 million over the holiday
period, good enough for a third place finish. That brings the
Lionsgate release's domestic total to $77 million and more than
$132 million globally. Not bad for an original musical that hit
theaters without the benefit of being based on a beloved
Broadway show.
The holiday weekend wasn't as kind to a flood of new wide
releases and expansions. Paramount's "Monster Trucks" collapsed
at the box office; the $125 million family film eked out a
meager $15 million over the four-day-long weekend. The studio
had already ripped off the bandage. Last year, it took an $115
million write-down on "Monster Trucks" months before the film
even hit theaters.
Ben Affleck didn't have much to celebrate. The Oscar-winner was
left licking his wounds after audiences rejected "Live by
Night," his expensive passion project. The $65 million drama was
left inert after expanding from four theaters to 2,822 locations
and only managing to make $6.1 million in the process. Affleck
directed, wrote, produced, and starred in the film about a
Florida rum runner, with Warner Bros. picking up the check. What
audience there was for "Live by Night" was older -- 69 percent
of opening weekend ticket buyers clocked in over the age of 35.
Open Road's "Sleepless" didn't generate much enthusiasm from
audiences. The action-thriller stars Jamie Foxx as a morally
compromised cop. It made a lackluster $9.9 million, but the
studio says it was able to cover its production costs entirely
by selling distribution rights to foreign territories. It says
"Sleepless" will be profitable.
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In this box office pileup, STX's "The Bye Bye Man" was somehow able
to withstand the carnage. The low-budget horror film about a group
of college students fending off a supernatural force rounded out the
top five, earning a healthy $15.3 million, well above projections
that had it opening to $10 million. It cost less than $8 million to
produce.
Holdovers "Sing" and "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" took second and
fourth place, respectively. "Sing," an animated film about a talent
competition for animals, earned $19.2 million, pushing its North
American gross to $238.4 million. "Rogue One" added $17.1 million to
its $502.2 million domestic haul. It is now the top-grossing
domestic release of 2016.
Heading into the weekend, most analysts expected CBS Films and
Lionsgate's "Patriots Day" to make more of an impression. Reviewers
have praised the story of the Boston Marathon Bombing for its
intensity and for director Peter Berg's attention to detail. It also
did well in limited release. However, the film earned a
disappointing $13.6 million after moving from seven theaters to
3,120 locations. That's below estimates that had the film expanding
to as much as $18 million. Audiences gave the film a rare A+
CinemaScore, so that could help it regain its stride in the weeks
ahead. Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, and Kevin Bacon star as the cops
and feds trying to figure out who is behind the deadly attack.
Then there's "Silence," a decades-in-the-making religious drama from
Martin Scorsese that follows a pair of priests as they search for
their mentor in feudal Japan. The film is a highly personal project
for Scorsese and another one of his explorations of the limits and
power of faith, following in the footsteps of "The Last Temptation
of Christ" and "Kundun." This one appears to be too esoteric for
mainstream audiences. "Silence" expanded from 51 theaters to 747
locations, earning $2.4 million for the long weekend. The $50
million film was financed independently. Paramount is distributing
the picture.
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