Weekend Wrap-Up: The Equalizer Has No Equal
September 30, 2014
The Equalizer easily won the race for the top of the box office chart this weekend earning almost as much as the next two films combined. Those next two films were The Maze Runner and The Boxtrolls, both of which exceeded expectations, albeit by tiny margins. The strength of these three films helped the overall box office reach $106 million, which is 4% higher than last weekend. On the other hand, this was 2% lower than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2014 has pulled in $7.51 billion, which is a massive amount when you look at it without context. However, it is nearly $400 million or 4.9% lower than last year's pace, which is also a massive amount. It is technically possible for 2014 to catch up to 2013 before the end of the year, but only if October is a really strong month at the box office. It won't be.
The studio should be really happy with The Equalizer's opening weekend. Not only did it match expectations (nearly) perfectly with $34.14 million, but its reviews climbed over the overall positive level. Additionally, Denzel Washington movies tend to have strong legs, so $100 million isn't out of the question. Regardless of the film's legs, it should surpass its $55 million production budget sometime during the upcoming weekend, so as long as it does as well internationally as it is doing domestically, it will break even early in its home market debut.
The Maze Runner held on a little better than expected and that allowed it to earn second place with $17.44 million over the weekend for a ten-day total of $57.96 million. I'm not saying the film will definitely reach $100 million, but you can't rule out that milestone either. If the film can hold on a little better next weekend, it will be on track for just over $95 million, which is close enough to the century mark that the studio will give it a little push over the top.
The Boxtrolls matched expectations over the weekend nearly perfectly with $17.28 million during its debut. This is better than Coraline, although that film did earn much better reviews than this film earned, plus it had almost no direct competition. This will likely result in shorter legs for The Boxtrolls, but I think the studio will be very happy with this beginning.
This is Where I Leave You held on a little better than expected with $6.89 million over the weekend for a total of $22.44 million after two. However, this is a case of too little, too late and the film will fall to become not even a midlevel hit.
Dolphin Tale 2 was a surprise entry in the top five earning $4.79 million over the weekend for a total of $33.62 million after seventeen days of release. This is very close to what it cost to make, so it if can do well internationally, it should break even sometime on the home market. Just don't expect a Dolphin Tale 3.
No Good Deed was right behind with $4.51 million over the weekend for a total of $46.53 million, also after seventeen days of release. A low production budget means this film will break even regardless of how well it does internationally, so the studio should be happy.
On the other hand, A Walk Among the Tombstones plummeted 67% to just $4.19 million over the weekend for a total of $20.83 million. It likely won't match its $28 million production budget domestically, so it will need a lot of help breaking even any time soon.
Guardians of the Galaxy was next with $3.77 million over the weekend for a total of $319.17 million after nearly two months of release. This puts it ahead of the original Iron Man and into third place on the The Avengers chart. It is also enough to cover its entire production budget, meaning its international numbers just need to cover its global P&A budget for the film to break even. It has easily done that.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, The Equalizer, The Boxtrolls, Guardians of the Galaxy, No Good Deed, The Maze Runner, Dolphin Tale 2, A Walk Among the Tombstones, This is Where I Leave You, Denzel Washington