The former, boasting a loyal book crowd and big family appeal, headed straight for the top of the charts with $23.5 million, according to studio estimates. Internationally, grosses are looking slightly better, hauling in $72 million to date.
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The most unexpected stumble of the weekend was Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Crimson Peak’, which opened in fourth place and failed to draw more than just the director’s devoted fans. You could blame the hard R rating, the relative lack of star power and lukewarm word-of-mouth (a B- at CinemaScore). With Japan and China still to come, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials earned an additional $8.7 million from 47 overseas territories for a total of $180.3 million at the global box office and $255.7 million worldwide.
Next weekend features the release of several Halloween-themed projects, including the franchise-ending horror sequel Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension and Vin Diesel’s supernatural fantasy film The Last Witch Hunter. This is the hit Ridley Scott needed; it’s now on par for around $215 million domestically. The spy drama, which is based on the 1960 U-2 spy plane incident, was fighting a host of options at the box office but performed admirably; while it doesn’t hold up against Lincoln’s $21 million wide opening in 2012, it’s otherwise the best opening for a Spielberg film since the fourth Indiana Jones in 2008. You’d think this children’s horror comedy and “Goosebumps” would damage each other’s prospects, but that doesn’t seem to have happened. But perhaps the most impressive showing of the weekend was 20th Century Fox’s “The Martian” which only dropped 41.9% in its third week of release and added $21.5 million to a domestic total which is in reach of $150 million. This is a solid – but not spectacular – start for this effects-driven film, but for a movie that cost “only” $58 million, it spells success.
That left faith-based drama “Woodlawn”, the story of a high school football team that makes a playoff run after finding religion, debuted across 1,553 to a stronger than expected $4.1 million. On the other hand neither Hanks nor Spielberg have the same pull they once did and this was a very competitive weekend in a month that’s nowhere near the top as far as attendance goes. Adapted by Emma Donoghue from her book of the same name, the A24 title stars Brie Larson as a young mother trapped in a windowless room with her young son (Jacob Tremblay). The African war drama, starring Idris Elba and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, grossed $50,699 from 27 theaters in 30 markets for a location average of $1,635.
Sony’s slate has been incredibly back-loaded so if a film in the first half flopped or under-performed, it was a longer wait for investors to see signs of a turnaround.
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To be sure, even “Goosebumps” opened on the low end of expectations.
