The next three spots were taken by R-rated action films: two box office disappointments and a sleeper hit. After a mild start last weekend, Run All Night stunted, dropping 54% to earn $5.1 million and take third place. The Liam Neeson thriller did hold better than Taken 3 and A Walk Among the Tombstones, which both lost close to two thirds of its audience on their second weekend. However, with just $19.7 million in 10 days, the R-rated action flick will finish far short of its $50 million production budget.
Even worse was Sean Penn’s attempt at reinvigorating his career, Neeson-style. The Gunman played to mostly empty houses, earning just $5 million from 2,816 theaters. With miserable write-ups from critics and bland trailers, it is not that surprising that few adults showed up for the thriller. The Gunman is the sixth movie from 2015 to open in more than 2,500 locations yet fail to reach a $2,000 per-theater average in its opening weekend. A quick trip to DVD and On Demand is in store.
The Gunman made less per cinema than Kingsman: The Secret Service, which has already been out for five previous weekends. The hit comic book adaptation slipped just 26% in its sixth round to add another $4.6 million to its total. With $114.6 million made in North America so far and the lowest weekend-to-weekend drop among all wide releases, a total near $125 million is probable. It has had amazing legs for a comic book film though and a sequel should be announced in the not-too-distant future.
As for other wide openers, faith-based flick Do You Believe? couldn’t attain the same stronghold over the box office as God’s Not Dead, which opened to $9.2 million on this weekend last year. The religious drama starring Sean Astin and Mira Sorvino could only grab $4 million in its first three days. Studio Pure Flix estimates the film will jump 15% from Saturday to Sunday, so the actual number will likely be a bit lower. With Easter holidays approaching, the title will hope to hold well, although this is a rather weak start.
Here are the numbers for the Top 10 films at the North American box office for the weekend of March 20 through 22, 2015:
1. The Divergent Series: Insurgent – $54 million (NEW)
2. Cinderella – $34.5 million ($122 million total)
3. Run All Night – $5.1 million ($19.7 million total)
4. The Gunman – $5 million (NEW)
5. Kingsman: The Secret Service – $4.6 million ($114.6 million total)
6. Do You Believe? – $4 million (NEW)
7. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – $3.5 million ($24.1 million total)
8. Focus – $3.3 million ($49.4 million total)
9. Chappie – $2.7 million ($28.3 million total)
10. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water – $2.4 million ($158.8 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.