Paramount reunited “The Other Guys” stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg in the comedy “Daddy’s Home” with strong results. The look at a stepfather’s attempts to outshine his wife’s stud of a first husband, came in second with a strong $38.8 million from 3,271 theaters. That was far above projections which had the picture opening in the $20 million range. “Daddy’s Home” carries a $50 million budget. Fox also scored with “Joy,” a rag-tag biopic about the creator of the Miracle Mop,’ that earned $17.5 million from 2,896 theaters. The $60 million film reunites the “Silver Linings Playbook” team of Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, and Bradley Cooper with director David O. Russell. It is expected to be a leading Oscar contender. But “Point Break,” a remake of the 1991 Kathryn Bigelow cult favorite, wiped out. The $105 million action flick eked out $10.2 million from 2,910 venues. The Chinese-American co-production will look abroad for salvation. It has earned a solid $40 million in China, where it opened on Dec. 3. Warner Bros., which has had a horrific year at the box office, can at least content itself with the fact that it’s only a gun for hire on this one. Alcon Entertainment and DMG Entertainment financed “Point Break.”
Sony’s Will Smith NFL drama “Concussion” nabbed $11 million across 2,841 locations. L Star Capital and Village Roadshow co-financed “Concussion,” which has a $35 million budget. In its second weekend of release, Universal’s “Sisters” barely dropped from its debut, picking up $13.9 million to drive the Tina Fey and Amy Poehler comedy’s North American haul to $37.2 million. Fox’s “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip” also showed some endurance, adding $12.7 million to its $39.4 million domestic gross. Paramount’s “The Big Short” expanded from eight theaters to 1,585 locations on Wednesday, picking up $14.5 million for the five day period. Its gross stands at just over $16 million and a further expansion is planned for 8 January, at which point the comedy about the financial collapse will be in roughly 2,500 theaters.
In limited release, the Weinstein Company’s 70 MM “road show” version of “The Hateful Eight” racked up a sturdy $4.6 million from 100 locations for a $45,365 per-screen average. Fox’s “The Revenant” also did well in a handful of theaters. The blood-drenched revenge epic picked up $471,000 from four locations, for a per-screen average of $117,750. That’s the second best average of the year, behind only “Steve Jobs” with $130,381. But “The Revenant” will need to resonate with mainstream crowds if it hopes to recoup its $135 million budget — something “Steve Jobs” failed to do. Leonardo DiCaprio stars in the film as a wilderness guide abandoned by his colleagues after a savage bear attack.
(Reuters)
