SUNDAY 6 AM, 4TH UPDATE: Welcome to one of the slowest weekends at the domestic box office. The movie season is off to a weak start – just $70M total filmgoing. Yes, that’s +20% over last year but only because of higher ticket prices and more 3D premiums. And no don’t blame this on some outages at online ticketseller Fandango on Saturday – because the studios aren’t. It doesn’t help that Hollywood once again is determined to churn out unnecessary sequels and threequels.
#1 - In this case, blame Vin Diesel who now owns the Riddick role 
and is keeping the $38M independently financed sci-fi franchise on life support. He leveraged a lot of his own assets because he loves this galactic ex-con character or hopes to earn more coin from it or both. Universal released in 3,107 U.S. theaters while eOne Entertainment is distributing in Canada. The R-rated pic opened mediocre with $7.3M Friday and $7.1M Saturday for what Universal says is a mediocre $18.6M weekend (but Hollywood estimates at $19.2M). it opened on 314 IMAX screens in North America, delivering about $2.5M. That’s after earning a middling ‘B’ CinemaScore from audiences and grossing an unimpressive $900K from Thursday night’s domestic late shows and Friday’s midnights. Even though this actioner had this first fall weekend all to itself, it took in only 1/2 what the original made and 1/3 what the sequel earned. The 3rd installment clearly didn’t expand beyond core fanboys since the outlaw character hasn’t been featured in a film in 9 years – although it’s been in a succession of DVDs and video games. Exit polls showed the audience was 59% male/41% female, 47% under age 30/53% age 30+, and 37% Hispanic/31% Caucasian. Written and directed (again) by David Twohy, produced (again) by Ted Fields, and starring Diesel (again), Riddick follows 2000′s Pitch Black which earned $39.5M and then 2004′s The Chronicles Of Riddick whose bloated budget made $57.8M gross. Diesel has been both savvy and stupid behind the scenes of this pic. When Universal wanted him for a cameo in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, he asked for the rights to the Riddick character instead of an acting fee. Diesel and Twohy tackled the script problems and went into production on the threequel. When a completion bond fell through, Diesel personally advanced funds until bank loans were secured. Eventually Universal came back in with an equity position but also insisted on a PG13 rating. Diesel fought the studio for an R rating – and the result is more bone-crushing and blood gushing violence. Oh joy. As Diesel told interviewers pre-release: “There’s something appropriate and liberating and honest and free about going into a picture like this, and being able to make it a rated-R picture and not have to comply with an understandable studio mandate of PG filmmaking for the blockbusters.” (Is it any wonder that half of America hates Hollywood?) Now Riddick’s international release is being handled by various independent distributors and opens this weekend in 22 overseas markets including the UK and some European countries, Hong Kong, and the Middle East. Hopefully it’ll gain traction there for Vin.
#2 – Lee Daniels’ The Butler (3,330 theaters) from The Weinstein Company finally drops out of the top spot. It placed #2 with $2.3M Friday and $3.9M Saturday. That’s $8.2M-$8.9M for the weekend and a $91.3M-$91.9M cume in Week 4.
#3 - Warner Bros/New Line’s 5-week-strong laugher We’re The Millers (3,445 theaters) made $2.2M on Friday and $3.6M Saturday for a $7.9M weekend and $123.8M cume.
#4 - Lionsgate’s Spanish language holdover Instructions Not Included (717 theaters) made $1.6M Friday and $3.3M Saturday which is off only -20% from last weekend. That’s a $7.4M weekend for a $19.6M cume. With word of mouth spreading due to its ‘A+’ CinemaScore, Instructions Not Included expanded its U.S. run to target crossover audiences. Made for a $5M budget and acquired by Pantelion Films, the family comedy was the big story coming out of Labor Day Weekend at half as many locations for the best-ever domestic debut for a Spanish language film. Pantelion Films is a joint venture between Lionsgate and Mexico’s media powerhouse Televisa with plans to release 8-to-10 films per year.
