"Straight Outta Compton" Heads Straight to #1 Box Office Spot

[JamesG]

Weekend Report - Compton Another Universal Smash
by Keith Simanton
August 16, 2015


Universal is estimating that Straight Outta Compton made $56M in 2,757 theaters, a remarkable $20,345 per screen average. Compton easily bested the other wide release, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which is under-performing with an estimated $13.5M.

The Top 12, at $133.6M, is up 4% from last year when The Expendables 3 shocked many by opening in 4th place with $15.9M, beaten not only by holdovers Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Guardians of the Galaxy but by the other newcomer to the schedule, Let's Be Cops, which opened to $17.8M.



If Compton ends up with actuals of $56M that would make it the sixth best August opening of all time, coming in ahead of 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes with $54M but behind Signs with $60M in 2002.

The well-reviewed bio-pic of the rap group N.W.A., was produced, along with others, by original band members Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, as well as by their director, F. Gary Gray.



Internationally, Compton has only opened in Trinidad and other Caribbean Islands but domestically the film just helped Universal cross $2 billion at the box office on Saturday.

That demolishes, by four months, the previous record, formerly held by Warner Bros., which reached that milestone just at the end the year, on December 25, 2009.







Speaking of Warner Bros. their film, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., was on 3,638 screens and made a not-hip $3,720 on each one. The quirky but undeniable charms of Guy Ritchie's film just couldn't be communicated to wide audiences, even with three up-and-coming stars attached like Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer and Alicia Vikander and a reported production budget of $75M.

That figure probably didn't include all of the other costs associated with the long-gestating reboot of the 1964-68 TV show. It's been around so long it was once to be directed by Steven Soderbergh and once had the lead role of Napoleon Solo claimed by both George Clooney and Tom Cruise.







In holdovers, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation continued to hang on, making $17.3M, taking a gentle 39% decrease from last week, and claiming the #2 spot on the box office chart.

On 3,700 theaters the film has a domestic cume of $138.4M.







Fox's Fantastic Four took another shot to the Trank with a 68% dropoff from its feeble $26.2M opening for $8M in 4,004 theaters, $1,998 per screen.

As far as biggest, 2nd-week drop offs for Marvel-themed films it's worse than Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which dropped 65.5% its second weekend and nearly took the title away from 2005's Elektra and 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, both with 69% and the Marvel, face-plant champ, 2003's Hulk, with 69.7%.







The folks at STX must be pleased as The Gift took $6.5M for a reasonable 45% drop. That standard reduction for the Joel Edgerton-directed film means that, though it is not showing any real legs or lasting ability, it was also not just a fluke and will glide gently down the chart.

Ricki and the Flash which opened disappointingly with $6.5M can take some solace in that it eased off only 31% this week, making $4.57M in theaters.







In the indies The Diary of a Teenage Girl, a Sundance title that received a lot of buzz, expanded in its second week to 22 screens, making $112,387, for a per screen average of $5,109 per.

The film, directed by Marielle Heller, stars Bel Powley as a precocious young woman who seduces a much older man, played by Alexander Skarsgard, who also happens to be the boyfriend of her mother, played by Kristen Wiig. The film's cume is $194,781.

Sony Pictures Classics picked the film up at Sundance for $2M.







Roadside Attractions' Mr. Holmes, continues to perform, making $863,175 on 589 screens for a cume of $14.3M.

A24's The End of the Tour also continued to chug along, making $399K in 133 venues for the weekend and a cume of $937K.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4096&p=.htm









August 14-16, 2015 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Straight Outta Compton $56,100,000
2. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation $17,000,000 / $138,137,000
3. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. $13,535,000
4. Fantastic Four $8,000,000 / $41,961,000
5. The Gift $6,500,000 / $23,577,000
6. Ant-Man $5,517,000 / $157,568,000
7. Vacation $5,330,000 / $46,852,000
8. Minions $5,200,000 / $312,969,000
9. Ricki and the Flash $4,570,000 / $14,656,000
10. Trainwreck $3,800,000 / $97,919,000

[TMC]

Review: Straight Outta Compton