LOS ANGELES -- Secret agent James Bond rescued the box office after a string of October flops and propelled Spectre, the latest in the 007 franchise, to a $70.4 million first-place finish for the weekend, followed by a solid showing for The Peanuts Movie.
Spectre, which stars Daniel Craig as the debonair, martini-drinking spy for the fourth time, had ticket sales in the United States and Canada that fell within the range of projections from the industry and from Columbia, which produced the film with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and EON Productions.
"There's something to say about a Bond film," said Rory Bruer, Columbia's president of worldwide distribution. "We couldn't be happier."
The film fell short of its predecessor, Skyfall, which had an $88 million opening three years ago. Spectre is the most expensive of the series, costing an estimated $245 million, but industry analysts said the film could reach the $1 billion mark globally. Skyfall, which came with a $200 million price tag, raked in $1.1 billion worldwide.
"Spectre has already taken in more than $80 million overseas," Bruer said. It grossed nearly $64 million in Britain in its first week of release, shattering the country's record for the biggest opening. "The film also broke the record for the best showing during the first week in November domestically, previously held by The Incredibles."
Though critics were less enthusiastic, audiences polled by CinemaScore on average gave Spectre an A-minus grade.
Coming in second for the weekend was 20th Century Fox's The Peanuts Movie with $44.2 million in domestic ticket sales.
"The Peanuts group is back and in a big way," said Chris Aronson, president of domestic distribution at Fox. "We're off to a tremendous start."
Directed by Steve Martino, the film beat a cautious studio projection of $40 million, though it fell short of analyst projections that ran as high as $55 million. Given the studio's challenge of reintroducing Charlie Brown and the gang to a new generation and opening the first feature-length theatrical release on Charles Schulz's work, Aronson said, the launch was a success.
About 70 percent of Peanuts viewers were families, and the film received an A from CinemaScore. The studio expects The Peanuts Movie, which cost about $99 million to make, will do well overseas, Aronson said, as Snoopy is a popular character internationally.
The weekend's No. 3 film was The Martian, which added $9 million in its sixth weekend. The picture, also from 20th Century Fox, had led the box office four out of the previous five weekends. It has grossed an estimated $197 million in the United States and Canada.
Completing the top five were Columbia's Goosebumps, which pulled in about $7 million, and Disney's Bridge of Spies, which brought in about $6 million. Both films were in their fourth weekend.
Spotlight, director Tom McCarthy's drama about the Boston Globe's 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of priest sexual abuse, did well in its first weekend of limited release. The Open Road film starring Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams averaged $60,455 on five screens, the best per-screen number of the week. It was followed by Brooklyn, starring Saoirse Ronan, which averaged $36,200 on five screens.
The box office as a whole remains up 5 percent compared with 2014, and big titles are on the horizon: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 2 arrives Nov. 20, followed by Pixar's The Good Dinosaur on Nov. 25 and Disney's Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Dec. 18.
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:
- Spectre, Columbia/MGM, $70,403,148, 3,929 locations, $17,919 average, $70,403,148, one week.
- The Peanuts Movie, 20th Century Fox, $44,213,073, 3,897 locations, $11,345 average, $44,213,073, one week.
- The Martian, 20th Century Fox, $9,074,319, 2,855 locations, $3,178 average, $196,841,665, six weeks.
- Goosebumps, Columbia, $6,803,313, 3,051 locations, $2,230 average, $66,279,267, four weeks.
- Bridge of Spies, Disney, $5,835,175, 2,767 locations, $2,109 average, $54,721,127, four weeks.
- Hotel Transylvania 2, Columbia, $3,604,740, 2,274 locations, $1,585 average, $161,348,144, seven weeks.
- Burnt, The Weinstein Co., $2,887,029, 3,003 locations, $961 average, $10,095,316, two weeks.
- The Last Witch Hunter, Lionsgate, $2,598,464, 2,286 locations, $1,137 average, $23,520,165, three weeks.
- The Intern, Warner Bros., $1,738,301, 1,071 locations, $1,623 average, $71,335,552, seven weeks.
- Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, Paramount, $1,635,800, 1,087 locations, $1,505 average, $16,267,178, three weeks.
- Our Brand Is Crisis, Warner Bros., $1,424,033, 2,202 locations, $647 average, $5,924,665, two weeks.
- Crimson Peak, Universal, $1,165,470, 1,131 locations, $1,030 average, $29,835,275, four weeks.
- Woodlawn, Pure Flix, $1,128,615, 922 locations, $1,224 average, $12,515,813, four weeks.
- Sicario, Lionsgate, $1,050,802, 722 locations, $1,455 average, $43,923,193, eight weeks.
- Steve Jobs, Universal, $797,795, 421 locations, $1,895 average, $16,658,868, five weeks.
- Suffragette, Focus Features, $764,879, 222 locations, $3,445 average, $1,121,447, three weeks.
- Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, Paramount, $626,267, 1,151 locations, $544 average, $3,147,486, two weeks.
- Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, 20th Century Fox, $589,462, 441 locations, $1,337 average, $79,799,105, eight weeks.
- Pan, Warner Bros., $571,341, 508 locations, $1,125 average, $32,942,691, five weeks.
- Miss You Already, Roadside Attractions, $552,503, 384 locations, $1,439 average, $552,503, one week.
MovieStyle on 11/13/2015