Concert movies are always front-loaded so no surprise that Sony/TriStar’s holdover One Direction: This Is Us dropped from #5 to #6. Here’s the rest of the Top Ten based on weekend estimates:
5. Planes (Disney) Week 5 [Runs 3,033] PG
Friday $862K, Saturday $2.0M, Weekend $4.1M, Cume $79.1M
6. One Direction: This Is Us (TriStar/Sony) Week 2 [Runs 2,735] PG
Friday $1.6M, Saturday $1.8MM, Weekend $4.0M (-74%), Cume $23.9M
7. Elysium (Sony) Week 5 [Runs 2,241] R
Friday $887K, Saturday $1.4M, Weekend $3.0M, Cume $85.0M
8. Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters (Fox) Week 5 [Runs 2,045] PG
Friday $519K, Saturday $1.1M, Weekend $2.3M, Cume $59.7M
9. Blue Jasmine (Sony Classics) Week 7 [Runs 1,069] PG13
Friday $655K, Saturday $1.1M, Weekend $2.3M, Cume $25.0M
10. The World’s End (Focus Features) Week 3 [Runs 1,520] R
Friday $697K, Saturday Weekend $2.2M, Cume $21.7M
For more estimates listed by title, see
box office results here...
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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A very weak opening when you consider (1) the NFL began its season last night and (2) schools have begun classes for the most part.
Well, it’s R-rated, anyway, so not a lot of kids likely to see it.
Kids can buy tickets to rated-R movies online and from automated kiosks nowadays, smart guy. Studios need to realize their PG-13 mindset doesn’t make or break a movie.
It’s not like some Mom goes to the cineplex and says, “Oh, Die Hard whatever or Terminator what-not is PG-13. I think I’ll take the kids.”
Grow a brain.
Jack, you should grow a brain. In studio reporting R-Rated films do not support the demo of under 18.
What are you talking about?!
Movies like The Conjuring, 300, Paranormal Activity, ect. are HUGE hits, and under-18 teenagers are a big reason why.
Anything you see in an r-rated movie, you can see TEN TIMES worse on this thing called Google. Maybe you’re naive, but ask any 15 year-old if they’ve seen one or all of the above mentioned films, and you’re going to get a “yes” I promise.
Maybe the people doing the demo reporting aren’t getting factual responses b/c the kids don’t want to get kicked out of a movie by some dweeb in a suit.
Does anyone think Riddick would have done that much better as PG-13? or better yet PG? I think what a movie is rated has little to do with success. Remember John Carter and Green Lantern?
Actually, you’re off the mark.
Add to that, people are taking their vacation days off work to travel, etc. while they can.
Chronicles of Riddick bombed too. This sequel wasn’t necessary and also proves Vin Diesel can’t open a movie unless it has an engine in it.
Vin Diesel is a genius.
If by that you mean he can’t act but keeps getting work then you are correct.
This is a parody post, right? No living human being’s brain actually functions this way… right?
Huh? So by your twisted logic, people must hate Denzel Washington twice as much because he is 100% black.
I think people hate on Vin Diesel because of his oily pecs more than some vague notion that he’s part black People see a big meathead. I like him just fine — but he’s a brawny, deep-voiced dude with a shaved head and a penchant for action movies, making him a target for snobs and snarkers.
Um… Is Vin Diesel really 50% black…? *looks it up* Huh, I guess it’s true! Not that I care. All I know is that he’s 100% awesome and that’s all that matters.
We thought he’s half white.
Riddick is a Passion project for Diesel. The Chronicles of Riddick was always seen as the first chapter of a trilogy and hes just trying to fulfill that promise. I hope this one makes enough money to justify the story continues.
Passion? He already said he only did the third one cause his fans kept bugging him on facebook.
If you read the article, passed on a paycheck for character rights and then advanced from his own money so the movie would be made. In a town where actors kickstart passion projects instead of spending their money. He seems pretty damn passionate to me.
Lovelace was also a passion project and look at what happened to that piece of S***
That’s funny, because while I wouldn’t consider myself a fanboy, “Riddick” is the only film I am interested in seeing this weekend.
“Riddick” is not “simply to earn coin”. This is a project of love for Vin who had to put his home up as collateral in order to get it done. About two years ago he asked fans if they wanted another Riddick movie, and that he would do it for the fans, as he did NOT expect it to be a money maker. Fast and Furious movies are his money makers. Riddick movies are not. I’ll be watching it on Monday… been waiting for it!
So he decided to put up his house as collateral on a film that is not a money maker? Seems like a bad business decision there.
Diesel asked his fans on Facebook if they wanted to see another Riddick and they said yes. Because he has 50 million fans on there, he thinks all of them want to see it. There is a big difference between going on facebook and saying you want to see something versus actually forking up the dollars to do it.
If Vin Diesel cared about money, this would have been on kickstarter. Vin Diesel just doesn’t give a crap about money.
“Vin Diesel just doesn’t give a crap about money.”
You’re either a liar or an idiot.
If Vin Diesel cared about money, this would have been rated PG-13.
