It was another relatively tame weekend at the box office, with only two movies opening in wide release, and that basically always means that at least one of them will do well. In this case, audiences thought that Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal were enough to lure them to the theaters to watch them try to out-shout each other in the thriller Prisoners, which took the top spot at the box office with $21.4 million this weekend.
The other movie making its debut was the absurdly unoriginal Battle of the Year, which starred Chris Brown and Sawyer from Lost as the leaders of a rag tag team of American street dancers looking to take back the crown of the world’s best from whichever generic foreign enemy was chosen for them. Battle of the Year debuted at No. 5 this weekend with a gross of $5 million, which doesn’t sound like much, but since this is just a movie about people dancing, it only cost $20 million to make and it is ¼ of the way to making that back.
I haven’t watched Battle of the Year yet, but rest assured I will have it covered by the second week of December. As for the rest of the box office chart, let’s break it down, FilmDrunk B-Boys…
A few interesting tidbits:
– Insidious: Chapter 2 is a massive hit, earning $65 million worldwide on its $5 million budget, so I’m sure we can expect Insidious: Chapter 3 soon enough. I, for one, am looking forward to Insidious: Chapter 7, which will focus on how this family is f*cking broke because nobody has worked in two years since the ghosts started possessing everyone.
– The domestic response to Riddick through three weeks has been tepid at best, as the film has only earned $37 million stateside. It has, however, also earned $36 million at foreign box offices and nearly doubled its $38 million budget, so we should keep an ear out for rumors about the next one.
– One Direction: This Is Us is flatlining at $62 million worldwide, which is $36 million short of Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. It’s looks like us 1Ders are in danger of losing this battle against the Beliebers.
– We’re the Millers and Lee Daniels’ The Butler are huge hits. I think that goes without saying, but I thought I’d point out again that they did incredibly well, presumably with thanks to Jennifer Aniston’s ass and Oprah, respectively.
– And I’m really disappointed in the performance of The World’s End. I loved that movie, and it’s up there with This is the End and White House Down as my favorite comedies of the year. It’s a shame that more people wanted low brow this summer.
(Chart via Box Office Mojo)