Last week, Sony pulled the plug on releasing their controversial North Korean comedy The Interview following a bad cyber attack and terrorist threat. It didn’t take the studio and distributor to find options to try to release the movie to the audiences. On the Christmas Day, The Interview was finally released in a very limited 331 theatres around the North America, while also releasing it over various streaming platforms like YouTube, Google Play and Xbox. The box office number is now in – The Interview garnered $1.04 million on its release day from 331 theatres, averaging a very good $3142 per theatre. The number was not shabby at all, considering the release mess and chaos we saw over the last few weeks, but Sony has yet to announce their future expansion plan for The Interview.
Meanwhile, Universal’s Unbroken, a World War II drama from director Angelina Jolie topped the Christmas Day box office collection with $15.6 million (from 3131 theatres), barely ahead ofFrank Rob Marshall’s Disney’s musical Into the Woods with $15.1 million (from 2440 theatres). The Cinemascore for Unbroken and Into the Woods are A- and B, respectively. The third spot belonged to Warner Bros’ and Peter Jackson’s epic fantasy The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies with another $13.14 million for a total cume of $127.1 million. Fellow Christmas opener Paramount’s The Gambler, scored only $5 million (from 2478 theatres) and the Cinemascore of C+ will unlikely to help its box office prospect.
The Weinstein Company’s The Imitation Game, the epic history thriller about British mathematician Alan Turing expanded to 747 theatres, garnering $3.08 million for $6.7 million in total so far. Big Eyes, a new Tim Burton’s movie with Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams in the leading roles, scored only $1.42 million from 1307 theatres and a weak $1083 average. The rest of the top movies in the North America during Christmas were as follows:
1. UNBROKEN (Universal) - $15.59 mil (3131 theatres)
2. INTO THE WOODS (Disney) - $15.08 mil (2440 theatres)
3. THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF FIVE ARMIES (Warner Bros) - $13.14 mil (3875 theatres) = Total: $127.10 mil
4. NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB (Fox) - $7.35 mil (3914 theatres) = Total: $34.78 mil
5. THE GAMBLER (Paramount) - $5.00 mil (2478 theatres)
6. ANNIE (Sony) - $4.60 mil (3197 theatres) = Total: $29.24 mil
7. THE IMITATION GAME (TWC) - $3.08 mil (747 theatres) = Total: $6.7 mil
8. EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS (Fox) - $3.04 mil (3002 theatres) = Total: $45.78 mil
9. THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1 (Lionsgate) - $2.69 mil (2793 theatres) = Total: $296.66 mil
10. WILD (Fox Searchlight) - $1.67 mil (1285 theatres) = Total: $10.95 mil
11. TOP FIVE (Paramount) - $1.46 mil (1426 theatres) = Total: $15.47 mil
12. BIG EYES (TWC) - $1.42 mil (1307 theatres)
13. BIG HERO 6 (Disney) - $1.29 mil (2065 theatres) = Total: $195.08 mil
14. P.K. (UTV) - $1.08 mil (272 theatres) = Total: $6.2 mil
15. THE INTERVIEW (Sony) - $1.04 mil (331 theatres)
Others:
SELMA (Paramount) - $0.32 mil (19 theatres)
AMERICAN SNIPER (Warner Bros) - $0.24 mil (4 theatres)
Meanwhile, Universal’s Unbroken, a World War II drama from director Angelina Jolie topped the Christmas Day box office collection with $15.6 million (from 3131 theatres), barely ahead of
The Weinstein Company’s The Imitation Game, the epic history thriller about British mathematician Alan Turing expanded to 747 theatres, garnering $3.08 million for $6.7 million in total so far. Big Eyes, a new Tim Burton’s movie with Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams in the leading roles, scored only $1.42 million from 1307 theatres and a weak $1083 average. The rest of the top movies in the North America during Christmas were as follows:
1. UNBROKEN (Universal) - $15.59 mil (3131 theatres)
2. INTO THE WOODS (Disney) - $15.08 mil (2440 theatres)
3. THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF FIVE ARMIES (Warner Bros) - $13.14 mil (3875 theatres) = Total: $127.10 mil
4. NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB (Fox) - $7.35 mil (3914 theatres) = Total: $34.78 mil
5. THE GAMBLER (Paramount) - $5.00 mil (2478 theatres)
6. ANNIE (Sony) - $4.60 mil (3197 theatres) = Total: $29.24 mil
7. THE IMITATION GAME (TWC) - $3.08 mil (747 theatres) = Total: $6.7 mil
8. EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS (Fox) - $3.04 mil (3002 theatres) = Total: $45.78 mil
9. THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1 (Lionsgate) - $2.69 mil (2793 theatres) = Total: $296.66 mil
10. WILD (Fox Searchlight) - $1.67 mil (1285 theatres) = Total: $10.95 mil
11. TOP FIVE (Paramount) - $1.46 mil (1426 theatres) = Total: $15.47 mil
12. BIG EYES (TWC) - $1.42 mil (1307 theatres)
13. BIG HERO 6 (Disney) - $1.29 mil (2065 theatres) = Total: $195.08 mil
14. P.K. (UTV) - $1.08 mil (272 theatres) = Total: $6.2 mil
15. THE INTERVIEW (Sony) - $1.04 mil (331 theatres)
Others:
SELMA (Paramount) - $0.32 mil (19 theatres)
AMERICAN SNIPER (Warner Bros) - $0.24 mil (4 theatres)