Great point about the fans petitioning online and Diesel putting up his house. You would think the “Editor-in-Chief” who wrote this article could lay off the snark (again) and actually do some journalistic research. This is THR, how does she not know this stuff? Or that PITCH BLACK and CHRONICLES did good business theatrically internationally and made plenty of money on DVD. She comes off like a sour puss tweeting in a bar on a friday night about what she considers “boy stuff”. Come on, girl. A little journalistic integrity, please.
I wonder if the NFL’s opening night game had something to do with Thursday nights soft numbers for Riddick. Don’t they share the same audience demographic?
How could tracking be so hot, every estimating service say Riddick is grossing $25m+ and now its not cracking $20 . . . Hollywood needs better tracking services
But at least Riddick is a “cheap” loss. Uni’s really going to be hurting when 47 Ronin comes around.
“The Last Samurai” made a bundle in Japan, actually outgrossing its American sales. And for what it’s worth, the 47 Ronin iconic part of Japanese history. You never know.
(Side note: This may not apply to a Keanu Reeves action flick, but I think that TV’s “Hatfields & McCoys” miniseries was a smash in part because there was an untapped curiosity about the famous feud, which puzzlingly had never received a major Hollywood retelling. Same could be said about Spielberg’s Lincoln. With the exception of the abortive vampire-slaying version, it seemed like it had been decades since the last time H’wood churned out a big-time Lincoln biopic. Just imagine if Ted Turner’s Gettysburg movie wasn’t nine hours long and boringly directed. Total blockbuster!)
I liked Gettysburg.
How is this a loss, you bandwagoning moron? The film cost $38mil, and it will top that in box office over the course of its run. Generally speaking, if a film makes 85-90% of its budget in theaters, it will come out easily enough into the black, especially for a movie with a cult following like Riddick. A “cheap loss” is a film like Oblivion.
Google offered. Hollywood thinks it is more beneficial to dupe people into thinking a film is grossing higher than it is, so they declined their 90-some percent accuracy. They must think most of America cares about box office data or something.
Riddick 3 – the movie no one waited to see. Yet they made it. Because Vin Diesel wanted to show off as super cool guy. Even if in second one people just laughed when he was showing off his coolness in every frame. And what is it about? Well – they just did remake of Riddick 1…
I wonder if Lee Daniels’ The Butler could repeat at number 1. I’d like to see it happen just for the conversation it would stir up.
Hopefully not that overrated Opera hyped, race baiting film has already made more than it deserves, its basically just another “We’re Black people throughout history in this country have been mean to us, blah blah blah” movie.
Yeah, look at them, b****ing about slavery and segregation and wanting to be all equal and stuff! What a bunch of whiners!
So, you haven’t seen The Butler then?
“Opera?” I didn’t know they were hyping The Butler at Operas, Jakobus. No wonder it’s doing so well. All the Opera lovers are attending. Well, it’ll cross $100 million soon and all the right wingers can stop predicting what a flop it will be.
The movie was made for $34M and Vin got paid scale to do it. Uni considers anything over $15M to be a win so let’s see what happens before people lose their heads…
$34 million to make? Not including P&A? Universal would consider anything over $15 million a success?
Don’t teach your kids accounting.
Well, you shouldn’t teach your kids reading comprehension. Clearly, the poster was referring to just this one weekend’s box office for the United States.
IF Riddick was really made for $34 million then between the multiple it would get over its domestic run plus foreign plus DVD/BR/VOD sales and rentals, plus other viewing rights (streaming, pay TV, airlines, etc), plus video game licensing fees (this is a decent franchise in that world, very important to remember), plus spiking the views of previous installments, it should easily be a profitable project at even a $15 million US opening, IF the budget is really 34.
Maybe it’s you who should learn something about the business.
crazypoet – I agree with you as far as the future of Riddick, if the budget is 34 million. This movie will do fine. I especially like how they kept the cost down. It looks like a film that will deliver what people want. It’s not meant to be great art, just entertainment.
As far as Vin Diesel putting his house up for collateral, it seems like it was a no risk proposition. The man is extremely wealthy and there are a lot of companies that want to be in the Vin Diesel business. Universal just stepped up. And they know that they need to keep Vin Diesel happy if they want to continue to make hordes of money on those Fast films. It was a win proposition for them too ultimately.
The real story is about Elysium. It cost a fortune, yet hasn’t delivered the grosses needed. Do a story on that.
It is a self-financed picture, not off Universal’s dime. I’m sure they wound up paying well less than $30m for US distribution rights.
He was referring to the Opening Weekend.
I think he means $15 million opening weekend.
