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tomatometer:

60% The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

49% Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

29% Annie (2014)

28% Exodus: Gods and Kings

68% The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
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n/a P.K.

metacritic:





*click pic(s) for source*

‘The Hobbit’ Rules Them All With $90.6 Million

Moviegoers helped Peter Jackson bid farewell to Middle Earth in style, pushing “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” to $90.6 million over its first five days in theaters.

The franchise finale debuted Wednesday on 3,875 locations and easily trumped tracking which had predicted a debut in the $70 million range. For its inaugural three-day weekend, the fantasy adventure earned $56.2 million.

“There have been six visits to Middle Earth and this is the final one and it became so important for people to come out to see this in a big way,” said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. distribution executive vice president. “The action was there and Peter made a fabulous movie.”

This “Hobbit” faced stiffer competition than the previous installments in the form of two major family releases, “Annie” and “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.” Previous Jackson films, such as “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and “The Desolation of Smaug,” more or less had their opening weekends to themselves.

Even though there were a number of heavy hitters duking it out at the multiplexes, the overall box office slipped 4% compared to the previous year, a troubling sign that ticket sales are in a slump heading into the holidays. As it stands, the 2014 box office trails 2013’s record-breaker by more than 5%.

The latest “Night at the Museum” seemed to suffer the most from all the activity, pulling in a modest $17.3 million from 3,785 theaters. That was substantially below estimates that were in the $26 million range. It also trails previous entries in the family series. The first “Night at the Museum” bowed to $30.4 million in 2006 and “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian: premiered to $54.2 million in 2009.

Twentieth Century Fox, which backed the $127 million production, will have to hope that families turn out in force over the holidays and that the franchise’s core audience didn’t age out of the series during the five year gap between sequels.

Fox distribution chief Chris Aronson placed the blame squarely on the box office downturn and suggested the latest “Museum” film will be able to pick up steam as kids get out of school.

“I’m shcoked that this weekend is a down weekend,” said Aronson. “We projected that all industry the weekend would be up. It shows the marketplace is sluggish right now as we get through this last shopping weekend before the holiday.”

“Annie” brought in $16.3 million, a hair above prerelease tracking the projected a debut of $15 million. It’s a welcome bit of good news for Sony Pictures, the studio behind the $65 million production. Sony has been brought to its knees in recent weeks by hackers linked to North Korea, forcing the cancelation of its other big Christmas release, “The Interview.”

“Annie” was originally supposed to debut on Christmas, but Sony moved up its debut in order to generate greater awareness heading into the holiday.

“It was bold to go into this territory with ‘Night at the Museum’ and ‘The Hobbit,’ but there’s something special about ‘Annie,'” said Rory Bruer, Sony Pictures president of worldwide distribution. “We knew the picture itself would be the best marketing told and we think that the word-of-mouth is going to spread.”

The musical remake earned an A minus CinemaScore, and played well with families, who made up 76% of the audience, and females, who comprised 70% of the opening crowd.

“Five Armies” did impressive business, but it could not match the sendoff given to Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” wrap-up, “The Return of the King,” which made $124 million in 2003 during its first five days at the box office.

Comparisons with the first two “Hobbit” films are difficult because they opened on Friday while the latest chapter bowed at mid-week. “An Unexpected Journey” kicked off with $84.6 million, while “The Desolation of Smaug” debuted to $73.6 million. New Line teamed with MGM to finance the $700 million “Hobbit” trilogy.

The final “Hobbit” did robust business in premium formats, picking up 49% of its gross in 3D screenings and 15% from Imax.

Globally, the series remains a monster, crossing the $200 million mark worldwide on Saturday. It should end its first weekend with around $300 million in global ticket sales.

Last weekend’s champ, “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” fell sharply in its second frame, plunging more than 65% to $8.1 million and capturing fourth place on the charts. The $140 million production has made $38.7 million since it debuted. It will have to play better in foreign markets if it wants to recoup its hefty budget.

In fifth place, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1″ lapped up $7.7 million, bringing its domestic total to $289.2 million.

