UPDATE 1-Box Office: 'In the Heart of the Sea' Flops With $11 Million Debut

(Adds quotes, other movies)
By Brent Lang
LOS ANGELES, Dec 13 (Variety.com) - Ron Howard's "In the
Heart of the Sea" sunk at the box office, mustering up a measly
$11 million after debuting in 3,103 theaters.
It's a painful flop for the director behind "A Beautiful
Mind" and "Apollo 13." One of the worst of his Oscar-winning
career. With an $100 million production budget, the film will
likely result in a steep write down for Warner Bros., the studio
behind the seafaring epic. "In the Heart of the Sea's" failure
is the latest in a long string of missteps and disasters for the
company, which is reeling from a litany of disasters that
includes "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," "Jupiter Ascending," and
"Pan." The studio did catch a break over Thanksgiving when
"Creed" emerged as a sleeper hit and its financial exposure is
softened on "In the Heart of the Sea" because Village Roadshow
was a financial partner.
"We stand behind Ron and his vision for the story," said
Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. distribution executive vice
president. "We believe in him. He's a terrific filmmaker. But
some movies work and unfortunately some movies don't."
"In the Heart of the Sea" reunites Howard with Chris
Hemsworth. The pair previously collaborated on the racing drama
"Rush." It centers on the Essex, a whaling vessel that had a
violent encounter with a sperm whale. The nautical disaster
inspired Herman Melville's"Moby Dick." Outside of the "Thor"
movies, Hemsworth has struggled to establish himself as a box
office draw -- "Rush" and this year's cyber thriller "Blackhat"
both fizzled.
The film is the latest adult oriented drama to collapse at
the box office, joining a list that includes "Steve Jobs," "Our
Brand is Crisis," and "Burnt." The opening weekend audience for
"In the Heart of the Sea" skewed older. Ticket buyers were 54%
male and 68% over the age of 35. 3D screenings accounted for 42%
of receipts.
Warner Bros. hopes it can make up some ground over the
holidays, noting that the B+ CinemaScore means word-of-mouth
will be solid.
"The adult audience has been slow to come out and that's
frustrating because this is a story well told," said Goldstein.
Of course, the whole weekend was a throat clearing of sorts
as the movie business braces for the debut of "Star Wars: The
Force Awakens" next week. The return to a galaxy far, far away
is on pace to shatter records for a December opening and could
threaten "Jurassic World's" debut of $208.8 million to become
the biggest launch in history.
With "In the Heart of the Sea" flailing, "Hunger Games:
Mockingjay - Part 2" captured first place for the fourth
straight weekend with $11.3 million. The science-fiction
franchise capper has earned $244.5 million domestically.
Among holdovers, "The Good Dinosaur" nabbed second place
with $10.5 million, bringing its domestic total to $89.7
million. "Creed" captured fourth position with $10.1 million.
The boxing drama has earned $79.3 million after three weeks of
release.
"Krampus" dropped 58% in its second weekend of release to
round out the top five with $8 million. The Christmas-themed
horror film has earned $28.1 million stateside.