Box Office: Guy Richie’s Man From U.N.C.L.E. Opens Soft, Compton Rappers Took The Weekend
$CMCSA, $FOX, $TWX, $SNE, $VIA
‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,’ this weekend’s new wide release, lagged behind rap offering Straight Out of Compton, placing 3rd with $13.5-M.
Straight Outta Compton beat domestic box office expectations, taking an estimated $56.1-M, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the weekend’s other new wide release, which pulled in $13.5-M to come in 3nd
Universal’s, a unit of Comcast Corp (NASDAQ:CMCSA) R-rated Compton, the biopic about the groundbreaking hip-hop group NWA produced for $29-M, posted a best-ever opening for director F. Gary Gray and overshadowed other rap movies like Eminem’s 8 Mile, which bowed to $51.2-M in Y 2002, and Notorious, the story of Notorious BIG, which opened to $20.5-M in Y 2009. The film may claim the best August opening for an R-rated movie as well as the top opening for a musical biopic.
Black moviegoers made up the largest share of the audience (46%), but Compton also demonstrated crossover appeal with Whites making up 23%, Hispanics, 21% Asians, 4% and others, 6%, 51% over age 30 and 49% were under. An equal mix of men and women awarded the film an A CinemaScore.
Universal quietly agreed to provide extra support for theaters that decided to add extra security, the screenings across the country also appeared to go off without incident.
The movie got a boost from a strong marketing campaign, which include a “Straight Outta…Your Hometown” Internet meme that went viral as well as the release of Compton, Dr. Dre’s 1st album in 14 years.
It is the 6th #1 opening for Universal this year, boosting the studio’s Y 2015 domestic box office gross above the $2-B mark Saturday.
Warner Bros. a unit of Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) PG-13-rated period spy tale The Man From U.N.C.L.E. did not strike much of a nostalgic chord among moviegoers as it was unveiled in 3,638 locations. The movie, which cost $80-M + to produce came in behind MI— Rogue Nation. The Paramount, a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ:VIA) release, its 3rd frame with $17-M bringing its domestic box office total to $138-M
Directed by Guy Ritchie, U.N.C.L.E., from Warners and Davis Entertainment, stars Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer as a CIA agent and a KGB operative who work on a joint mission against a mysterious criminal organization. The movie got a B CinemaScore from its opening weekend audience.
U.N.C.L.E. will have to look overseas to compensate for its soft domestic showing. It began its international rollout this week in 23 markets where it grossed $12-M.
Among the movies entering their 2nd weekend, Fox’s (NASDAQ:FOX) Superhero reboot Fantastic Four dropped 69%, taking in $8-M to bring its cumulative take to $41.9-M for 4th-place.
In 5th place, STX’s thriller The Gift had a better hold, dropping 45% as it collected $6.5-M, bringing its box office cume to $23.6-M.
In 9th place, Sony’s (NYSE:SNE) Ricki and the Flash, starring Meryl Streep, held on with a 31% drop as it attracted $4.6-M, bringing its domestic box office take to $14.7-M.
At the specialty box office
Fox Searchlight launched Mistress America, Noah Baumbach’s latest comedy starring Greta Gerwig, which took in $94,000 in 4 theaters, an encouraging $23,500-per-theater average.
Music Box also opened the documentary Muru, about 3climbers on the Himalayan peak, on seven screens, grossing $98,000 for a per-screen average of $14,000.
Have some fun, see a movie this week.
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
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