LOS ANGELES -- As audiences awaited the premiere of Star Wars: Chapter VII - The Force Awakens today, the new release In the Heart of the Sea couldn't find much of an audience or poach the top box-office spot from The Hunger Games finale, which finished at No. 1 for the fourth-straight weekend.
In the Heart of the Sea, Warner Bros.' 19th-century whaling film starring Chris Hemsworth and directed by Ron Howard, generated an estimated $11 million in ticket sales in U.S. and Canadian theaters. That fell below modest projections of $12 million for its opening weekend.
"It's really a marathon and not a sprint with a film like this," said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. executive vice president of distribution. "When you have an older-skewing audience, like this film, they don't come out during opening week. You need some time for the audience to hear about it."
The film is based on the true story that inspired the celebrated Herman Melville novel Moby-Dick. Audiences gave it a B-plus grade, according to polling firm CinemaScore. But critics weren't as kind, with only 43 percent of those on Rotten Tomatoes giving the film a positive rating.
Goldstein said he was optimistic that the film will perform well in the long term once word of mouth spreads among its audience, which was mostly male (54 percent) and older than 35 (68 percent).
Considering it cost nearly $100 million to produce, In the Heart of the Sea marks another potential disappointment for the studio following Pan and Our Brand Is Crisis, although its Rocky spinoff Creed continues to do well and its 2016 lineup includes heavyweights Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Clint Eastwood's Sully and Central Intelligence with Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart.
In the present, however, it was The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 that proved to be a box-office heavyweight for Lionsgate. Since its Nov. 20 debut, the latest film based on Suzanne Collins' novels has grossed almost $245 million domestically. It added $11.4 million over the weekend.
Worldwide, the movie starring Jennifer Lawrence has sold more than $564 million in tickets.
Walt Disney Co.'s The Good Dinosaur won third place by adding $10.3 million. The latest animated offering from Pixar is now knocking on the door of $90 million domestically. Globally, the film neared the $170 million mark as it plays strongest in Latin America, with good showings also in France, Germany and Southeast Asia.
The New Line Cinema and MGM-financed Creed took the fourth spot in its third week, pulling in an estimated $10.1 million. The film, starring Michael B. Jordan as the son of Apollo Creed, has made nearly $80 million domestically.
Sylvester Stallone, who reprises his role as Rocky Balboa, landed a Golden Globe nomination last week for his performance. It's his first Globes nomination in almost 40 years.
Rounding out the top five is Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures' Krampus with $8.4 million. Based on an ancient Alpine Christmas legend, the film, starring Adam Scott and Toni Colette, follows a modern dysfunctional family whose holiday celebration is overturned by the demonic, goatlike counterpart to St. Nicholas.
In limited release, Paramount Pictures and Regency Enterprises opened The Big Short, the comedy-drama about a group of Wall Street types (Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell and Christian Bale) who bet against the big banks and the housing market. The Adam McKay-directed picture pulled in about $706,000 at eight locations. That's a strong per-screen average of about $88,000.
The film earned strong word of mouth -- an 86 percent positive critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an A grade from CinemaScore audiences -- plus four Golden Globe nominations, including for best picture comedy. It also received a Screen Actors Guild nomination for the ensemble and a win from the National Board of Review for ensemble. These recognitions should help the film when it opens nationwide Wednesday.
Open Road's Spotlight and Fox Searchlight's Brooklyn, both with SAG and Golden Globes nominations, continue to perform well. Spotlight finished in ninth place ($2.5 million), and Brooklyn finished in 10th ($2 million).
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Rentrak:
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, Lionsgate, $11,413,316, 3,651 locations, $3,126 average, $244,604,272, 4 weeks.
In the Heart of the Sea, Warner Bros., $11,053,366, 3,103 locations, $3,562 average, $11,053,366, 1 week.
The Good Dinosaur, Disney, $10,314,223, 3,606 locations, $2,860 average, $89,478,014, 3 weeks.
Creed, New Line/MGM, $10,121,137, 3,502 locations, $2,890 average, $79,322,155, 3 weeks.
Krampus, Universal, $8,422,755, 2,919 locations, $2,885 average, $28,564,085, 2 weeks.
The Night Before, Columbia, $4,133,702, 2,674 locations, $1,546 average, $38,439,358, 4 weeks.
Spectre, Columbia/MGM, $4,045,109, 2,640 locations, $1,532 average, $190,812,769, 6 weeks.
The Peanuts Movie, 20th Century Fox, $2,687,489, 2,653 locations, $1,013 average, $124,993,074, 6 weeks.
Spotlight, Open Road, $2,508,853, 1,089 locations, $2,304 average, $20,302,802, 6 weeks.
Brooklyn, Fox Searchlight, $1,995,502, 947 locations, $2,107 average, $14,350,925, 6 weeks.
The Martian, 20th Century Fox, $1,457,360, 1,041 locations, $1,400 average, $222,857,395, 11 weeks.
Love the Coopers, Lionsgate, $1,375,771, 1,610 locations, $855 average, $24,662,013, 5 weeks.
Secret in Their Eyes, STX Entertainment, $1,231,877, 1,661 locations, $742 average, $19,268,902, 4 weeks.
Trumbo, Bleecker Street, $835,539, 554 locations, $1,508 average, $5,473,406, 6 weeks.
The Big Short, Paramount, $705,527, 8 locations, $88,191 average, $705,527, 1 week.
Bridge of Spies, Disney, $603,920, 540 locations, $1,118 average, $69,464,434, 9 weeks.
Chi-Raq, Roadside Attractions, $575,690, 285 locations, $2,020 average, $2,110,079, 2 weeks.
Carol, The Weinstein Co., $337,673, 16 locations, $21,105 average, $1,221,486, 4 weeks.
The Letters, Freestyle Releasing, $328,020, 779 locations, $421 average, $1,389,764, 2 weeks.
Legend, Universal, $325,685, 107 locations, $3,044 average, $1,404,339, 4 weeks.
MovieStyle on 12/18/2015