“Sully” stars Hanks as Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the career pilot who successfully landed a damaged U.S. Airways jet in the Hudson River after it hit a flock of geese following takeoff from LaGuardia Airport. In addition to showing Sully’s feat, the film explores the little-known National Transportation Safety Board investigation of the landing.
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The strong results extended Eastwood’s hot streak – his previous film was “American Sniper”, which was the No. 1 domestic release of 2014 – and revealed built-up demand by adult moviegoers after a summer filled with big-budget sequels and reboots over-reliant on computer-generated imagery.
Garner a A CinemaScore, the biographical drama skewed female (56%) in North America, while 80% of the audience was over the age of 35. “Older audiences love to go to the movies as well, and “Sully” is exactly the kind of movie that can bring them out”. “If Tom Hanks ran for president, he’d win”, Dergarabedian says.
“The movie sells itself”, said Warner Bros distribution executive Jeff Goldstein.
“Sully” marks the fifth-best September opening of all time and Eastwood’s top debut as a director.
Goldstein was also struck by how well the film, despite its NY story, played in all areas of North America.
It is the first movie ever to be shot entirely in ultra high definition IMAX cameras. Sully also marks the first movie to be show nearly entirely with IMAX cameras.
Opening in second place with $15 million is Screen Gems’ “When The Bough Breaks”, a thriller centered around an infertile couple and their psychotic surrogate battling for control of their family. It surpassed its modest $10 million budget, but failed to meet both analyst expectations and the precedent set by last year’s African-American thriller “The Perfect Guy”, which made $25.9 million on the same weekend.
Meanwhile another, more positively reviewed, Sony film Don’t Breathe secured the third spot on the chart after making $8.2 million. “The Wild Life” (Lionsgate), an independently financed animated movie, took in about $3.4 million, while a horror movie, “The Disappointments Room” (Relativity), more than lived up to its title, with an abysmal $1.4 million in ticket sales.
Starring Morris Chestnut, Regina Hall and Jaz Sinclair, the film underperformed – original estimates predicted a $20-million opening. “The Wild Life”, $3.4 million. 6. “Pete’s Dragon”, $2.9 million ($2.2 million international). 8.
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Indeed there is a convincing argument the picture has already made more than it should, given it has a woeful zero per cent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “Sausage Party”, $2.3 million ($4.2 million international). “The Secret Life of Pets”, $15.1 million. 4. It cost $10 million to make, according to Box Office Mojo.