Reese Witherspoon’s Oscar bait, “Wild,” benefited from a major expansion. The drama about a woman on walkabout earned $7.2 million after expanding from 116 theaters to 1,061 locations.

Chris Rock’s “Top Five” also expanded from 979 to 1,307 locations, but its grosses dipped 48.2% to $3.6 million. The well reviewed film about a comedian in crisis has earned a mediocre $12.5 million since opening last week despite receiving glowing critical reviews.

*click pic for full list/source*


*click pic for full list/source*

 

[Toa TAK]

Exodus still hanging in there somehow.

 

[Currygan]

Hobbit did better than expected in the US

 

[~Kinggi~]

Exodus still hanging in there somehow.

It dropped 66.6%

We are fucked

 

[Penguin]

Wow, Annie got knockaround in the reviews, what's the story there?

 

[metalslimer]

So nice seeing Exodus flop

 

[duckroll]

Wow. LOL. 2 weeks and Exodus isn't even at 40 million. Dat white power.

 

[Slayven]

Wow. LOL. 2 weeks and Exodus isn't even at 40 million. Dat white power.

So if they had casted minorities they would have ended up giving money to movie goers?

 

[Currygan]

Wow, Annie got knockaround in the reviews, what's the story there?

bad movie?

 

[Toa TAK]

Exodus was just a bad to mediocre movie period. Even had they properly cast minorities into their respected roles, the movie would still have suffered from its lazy characterization and poor plotting, like, how fucking contrived was it to get Moses out of Egypt? I mean, come on.

The biggest issue is that I'll still be there to see his next film, too. Just like The Counselor and Prometheus before...

 

[crimzonflame]

Ben Stiller just make Zoolander 2 already

 

[Succinct Verbosity]

It's a religious movie with a casting controversy from a once great director that is now running on fumes. I'm not shocked.

Also, the Hunger Games is doing well enough, but it must b falling short of some expectations given the former film's success, right?

 

[Son Of D]

$127m budget for Museum 3? I always thought they were lower budget movies. Or is this just the exception?

 

[alfredofroylan]

Wow, Annie got knockaround in the reviews, what's the story there?

Ok imagine every single song auto tuned to death; even for the actors and actresses that don't need it. Mock the original movie in the very first 5 minutes, add one of the worst performances of all times by Cameron Diaz then put all in a "modern" setting that for some reason feels old and outdated.

I'm not going to blame Quvenzhané Wallis, she's just a kid that appears in a movie that nobody asked for.

 

[davepoobond]

So if they had casted minorities they would have ended up giving money to movie goers?

Or it would have served as a platform to show that Egyptian actors can't carry a movie and they would never be cast in roles that required their race to accurately be portrayed in a movie.

Or more likely, just Ridley Scott sucks either way


Need to watch the hobbit. Maybe today or tomorrow.

 

[yankeeforever2]

$127m budget for Museum 3? I always thought they were lower budget movies. Or is this just the exception?

I assume they had to pay Ben Stiller out the ass for this one.

 

[Maledict]

It's a religious movie with a casting controversy from a once great director that is now running on fumes. I'm not shocked.

Also, the Hunger Games is doing well enough, but it must b falling short of some expectations given the former film's success, right?

Re Hunger Games - absolutely. Previous two films have both gone over $400m USA domestic, this one is going to peak at $330m if its lucky. Comparing it's legs to Guardians of the Galaxy and it's significantly behind by this point.

http://boxofficemojo.com/showdowns/chart/?view=daily&id=2014openers.htm

It's going to be a nail biter finish as to which film is going to be the top USA domestic for the year - I think had you asked anyone at the start of the year they would have said Mockingjay was a certified lock-on for that title, with Transformers being the only potential challenger. Not the film with the talking raccoon and animated plant.

 

[Dram]

Does that have to do with the fact that it has part one in the title and is not a true ending to the series?

 

[duckroll]

Looks like 2014 is almost certainly going to have the lowest top-grossing domestic film of the year since 2007.

