Frozen may finally have fallen from the Irish Box Office Top Ten, but animation continues its strong 2014 with 3 films in the list. Having previewed strongly last weekend The Lego Movie was utterly dominant at the Irish box office this weekend, grabbing the number one spot with a staggering €661k. Opening at 63 locations nationwide that’s over €10k per location, and is easily the biggest opening of 2014 so far. Factoring in the €233k preview weekend The Lego Movie is poised to pass €1m at the Irish box office before this weekend begins.
Last week’s number 1, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, drops to number 3. It’s 52% drop-off can be attributed to the competition from The Lego Movie, but it still managed to make €124k and bring its total up to €593k. That’s not a bad haul for an unknown animation property and 20th Century Fox will surely launch a franchise off the back of these results, which have been mirrored globally.
Rounding out the animated trio in the top ten is Disney’s Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy, which opened at number 4. The sixth film in the Tinkerbell series, the film features the voices of Christina Hendricks and Tom Hiddleston, and managed to make €112k. This is an impressive tally given the competition in the space and Disney will no doubt feel that their timing was spot-on with Frozen just leaving the top ten.
The second biggest opener this weekend, and also the number 2 movie in the nation, is George Clooney’s The Monuments Men. The based on actual events World War 2 drama marks Clooney’s fifth directorial outing. Despite a stellar cast the film was pushed from Awards season in the US, and with mixed reviews it has not found the audience that a film with this quality behind it should have. Opening with €138k, just €28k ahead of fifth place Dallas Buyers Club, which is in its second week and is available in half the number of locations, cannot be considered positive for distributor 20th Century Fox.
Dallas Buyers Club expanded by 8 locations, and dropped just 17%, in gathering its €110k, showing that audiences are still interested in well crafted, awards calibre dramas. Similarly 7th placed The Wolf of Wall Street continued its strong run with a 25% drop in its fifth week to €107k, bringing its total to just over €2m.
At 6 is the week’s third highest new entry, Shana Feste’s remake of 1981’s Endless Love, a film more famous for its theme song than its romance. The Valentine’s Day opening, and a lack of competition in the market, meant that the film made €110k. That’s relatively weak considering the factors, but as reviews have been mixed that is probably a fair reflection on its quality.
The number 8 spot is taken up by last week’s number 3, another remake of an 80’s film, Jose Padilha’s RoboCop. Our projected 40% drop was closer to 44%, with the film earning just €91k from its 51 locations. The film’s €320k total is lower than the similar rebooted Verhoven project Total Recall earned at this point in 2012, but that film starred Colin Farrell and had the benefit of a big Irish premiere to boost the figures.
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave enters its sixth week in the charts at 9 falling just 30% to bring in €52k. The BAFTA wins may see it hang in there a bit longer but it’s likely that all the Oscar nominated films will have dropped out by the time the March 2nd event takes place.
Rounding out the top ten at 10 is the Nick Frost and Chris O’Dowd starring Cuban Fury. The film is the week’s only other opener to make the top ten, but with a meagre €51k cannot be considered a win for StudioCanal, failing despite O’Dowd’s presence and heavy marketing. The modest per location of €1,839 means that maybe StudioCanal should have pushed for more locations.
Failing to make a mark on the top ten, despite universally positive reviews, is Spike Jonze’s Her. The Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson starring drama suffered from a lack of screens, and its muted marketing campaign did little to attract interest.
Source: Rentrak