1. Spectre- $35.4/$130.7M
Falling only 50% in its second week, which is better than what Skyfall did by the way, Spectre earned a strong $35.4M, and is close to hitting $550M worldwide. At this point it's still unlikely to break the numbers earned by the prior film but it shows the Daniel Craig era of Bond has elevated into consistent blockbuster status. That's something no other 0077 can tout.
2. The Peanuts Movie- $24.2M/$82.4M
It's unfortunate timing for The Peanuts Movie to fall 46% in its second week, a pretty big number by animation standards, because Pixar's The Good Dinosaur is right around the corner. That said, the $82M earned by the big screen tribute to Charles M. Schulz's legendary comic strip is more than enough to say that Charlie Brown is a winner this time.
3. Love the Coopers (review here)- $8.4M
It was a pretty soft week for all of the new releases, but the one to emerge at the top was the holiday family dramedy Love the Coopers, a film that boasts a remarkable ensemble that includes John Goodman, Diane Keaton, Olivia Wilde, Jason Sudeikis, and more. What it also has are some of the year's worst reviews, but movies like this tend to have long legs around this time of year. Remember The Family Stone? Pretty much the same movie, came out around the same time, and did solid domestic business throughout the season.
4. The Martian- $6.7M/$207.4M
5. The 33 (review here)- $5.8M
Surprisingly, audiences couldn't dig up enough reason to see The 33, which is based on the true story recounting the rescue of the trapped Chilean miners in 2010. The event was such a global phenomenon, and their story so heavily steeped in themes of faith and family, that it seemed like a sure-fire hit. The film boasted no major box office stars with Antonio Banderas and Juliette Binoche leading the way, but this one wasn't about star power. Fortunately, the film is already doing well internationally which may be where it finds greatest success.
6. Goosebumps- $4.6M/$73.4M
7. Bridge of Spies- $4.2M/$61.6M
8. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo- $2.4M/$2.7M
9. Hotel Transylvania 2- $2.3M/$165.2M
10. The Last Witch Hunter- $1.5M/$26M
Easily the most impressive showing of the week went to Tom McCarthy's Spotlight, which expanded to 60 theaters and took in a whopping $23K per site average for nearly $1.4M, bringing its 10-day total to $1.8M.
On the polar end is Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's vanity project, By the Sea, which audiences dumped into the sea and ignored for the most part. It only opened in 10 theaters and earned about $95K, a shockingly low amount, but clearly this was never meant to some whopper of a production. It was mostly banking on two things: its starry duo and strong word-of-mouth. The latter it wasn't going to get after critics (including me) dashed it against the rocks, and frankly Brangelina are more interesting in tabloids than playing a fake couple with fake problems.
