Irish Box Office Report: Mar 14-16 2014

Fine weather and the host of alternate events for the St. Patrick’s Weekend combined to make this the lowest grossing weekend of the year so far.

For the second week in a row we have a debut entry at 1 as eOne’s Need for Speed comes racing in to claim the top spot. Despite taking pole position the film made barely more than the top 4 films from last weekend, taking a pedestrian €109k.

Still at 2 and continuing its love affair with Irish audiences is The Lego Movie. The film dropped another 47% but was still only barely beaten out of the top spot in collecting €97k. That was enough to see it pass the €3m mark at the Irish box office.

Also holding its own at number 3 is Wes Anderson’s impressive The Grand Budapest Hotel. Again the film boasted the week’s best per-location figures, dropping just 26% to earn €3,529 per venue for a €92k weekend.

Rising one to 4, and a great result for the weekend that was in it, is John Butler’s Irish comedy The Stag. A tiny 19% drop saw the film take a further €86k from its 53 locations, bringing its lifetime total to just over the quarter of a million mark. More Irish comedies and more Andrew Scott and Peter MacDonald please!

Non-Stop is down another spot this week, as the Liam Neeson starring film secured a further €73k, claiming over €548k from Irish audiences to date. It seems the combination of the Ballymena man and good-old-fashioned action is a box-office winner.

Last week’s number one is this week’s number 6 as Noam Murro’s sequel 300: Rise of an Empire plummets 63% to earn just 72k in its second weekend. That’s the biggest percentage drop since Paranormal Activity 4 in October 2012. The film has made €361k to date but will struggle to make the half-million mark if those drop-offs continue.

At 7 is Disney’s The Muppets Most Wanted. Despite a barrage of advertising, this special world-first preview weekend release has to be a disappointment to the House of Mouse, as the film grossed just €1,083 at each of its 60 locations to earn €68,222. The film even features the nation’s capital (although no actual filming took place here) so it is surprising that it did not do significantly better. Next weekend is another preview weekend, with the film opening officially on March 26th. Disney will certainly be hoping that as the St. Patrick’s Day festivities are over families will be returning to cinemas for their weekend escape.

Down 41% and two places to 8 is Dallas Buyers Club with €49k. The Matthew McConaughey starring Oscar winning drama is still resonating strongly with Irish audiences, having captured a laudable €893k at the Irish box office.

Universal’s US box office smash-hit comedy Ride Along continues its uninspiring run, dropping a further 55% in its third week. That drop sees the film earn €32k, bringing its total to €291k.

Another big dropper, but still in the top ten at 10 is 20th Century Fox’s The Book Thief. The film grossed just €28k from its 37 locations, for the week’s smallest per-location average of €638.

With no real heavy-hitters opening next week the chart is going to be an interesting one. The Muppets Most Wanted should do reasonably well in its second preview weekend. British prison drama Starred Up is the best film to open next week, but a limited release will hamper its box-office chances. Elsewhere two rom-coms open with the Nick Hornby based A Long Way Down and the Kevin Hart starring remake of About Last Night. Art-house drama Yves Saint Laurent also opens to a limited release.

Source: Rentrak