It was a tight race for third place, as the next four films down the chart finished within an estimated $500,000 from each other. (Their final positions could be different when actual numbers are announced on Monday.)
Action fans are still eating up Kingsman: The Secret Service, which dropped only 25% to take another $6.2 million and third place. With $107.4 million so far, Kingsman could finish with around $120 million in North American – a terrific result for a little-known comic with an R-rating.
In fourth place was the Will Smith caper Focus, which dropped 42% to earn $5.8 million. For a star of Smith’s stature and with limited adult competition, Focus has not been performing well. With $44 million after 17 days, a total under $60 million is expected – or less than his 2013 flop After Earth ($60.5 million). A hair behind in fifth place was Chappie, also bringing in $5.8 million yet suffering a hefty 57% drop from its opening last weekend. With just $23.4 million and mediocre word-of-mouth, the film should be out of cinemas by April. Expect a finish below $35 million, which is less than District 9‘s opening weekend.
Finally, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel gained 449 theaters but still lost a third of its audience, bringing in $5.7 million. While the drop isn’t big, it is larger than any weekend-to-weekend dip the original film had when it played in wide release. The sequel has made $18.1 million so far and could finish its run with between $30 and $35 million, a bit off from its predecessor ($46.4 million).
Meanwhile, in limited release, critically acclaimed horror film It Follows scared up a lot of business this weekend, earning nearly $164,000 from four cinemas in New York and Los Angeles, or more than $40,000 per theater. That is also the best per theater average of any film from Radius-TWC, doing better than Snowpiercer and Citizenfour, two of the studio’s recent hits, did in their limited openings. The film is set to expand throughout the month.
Here are the numbers for the Top 10 films at the North American box office for the weekend of March 13 through 15, 2015:
1. Cinderella – $70.1 million (NEW)
2. Run All Night – $11 million (NEW)
3. Kingsman: The Secret Service – $6.2 million ($107.4 million total)
4. Focus – $5.8 million ($44 million total)
5. Chappie – $5.8 million ($23.4 million total)
6. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – $5.7 million ($18.1 million total)
7. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water – $4.1 million ($154.7 million total)
8. McFarland, USA – $3.7 million ($35 million total)
9. American Sniper – $2.9 million ($341.5 million total)
10. The DUFF – $2.9 million ($30.3 million total)
NOTE: These numbers are weekend estimates based on Friday and Saturday’s estimated takes. Actual numbers for the three-day weekend are reported on Monday afternoon.