 

[GhaleonEB]

So if they had casted minorities they would have ended up giving money to movie goers?

They cast well known whites to appeal to a larger (white) market. It didn't work. Would be nice if the lesson they took away was, whitewashing doesn't work, and went a more appropriate casting route next time. It might even broaden it's appeal.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

How in the hell did Annie cost $65m?

Doesn't appear to be effects heavy from the trailers...

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Would not be surprised if Museum's underperformance is partially due to people being too bummed out about Robin Williams to see a lighthearted family film with him in it right now.

 

[Zukuu]

They cast well known whites to appeal to a larger (white) market. It didn't work. Would be nice if the lesson they took away was, whitewashing doesn't work, and went a more appropriate casting route next time. It might even broaden it's appeal.

Would it have changed something? I don't think people are like "hey there are xx number of ethnic minority actors in it, let's watch the film we would not otherwise watch".
I rather think it's because people are just tired of biblical/religious movies.

 

[JDSN]

So nice seeing Exodus flop

Annie on a higher stop makes it better somehow. (Yes, I know its a premiere)

 

[mreddie]

Annie under-performing is no good for Sony. Exodus underperforming is good news for us.

 

[Currygan]

They cast well known whites to appeal to a larger (white) market. It didn't work. Would be nice if the lesson they took away was, whitewashing doesn't work, and went a more appropriate casting route next time. It might even broaden it's appeal.

I don't think that would have changed the movie's fate. Perhaps people just don't care about a biblical epic, Noah wasn't a flop just by the skin of its teeth

 

[alfredofroylan]

Would not be surprised if Museum's underperformance is partially due to people being too bummed out about Robin Williams to see a lighthearted family film with him in it right now.

Spoiler alert

Spoiler

There's a scene at the end of the movie, when every single character says farewell. And Teddy Roosevelt part is really something, specially fo what he says and what we know about him.

Honestly if you want to see this movie for something, just do it for that last scene.

 

[Catdaddy]

PK at #10, my daughter works at a theater showing this and it was the only movie to sell out on Friday night.. (It was only one screen vs 4-5 for Hobbit, but still)

 

[NYCmetsfan]

How in the hell did Annie cost $65m?

Doesn't appear to be effects heavy from the trailers...

Jamie fox getting paid

Spoiler alert

Spoiler

There's a scene at the end of the movie, when every single character says farewell. And Teddy Roosevelt part is really something, specially fo what he says and what we know about him.

Honestly if you want to see this movie for something, just do it for that last scene.

Spoiler

what does he say?

 

[Ridley327]

$127m budget for Museum 3? I always thought they were lower budget movies. Or is this just the exception?

The first one had a $110 million budget. They've always been pretty spendy kids films, thanks to the big casts of well-known actors and all the special effects.

 

[FullMetalx117]

Night at the museum 3 came out?

 

[GhaleonEB]

Would it have changed something? I don't think people are like "hey there are xx number of ethnic minority actors in it, let's watch the film we would not otherwise watch".
I rather think it's because people are just tired of biblical/religious movies.

I would have 1) lowered the budget (no need for stars bloating it), 2) given a lot of minority actors who are currently not given a shot in Hollywood some opportunities, 3) potentially widen the appeal of the film, and 4) avoided whitewashing controversy.

None of which would have helped the fact that it was the latest Ridley Scott turd, or another exhausting faux religious epic. But I'd argue those are all positives and since the whitewashing approach didn't work, they might as well give it a shot. It would have been a better outcome even with the same box office performance.

I don't think that would have changed the movie's fate. Perhaps people just don't care about a biblical epic, Noah wasn't a flop just by the skin of its teeth

You are missing the point.

 

[chicagocubsfan]

Annie under-performing is no good for Sony. Exodus underperforming is good news for us.

It said in the OP that Annie outgained its 15 mill estimate?

 

[Slayven]

They cast well known whites to appeal to a larger (white) market. It didn't work. Would be nice if the lesson they took away was, whitewashing doesn't work, and went a more appropriate casting route next time. It might even broaden it's appeal.

