BOX OFFICE REPORT
January 9-11, 2015(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)
TOP 51. Taken 3 (40.4 million)2. Selma ($11.2 million)3. Into the Woods ($9.7 million)4. The Hobbit 3 ($9.4 million)5. Unbroken ($8.3 million)
Liam Neeson put his particular set of skills to work, giving the third chapter in the Taken series its third straight No. 1 opening. That's less than Taken 2, but in this franchise of diminishing returns, Taken 3 will almost certainly make less than that sequel, which also made less than the original, which seemed to come out of nowhere in January 2009 to take the world by storm.
Selma, Ava DuVernay's portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s rise to prominence in the Civil Rights Movement, opened in second place with $11.2 million. Riding a wave of great reviews"”it's at 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes"”and possible Oscar nominations, it could get even bigger in the weeks to come, especially with MLK Day on the 19th.
The rest of the top films were very familiar, but most surprising was The Hobbit falling to fourth place, behind Into the Woods. The latter has now passed $105 million, while Unbroken also crossed that major threshold. But all three are likely to come up with only one or two Oscar nominations on Thursday morning.
Outside the top 5: - This Weekend's Indie Champ: American Sniper, Clint Eastwood's biopic of U.S. Navy sniper Chris Kyle, still stood strong on only four screens, averaging $138,750. That's three weeks in a row as the top earner and good for three of the best averages of all time. It goes wide next week.
- A Most Violent Year continued its success into 2015. The acclaimed drama averaged $30,250 on the four screens it stayed on.
- Looks like The Woman in Black 2 is hearing its own death knell. Last week's only new wide release dropped nearly 68 percent to No. 9. It's unlikely to even pass $30 million. But to put that in perspective: That's still better than Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.
Next week: It's the battle of the historical dramas. American Sniper, finally hitting wide release, goes up against Selma. Despite the latter's very relevant message, timeliness and merit, it's going to be No. 2 again, but will likely earn more than it did this week. American Sniper's going to be No. 1 and it's going to be big, even bigger than Lone Survivor's wide opening this time last year. $40 million at least.
