"Mr. Peabody" Races Past "Need for Speed" at Weekend Box Office

[JamesG]

Weekend Report: Mr. Peabody Races Past Need for Speed
by Ray Subers
March 16, 2014


Video game adaptation Need for Speed wasn't fast enough to take the checkered flag this weekend.

Instead, first place went to DreamWorks Animation's Mr. Peabody & Sherman.







In its second weekend, Mr. Peabody fell 34 percent to an estimated $21.2 million. That's a better hold than last March's The Croods (39 percent), and is on par with How to Train Your Dragon (34 percent).

To date, Mr. Peabody has earned $63.2 million; with good word-of-mouth and a lack of competition, it should reach $100 million by the end of the month.







300: Rise of an Empire plummeted 58 percent to $19.1 million. In comparison, the first 300 dropped 54 percent in its second outing.

So far, the sequel has banked $78.3 million at the domestic box office.







Playing at 3,118 locations, Need for Speed opened in third place with an estimated $17.8 million.

That's a somewhat disappointing start: it's lower than the worst Fast & Furious movie (Tokyo Drift, $24 million), and is roughly on par with past video game adaptations Resident Evil ($17.7 million) and Max Payne ($17.6 million).



Need for Speed is the latest in a long line of video game adaptations that underperformed at the domestic box office. The console connection isn't the reason it missed, though — Disney's marketing smartly avoided making that association.

Instead, the movie was hurt by its derivative nature — moviegoers had this pegged as a Fast & Furious knock-off—and lack of a compelling story.



Need for Speed's crowd was overwhelmingly male (70 percent), and skewed a bit older (55 percent over the age of 25). 3D showings accounted for 43 percent of revenue.

The audience gave the movie a "B+" CinemaScore, which suggests only so-so word-of-mouth. In the long-run, it's likely that Need for Speed slams on the breaks short of $50 million.







Non-Stop eased 33 percent to $10.6 million. On Saturday, it passed Unknown, which was the last collaboration between Liam Neeson and director Jaume Collet-Serra.

So far, Non-Stop has earned an impressive $68.8 million.







In fifth place, Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club bombed with $8.3 million.

That's the lowest opening ever for a movie directed by Tyler Perry — 2007's Daddy's Little Girls previously held that "record" with $11.2 million.



The last 10 months haven't been good for the Tyler Perry brand. In May, Tyler Perry Presents Peeples (produced by Perry) couldn't get past $10 million.

In December, A Madea Christmas barely crossed $50 million, which was a slightly disappointing result for the mighty Madea franchise.

And now The Single Moms Club opens below $10 million, which is a truly surprisingly result (Lionsgate was expecting mid-to-high teens). After 16 movies in eight years, it seems like moviegoers are finally tiring of Perry's work.



The Single Moms Club's audience was 79 percent female and 80 percent over 25 years of age. They awarded the movie a solid "A-" CinemaScore.

Unfortunately, Perry's movies tend to be fairly front-loaded, so it would be surprising if this wound up over $25 million total.







Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel expanded to 66 theaters this weekend and took eighth place with $3.6 million. That translates to a $55,152 per-theater average, which is an all-time record for a movie playing in over 50 locations.

Next weekend, Budapest expands in to at least 275 theaters total.







The Veronica Mars movie, which was funded via a Kickstarter campaign, earned an estimated $2 million from 291 theaters this weekend. Around half of that was from Friday, which suggests that the "Marshmellows" rushed out to see the movie immediately.

It's unlikely that Veronica Mars holds well in the long-term: it's already available on VOD, and many Kickstarter backers received a digital copy.

Still, this is an interesting experiment, and should prove to be modestly successful for those involved.







Jason Bateman's Bad Words opened to $120,000 at six locations. That translates to a weak $20,000 per-theater average.

The big test for the R-rated comedy comes on March 28th, when it's set to expand nationwide.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3800&p=.htm









March 14-16, 2014 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Mr. Peabody & Sherman $21,200,000 / $63,180,000
2. 300: Rise of An Empire $19,105,000 / $78,311,000
3. Need for Speed $17,808,000
4. Non-Stop $10,615,000 / $68,805,000
5. Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club $8,300,000
6. The LEGO Movie $7,705,000 / $236,932,000
7. Son of God $5,400,000 / $50,875,000
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel $3,640,000 / $4,779,000
9. Frozen $2,117,000 / $396,356,000
10. Veronica Mars $2,021,000

[Tubehead]

I saw both of them I enjoyed Peabody & shear men I liked need for speed too. . Im looking forward to Capitan American winter solider