Most of this weekend’s entertainment headlines have been squarely focused on Sunday’s Golden Globe awards, whose impact on the global box office will be felt in the coming weeks.
Our current frame’s top domestic honors went to Fox Studios and Europacorp’s Taken 3, which finished first in the North American market with a $39.2 million debut run. The conclusion to this iconic action series from creator Luc Besson and starring Liam Neeson had the third biggest January release of all time, behind Ride Along ($41.5 million) and Cloverfield ($40 million), although it fell short of Taken 2’s extraordinary $49.5 million opening in October 2012.
Foreign numbers were slightly higher with $41 million coming from 38 markets earning it second place on the international charts in its second overseas frame. Taken 3 opened first in the UK at $10.53 million and also took first in Australia with a $4.9 million opening. It had a string of top finishes in Southeast Asia. It made $1.9 million in Taiwan, $1.7 million in Malaysia, and $1.49 million in Singapore. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, another Fox property, rode a $26.7 million China opening to the head of last weekend’s international race. In Russia where it opened this weekend, Museum made for $6.1 million. This is quite a good return considering the declining dollar value of the ruble. Its international cume sits at $148.4 million, and in North America it added $6.7 million to reach a $99.5 million domestic cumulative.
Selma, which picked up the Golden Globe for best original song on Sunday, finished well behind Taken 3 in second place with $11.2 million. Its expansion into 2,179 theatres netted a decent return, though its seems to be suffering from audiences’ perception of its historically significant subject matter as something more akin to required viewing than entertainment.
Disney’s Globe nominated Into the Woods fell 48% from last weekend and earned $9.8 million to pick to secure third place on the domestic chart. It continued its staggered release overseas, adding $7.6 million as it opened in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Croatia and Slovenia to reach in international total of $15.2 million.
After three weeks in the saddle Peter Jackson’s latest fantasy blockbuster finally vacated the top spot on the domestic chart. The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies came in fourth, just a hair below Into the Woods at $9.4 million. It added $21.1 million abroad and now stands at a combined cumulative of $781.8 million, with its Chinese release still to come on
January 23.
Big Hero 6 finished seventh on the combined chart, with $2.2 million in North America and another $12.6 million overseas. It reached $214 million domestic and $194.6 international for a cumulative of $408.9 million and is now the eighth Disney Animation feature to have earned more than $400 million.
Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper hit its target again in Italy, racking up $4.4 million in its second weekend in the world’s most densely populated peninsula. Italian audiences have long had an affinity for Mr. Eastwood as an actor, and are showing that their appreciation carries over to his directorial talents. Sniper is Clint’s biggest film to date in Italy, having earned $14.8 million there in just ten days. At home, where it is still playing in just four theatres, this picture made $555,000 for another outstanding per-screen average of $138,000.
Sniper goes into wide release this week and opens in the UK on the 16th, while British animated feature Paddington opens in the U.S. Kevin Hart Comedy The Wedding Ringer opens next weekend as well, as does Michael Mann’s latest, hacker-thriller Blackhat.
Lorenzo Soria