Generally, we love our new things. We get the latest phones, slip on the latest fashions and practically swoon over the whiff of that new car smell. And movies? They have a shorter lifespan than a batch of speckled bananas.
Unless, of course, the new movies already look a little spoiled themselves.
After a weekend away from No. 1, The Martian blasted back into the box office’s top slot with an estimated $15.9 million weekend. Taken by itself, that sort of bank wouldn’t carry your typical rocket ship much farther than, say, Miami. But overall, Ridley Scott’s newest flick has earned $166.4 million—just $11.4 million short of making it the director’s biggest film ever.
Goosebumps, last week’s champ, slipped to No. 2 this weekend, earning a chilly $15.5 million. Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies packed another $11.4 million into its trenchcoat, and it’s surely toting that cash to the nearest microfilm discount store even now.
Only at No. 4 do we reach the weekend’s first new movie—one of four disappointing wide releases. The Last Witch Hunter could only conjure up $10.8 million, suggesting that this’ll be the last Last Witch Hunter movie we ever see. Or, if we do see another one, maybe it’ll be repositioned as a family-oriented animated lark: Hotel Transylvania 2, after all, is still going strong, with a $9 million, fifth-place showing.
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension settled its chains and sheets into sixth place with a meager $8.2 million. That’s about half of what the franchise’s previous low had been. (Last year’s Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones earned $18.3 million out of the gate.) But to be fair, Ghost Dimension’s take wasn’t quite as ghoulish as it first looks. Paramount is experimenting with a new release strategy, wherein the movie was released in fewer theaters in exchange for a quicker release on video. The fright flick will come out on video once the film is playing at fewer than 300 theaters—which, at this rate, might happen before you’re done reading this blog.
Still, The Ghost Dimension was a runaway hit compared to the other two new releases. Despite starring the beloved Bill Murray, Rock the Kasbah hit rock bottom, earning just $1.5 million, finishing 13th. Jem and the Holograms fared even worse, collecting just $1.3 million for 15th. Just how bad is that? According to Box Office Mojo, it’s the worst opening ever for a movie screening at more than 2,400 theaters.
Maybe the movie should’ve included more Misfits …
Final figures update: 1. The Martian, $15.7 million; 2. Goosebumps, $15.5 million; 3. Bridge of Spies, $11.4 million; 4. The Last Witch Hunter, $10.8 million; 5. Hotel Transylvania 2, $8.9 million; 6. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, $8.1 million.
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