Marvel's "Doctor Strange" Opens at #1 in 2nd Weekend

[JamesG]

Doctor Strange Ignites Box Office with $84.9 Million Opening
by Brad Brevet
November 6, 2016


The domestic box office got a jolt in a very big way as Disney and Marvel's Doctor Strange led the weekend with an estimated $84.9 million followed by strong performances by both Fox and DreamWorks Animation's Trolls and Lionsgate's Hacksaw Ridge.

Beyond just the wide releases, the continued expansion of A24's Moonlight also contributed to a top twelve that was up a whopping 133.6% compared to last weekend, generating over $182 million collectively and a weekend that was up 20.4% compared to last year.







Finishing atop the weekend box office, Disney and Marvel's Doctor Strange delivered as expected, with an estimated $84.9 million from 3,882 theaters.

This is the tenth largest opening for a Marvel movie finishing just behind Thor: The Dark World, the only other film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to open in November.







Fox and DreamWorks Animation's Trolls brought in an estimated $45.6 million, outperforming the $44.2 million The Peanuts Movie delivered over the same weekend last year before going on to bring in $130 million domestically.

Trolls does carry a budget of $125 million compared to the $99 million budget for Peanuts, but where Trolls appears to have a leg up is internationally where it has already grossed $104 million in its first three weeks of international release compared to the $116 million Peanuts finished with overall.



The film's opening weekend audience played 61% female vs 39% male with 51% of the audience coming in under the age of 25. 57% of the audience was Caucasian compared to 19% Hispanic and 15% African American.

It is estimated 72% of opening weekend audiences where made up of families. The film received an "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences.







Finishing in third is Lionsgate's release of Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge. The war drama starring Andrew Garfield finished the three-day with an estimated $14.75 million from 2,886 theaters.

The film received an "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences, though audiences over the age of 50 scored it an "A+". The film played even across gender demographics and 68% of its audience as 35 and older.







Elsewhere in the top ten Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween finished fourth after topping the weekend box office two weeks in a row.

This weekend the film brought in an estimated $7.8 million bringing its cume to $64.9 million as it will soon pass Madea's Witness Protection to become Perry's second highest grossing domestic release of all-time as a director.







Sony's Inferno is going down in flames, finishing with with an estimated $6.25 million, a 58% second weekend drop as its cume now stands at $26 million, still $2.6 million shy of The Da Vinci Code's opening day.

Finishing sixth with the best hold in the top ten is Warner's The Accountant, dropping a mere 29.8% for a fourth weekend estimated at $5.9 million. The film's domestic cume now stands at $70.8 million and combined with $38.5 million internationally its global cume is just shy of $110 million.







Continuing its expansion, A24's Moonlight continues its stellar performance, delivering an estimated $1.33 million this weekend in only 83 theaters for a $16,053 per theater average.

Many theaters playing the film saw box office improving compared to last weekend. Moonlight will continue to expand over the coming weeks.







In limited release this weekend Focus had a strong opening weekend with Loving delivering an estimated $169,000 from four theaters for a $42,250 per theater average.

Exit surveys in New York and LA were very strong, scoring above industry norms, consistently in the 90s across diverse audience segments. The film is poised to continue its roll-out through the holidays and well into awards season.

Also in limited release, Sony Classics' The Eagle Huntress brought in an estimated $53,848 from four theaters ($13,462 PTA) after opening on Wednesday. The film's cume stands at $66,810 after five days in release.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4238&p=.htm









November 4-6, 2016 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Doctor Strange $84,989,000
2. Trolls $45,600,000
3. Hacksaw Ridge $14,750,000
4. Boo! A Madea Halloween $7,800,000 / $64,990,055
5. Inferno $6,250,000 / $26,057,930
6. The Accountant $5,950,000 / $70,858,194
7. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back $5,580,000 / $49,240,000
8. Ouija: Origin of Evil $3,983,000 / $31,372,250
9. The Girl on the Train $2,775,000 / $70,732,365
10. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children $2,100,000 / $83,334,389

[JamesG]

Doctor Strange Repeats, Contributing to Disney's Record 2016, as Arrival Debuts with $24M
by Brad Brevet
November 13, 2016


Disney continued its record-breaking year this weekend as 2016 became the studio's best year at the domestic box office ever. Contributing to that success, of course, is the studio's latest Marvel Studios release, Doctor Strange, which led the weekend box office for the second week in a row, contributing to a weekend in which the top twelve was up 56% compared to the same weekend last year.

The weekend's success was a combination of strong holdovers such as Strange and fellow sophomore features Trolls and Hacksaw Ridge, along with newcomers including Arrival and Almost Christmas, all of which helped the top twelve combine for over $150 million.







Dropping only 49% in its second weekend, Disney and Marvel's Doctor Strange delivered an impressive $43 million in its second weekend as the film's domestic gross climbs to over $153 million in just ten days of release.

Among Marvel's single-character intro features this is the second fastest title to top $150 million domestically, behind only 2008's Iron Man. Additionally, Strange's 49% second weekend drop is the best second weekend hold among the last ten Marvel Cinematic Universe titles.







In second position, Fox's release of Dreamworks Animation's Trolls dipped just 24.8% in its second weekend for an estimated $35 million.

The film's cume now climbs to $94 million, already surpassing Storks and inching closer to The Angry Birds Movie ($107.5m) after just ten days in release.







Arrival is the first of the weekend's new releases on the board, delivering a third place finish, coming in just shy of Mojo's aggressive forecast with an impressive $24 million. The film received a "B" CinemaScore from opening day audiences and the weekend demographic breakdown was 52% male vs 48% female with 85% of the audience coming in over the age of 25.

Looking ahead, Arrival could be looking at a domestic run around $80-85 million or perhaps a little higher if all goes well. For Paramount, the film was acquired at the Cannes Film Festival for $20 million while it carries a $47 million production budget.







Fourth place belongs to Universal's ensemble holiday comedy Almost Christmas, which brought in an estimated $15.5 million from 2,376 theaters. The film played to an audience that was 56% female vs 44% male, of which 60% were 25 or older. The demographic breakdown was 71% African American, 17% Caucasian and 10% Hispanic.

There was some difficulty in projecting this film's opening performance but with this kind of opening, combined with an "A-" CinemaScore, it should continue to play quite well with the holidays just around the corner.



Rounding out the top five is Lionsgate's Hacksaw Ridge with an estimated $10.77 million, just a 29% drop from last weekend as the film's cume now stands at $32.2 million after just ten days in release.







In sixth it was another great weekend for Ben Affleck's The Accountant, dropping just 22% for an estimated $4.57 million as the film's cume now stands at $77.7 million as it continues to shed very few from its audience one week to the next.

In seventh is where we find the last of the weekend's new wide releases, that being EuropaCorp's Shut In, which brought in an estimated $3.7 million from 2,058 theaters.

The last highlight within the top ten is Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween, which brought in an estimated $3.55 million bringing its domestic cume to $70.4 million. This makes Boo! Perry's second highest grossing domestic release ever as a director.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4241&p=.htm









November 11-13, 2016 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Doctor Strange $43,032,000 / $153,014,169
2. Trolls $35,050,000 / $94,014,315
3. Arrival $24,000,000
4. Almost Christmas $15,564,000
5. Hacksaw Ridge $10,775,000 / $32,264,321
6. The Accountant $4,570,000 / $77,725,755
7. Shut In $3,700,000
8. Boo! A Madea Halloween $3,550,000 / $70,408,079
9. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back $3,325,000 / $54,586,711
10. Inferno $3,250,000 / $31,582,015