1. The Martian- $15.9M/$166.3M
2. Goosebumps- $15.5M/$43.7M
Taking advantage of the relatively lack of family-friendly movies out there, Goosebumps had a remarkably good second week, slipping only 34% for $43.7M total.
3. Bridge of Spies- $11.3M/$32.5M
As expected, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies is looking like it will be sticking around for a while, dropping only 26% for $11.3M. You parents should be happy.
4. The Last Witch Hunter (review here)- $10.8M
Okay, so there's good news and bad news for Vin Diesel's action flick/franchise hopeful The Last Witch Hunter. The good news is that it's the top-grossing new movie this week. Hooray, right? But the bad news is $10.8M is still a pathetic number, especially when factoring in the $75M+ budget. While Diesel has had a few hits away from the Fast & Furious series, such as XXX and the Riddick movies, he's not a consistent action star and this proves it. Big muscles and a bald head can only go so far, and there was nothing about this film, short of Diesel swinging a flaming sword, that was notable. Okay, I take that back. Rose Leslie is always notable, at least to me.
5. Hotel Transylvania 2- $9M/$148.2M
6. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (review here)- $8.2M
8.2M??? For the final chapter of the long-running king of the found-footage horrors? If the number for Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension is scarier than the table-rattling demons it's for a good reason. The film only opened in 1656 theaters, a franchise low, due to many exhibitors boycotting Paramount's decision to release it on VOD in just a few weeks. Still, this is an ugly way to cap off the blockbuster franchise, and I wouldn't be shocked if we see one more just so they can go out on top.
7. Steve Jobs (review here)- $7.2M/$9.9M
Welcome to the top 10, Steve Jobs, hope you survive the experience. After a couple of weeks in limited release, Danny Boyle and Aaron Sorkin's presumed Oscar contender has gone wide into 2500 theaters and earned $7.2M. That's not so great for a film about such an important modern figure and starring Michael Fassbender, Seth Rogen, and Kate Winslet. Lots of star power in front of and behind the lens, but it doesn't seem to have mattered. Chances are things will improve as awards buzz grows, but it may be that audiences are still weary after 2013's Jobs, in which Ashton Kutcher played the tech giant to reviews worse than for the NeXT Computer.
8. Crimson Peak- $5.5M/$22.4M
Well, at least it has a shot to be the primary horror film this Halloween with Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension failing so hard. Cold consolation, for sure, but it's better than nothing.
9. The Intern- $3.8M/$64.7M
10. Sicario- $2.9M/$39.3M
But wait, weren't there more new releases than this? Where are Jem and the Holograms and Bill Murray's Rock the Kasbah? They're both wallowing in the stink of near record-low debuts for wide releases.
Open Road Films opened the "Bill Murray gets stranded in Kabul" flick Rock the Kasbah (review here) in over 2000 theaters and it only brought in $1.5M. In theory, Bill Murray getting stranded anywhere sounds like a recipe for comedy gold but the film has been pounded with bad reviews, which wasn't good for a film with such a limited audience range. Younger people weren't going to see this movie, anyway, and the bad reviews killed hopes of the older demo showing up.
Faring even worse is Jem and the Holograms (review here), a live-action film based on the '80s cartoon that apparently nobody at Universal saw. Somehow it earned only $1.3M in over 2400 theaters, which seems like it shouldn't even be possible. How could a film directed by Jon Chu, who has so effectively captured the teen market with the Step Up franchise and the nostalgia market with G.I. Joe: Retaliation, fail so incredibly hard? Easy; they threw away everything that made the girl power 'toon work, which is garish, colorful outfits and wild rock music-inspired adventure. Instead, the trailers promised a somber, soul-searching drama about young girls trying to become "Internet famous". Remember Josie and the Pussycats? That live-action film from 2001 was killed by critics and bombed at the box office, but I loved it because it was crazy over-the-top and unafraid of being so. It was exactly what Jem and the Holograms should have been.
