With the holidays over, much of the rest of the Top 10 saw steep drops. Into the Woods danced across the $100 million mark on its third weekend, grossing $9.8 million. Its 48% dip this frame was one of the smaller drops of films in wide release, yet the film also added 295 locations. With $105.3 million worth of treasure so far, the Disney musical is set to finish its run with around $125 million. The total could be higher if it receives a lot of Oscar nominations, which will be announced on Thursday.
Losing much of its footing after three weekends of first-place finishes was The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, which plummeted 57% to capture $9.4 million. Although it had tracked to ultimately finish above The Desolation of Smaug‘s gross over the holiday season, the steep drop in this frame indicates the film is losing ground at a quicker rate. Both previous Hobbit installments dropped 48% on the weekend after school resumed in the New Year. The Battle of the Five Armies could limp to Smaug‘s $258.4 million finish, but won’t make much more.
Rounding out the top five was Angelina Jolie’s WWII drama Unbroken, which earned $8.4 million, dropping 54%. Its $101.6 million total so far is impressive; however, given its massive four-day opening take, the film was expected to make bigger gains by now. With mixed reviews and reception, the film could fail to pick up major Oscar noms on Thursday. A total of around $120 million seems likely.
Further down the list, two awards-courting titles expanded to decent results this weekend. The Imitation Game more than doubled its theater count and slid just 2% to make $7.6 million and take sixth place. With the third-biggest per-theater average in the Top 10 and Oscar nominations virtually locked, it still has a lot left to earn. Its total of $40.8 million by this point in its run is still better than The King’s Speech, although that film was still playing in around half the location Game currently resides in.
Meanwhile, Inherent Vice had a decent expansion but failed to crack the Top 10 in 645 auditoriums. With $2.9 million in its first frame of wide release, P.T. Anderson’s latest may not reach the heights of past critical hits from the writer/director, such as The Master ($16.4 million) and Punch-Drunk Love ($17.8 million). It was also far below the $5.4 million wide opening of Her, which also starred Joaquin Phoenix and expanded on this weekend last year. Vice has earned $4.5 million so far, including its time in ultra-limited release.
Here are the numbers for the Top 10 films at the North American box office for the weekend of January 9 through 11, 2015:
1. Taken 3 – $40.4 million (NEW)
2. Selma – $11.2 million ($13.5 million total)
3. Into the Woods – $9.8 million ($105.3 million total)
4. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – $9.4 million ($236.5 million total)
5. Unbroken – $8.4 million ($101.6 million total)
6. The Imitation Game – $7.6 million ($40.8 million total)
7. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – $6.7 million ($99.5 million total)
8. Annie – $4.9 million ($79.4 million total)
9. The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death – $4.8 million ($22.3 million total)
10. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – $3.8 million ($329.5 million total)
NOTE: These numbers are weekend estimates based on Friday and Saturday’s estimated takes. Actual numbers for the three-day weekend are reported on Monday afternoon.
