Box Office:'Kung Fu Panda 3' trumps 'Hail, Caesar!

By Brent Lang
LOS ANGELES, Feb 7 (Variety.com) - Hollywood fumbled the
ball during a quiet Super Bowl weekend at the multiplexes as new
releases such as "Hail, Caesar!" and "Pride and Prejudice and
Zombies" failed to make much noise.
For the second weekend in a row, DreamWorks Animation's
"Kung Fu Panda 3" easily topped box office charts. The animated
sequel added $21 million to its $69 million domestic haul.
The film is playing particularly well in China, where it is
being distributed by Oriental DreamWorks, a $330-million
East-West joint venture. It crossed the $100 million mark in the
People's Republic this weekend after opening day-and-date in the
U.S. and China on Jan. 29.
Universal's "Hail, Caesar!," a sendup of the Hollywood
studio system from the Coen brothers, fared best among the new
entrants, though that's grading on a generous curve. It picked
up a mediocre $11.4 million for a second place finish.
A C-minus CinemaScore could spell trouble for the film's
long-term prospects, signaling the satire is divisive with
audiences.
Universal distribution chief Nicholas Carpou said that
CinemaScore may not capture the brothers' fan base, noting that
previous films from the pair, such as "The Ladykillers" (C
CinemaScore) and "Intolerable Cruelty" (C+) have scored poorly,
but showed some endurance. The pair's biggest hit, "True Grit,"
earned a B+ CinemaScore.
"There are some films that really defy polling in a general
sense," said Carpou. "The Coen brothers are legitimate auteur
filmmakers and they have a loyal fan base that is coming out to
see this movie."
"Hail, Caesar!" stars Josh Brolin, Channing Tatum, George
Clooney and Scarlett Johansson and cost $22 million to produce.
Universal distributed the film across 2,222 locations. The
opening weekend crowd was 52% male, 69% over the age of 35 and
86% Caucasian.
The weekend was particularly hostile for the other films
elbowing into theaters. "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," a
hybrid of Jane Austen's romances and "The Walking Dead," earned
a wan $5.2 million from 2,931 locations. It's another sign that
Seth Grahame-Smith, the author of the book that inspired the
movie, has had trouble translating his genre-mashing style to
the big screen.
Grahame-Smith's "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" also
struggled at the box office when it was released in 2012. Sony
and Screen Gems distributed the film, while Cross Creek fully
financed the $28 million production.
The film skewed female, with women making up 58% of ticket
buyers and was seen as a counter-programming play against the
Super Bowl.
"We would have liked to have done more," said Rory Bruer,
Sony's distribution chief. "It's a movie that screened well and
that we all really liked a lot. It's clever and smart and fun."
"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" has been in the works for
years, with directors such as David O. Russell and stars such as
Natalie Portman falling into and out of the project at various
stages in its development. The cast that finally shepherded the
film to screens includes Lily James, Matt Smith, Sam Riley and
Jack Huston, with Burr Steers ("Igby Goes Down") directing from
a script he wrote.
Lionsgate's "The Choice" rounded out the top five, mustering
a feeble $6.1 million from 2,631 North American theaters. The
story of a veteran (Benjamin Walker) who falls in love with his
neighbor (Teresa Palmer) comes from the pen of romance novelist
Nicholas Sparks. Given the tepid reception, it seems unlikely to
rival the popularity of previous Sparks adaptations such as
"Dear John" or "The Notebook," both of which made more than $80
million stateside. Lionsgate acquired the film for $10 million.
Two holdovers secured third and fourth place on the charts -
"The Revenant" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." The Leonardo
Dicaprio survivalist drama picked up $7.1 million to bring its
domestic total to $149.7 million. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
nabbed $6.9 million pushing its North American haul to a godly
$906 million.
On Saturday, the space opera became only the third film in
history along with "Avatar" and "Titanic" to cross $2 billion
globally.
In limited release, the Weinstein Company debuted the Ethan
Hawke and Emma Watson psychological thriller "Regression" in 100
theaters where it eked out $31,000 for a dismal $310 per-screen
average.
Look for ticket sales to flatline on Sunday as Americans
gather around their television sets to watch the Denver Broncos
take on the Carolina Panthers. Historically, Super Bowl weekend
is a down one for the industry - last year football's biggest
game caused ticket sales to drop 57% from the previous weekend.
But the match-ups also provide a marketing bonanza for the movie
business, with studios preparing to tease upcoming blockbusters
such as "Alice Through the Looking Glass" and "Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows" during this year's broadcast.
"It's like an annuity," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior
media analyst at comScore. "Super Bowl may take a bite out of
the box office, but it allows Hollywood to put their trailers on
a worldwide stage in a way that will pay off later."