I am an optimus so I hope that is what happens.

Would it have changed something? I don't think people are like "hey there are xx number of ethnic minority actors in it, let's watch the film we would not otherwise watch".
I rather think it's because people are just tired of biblical/religious movies.

And tired of people giving asshole responses to legit concerns like Ridely and Bale did.

He told people to get a life, and looks like they did.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

How in the hell did the third Night at the Museum cost that much to make?

 

[Slayven]

How in the hell did the third Night at the Museum cost that much to make?

Reign Wilson don't work for chump change

 

[Ridley327]

How in the hell did the third Night at the Museum cost that much to make?

It's cheaper than the second one, which was around $150 million.

 

[Laekon]

How did Annie cost $65 million? Isn't that pretty high for a movie of that type?

 

[mreddie]

It said in the OP that Annie outgained its 15 mill estimate?

Feels like it did fairly though.

 

[Peru]

GotG is not some underdog story, I expected it to do as well as it did - a colorfulm sprawling new film from box office safe bets Marvel -- and those who didn't seemed very caught up in the comic book aspect of superhero movies. Superhero movies are not big because of comic book sales. All in all Mockingjay does really well for being a 'part 1'.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

I will say that the Arclight I went to for Hobbit was D E A D for a Friday night. Lobby was empty. Theater was maybe 50% booked and we only saw a trickle of other moviegoers for the other films screening that night. And this was at 9pm.

I'm surprised the third Hobbit movie has a higher MC than the first one. Critics haven't been kind in general to the films but yeesh there haven't been that many 'haw haw we made a jokey forward reference to a film set in this one's future' since Episode One. Add to that the crummy nature of the CGI and lousy editing and yeah it's tracking dead last behind the rest of the franchise.

 

[idwl]

How did Annie cost $65 million? Isn't that pretty high for a movie of that type?

Jamie fox and Cameron Diaz are probably a third of that budget

 

[alfredofroylan]

Spoiler

what does he say?

Spoiler

Saying goodbye, talking about an adventure bedore turning into wax

 

[PHOENIXZERO]

How in the hell did Annie cost $65m?

Doesn't appear to be effects heavy from the trailers...

Studio time for all that auto-tune and general musical over production was expensive?

EDIT: And yeah, Foxx and Diaz getting paid.

Terrible movie even without comparing it to the 1982 version.

 

[Travo]

Wow, people are really tired of Night at the Museum.

 

[Anth0ny]

GOTG wins 2014

 

[kswiston]

Worldwide Updates:

Penguins of Madagascar - $200M
Exodus: Gods and Kings - $100M
Interstellar - $635M
The Hobbit: BotFA - $353M
Big Hero 6 - $272M
Mockingjay Pt 1 - $640M


- Interstellar has made $13M worldwide in the past week. It should end up somewhere between $650-675M

- Mockingjay is holding well domestically, but the overseas legs have to be disappointing. This is a film that some people were saying had a shot at $1B. It might not hit $750M now, which means overseas totals will either be flat or slightly down.

- The Hobbit seems to be keeping pace with the previous 2 films overseas. I have been told that the film has a good Chinese release date, and may see a boost in that territory. No idea if that boost will be enough to ensure $1B worldwide though.

GOTG wins 2014

I now think it will go the other way. We'll see how Mockingjay holds through the holidays but Catching Fire made $51M after this point and Mockingjay only needs $43M. The weekend grosses between the two films are close.

 

[Currygan]

interesting about the Hobbit. Could it reach 1B after all?

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

Production Budget: $127 million

Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $17,300,000 62.4%
+ Foreign: $10,416,000 37.6%
= Worldwide: $27,716,000

Robin Williams second last movie

 

[spwolf]

Wow, Annie got knockaround in the reviews, what's the story there?

i just checked imbdb by accident and saw 4.4 rating... most posters hated that they casted jamie fox since he is black and i guess original story had a white character? pretty horible crap from people there.... so much for exodus doing better if they had egyptians in it.