Yes genius, anything over $15 million is a success. Learn basic math.
Don’t even bother having kids.
+1.
The tracking has become so unreliable, I am not sure why we pay for it anymore.
How much is your monthly tracking bill?
Riddick is a a perfect case study in failed franchise management. This is not Diesel’s fault, but rather Universal’s for failing to develop a cogent strategy after the first film succeeded over a decade ago. I don’t think current management would make that same mistake today.
This is a low budget action movie. It wins even with an under $20M weekend. This is not a $200M franchise sequel. This is a passion project by the filmmakers and I hope more films will follow this model.
h
Nikki-
That’s not fair. Diesel has kept the project alive because loves the character, Riddick. It’s a passion project for him. not a payday. In fact, he even invested his own money in it. We should applaud him for his passion and guts.
And what’s bugging her about Diesel fighting for an R-rating? He gets to make a creature-feature action film on his terms, and the adults-only rating meets industry requirements for keeping the youth of America safe from the sight of Vin Diesel punching CGI monsters. It’s win-win!
Riddick is going to make money cause the budget it quite low. It will do 100 worldwide easily.
He means $15M opening, not final tally, and not including overseas. Guess your parents didn’t teach you.
How can the people coming on here saying it is a sequel “nobody wanted” have missed the very public fact that this film was indeed a rare one where the fans ASKED for it. They kept asking Diesel, on social media, if/When the Chronicles would be continued and finished. As well as a passion piece for Diesel and Twohy the fans asked for this. If it matches the ticket sales of Chronicles, with it’s small budget under $40m then it will make a box office profit and the millions who love the character will get their continued series.
Well I remember how people asked for Veronica Mars movie, for Firefly movie, for Arrested Development movie, for Loki movie, for Deadpool movie and many other. I don’t remember huge crowd of fans begging for new Riddick movie. Maybe some journalists asked Vin about movie out of being polite or because he wanted to be asked of it. But I don’t remember how huge crowd of fans asked Vin for it. 50-100 fans somewhere on Facebook doesn’t count
This is the movie that VIN WANTED. Not public. But he likes Riddick, because Riddick is like sooo coool. And it’s not like he has any career outside of “Fast” movies. So he begged producers or studio to do Riddick movie. And problem is that Vin did not learn his lesson when sequel failed. Riddick looked ridiculous in Chronicles. In every frame Vin was showing off how super cool Riddick is. And it was ridiculous and embarrassing.
And what we see in trailer for new movie? This is not sequel to Chronicles of Riddick. This is remake of Pitch Black. And again Vin is showing off his coolness like he is some 17 years old boy who plays in James Bond.
“This is the movie that VIN WANTED. Not public.”
How juvenile. You make it sound like he funded this himself. This was an independently produced $38 million movie and sometimes indie movies like this can be funded by selling off the distribution rights to this and that territory. (For example, Universal picked up the U.S. rights.)
In short, there are film distributors across the globe who decided to invest in this film. Now you can argue whether that was a wise investment or not, but none the less I can understand their logic since Diesel has had a career resurgence in recent years thanks to the FAST & THE FURIOUS franchise. Since the last one made a ton of money just a few months ago, maybe that association will put butts in seats for RIDDICK?
I still think RIDDICK could very well repeat what HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS did earlier this year: Make enough money in territories across the globe and thus a $50 million-funded “dud” in America grossed $200+ million worldwide and got a sequel greenlighted.
“…Diesel has had a career resurgence in recent years thanks to the FAST & THE FURIOUS franchise.”
Or: “The FAST & FURIOUS franchise has had a resurgence in recent years thanks to the return of Vin Diesel.” Goes both ways. The series hit bottom and then started growing again when he came back to star in #4.
True.
I do agree with you earlier about not getting Nikki’s anger with the evil R rating. The guy and Twohy wanted to make the movie that they wanted to make, for better or worse.
Nikki, this isn’t a Marvel movie.
I think the early September opening was a mistake, they could have done a lot better opening a week or two ago, opening in late August at least looks like they’re trying, opening this weekend makes it look like they were dumping it.
I just saw the new Riddick movie and I liked it!
I’m a total fangirl, though, and can admit that this movie is probably not going to win over any new converts to the series.
The movie mostly dealt with the ending of the second movie and the events of Pitch Black. It was one part “Castaway” and one part “Pitch Black: Ten Years Later.” Still, I watched Pitch Black, CoR: Dark Fury, The Chronicles of Riddick, and Riddick: Blindsided all in chronological order before watching this movie today, so it was a fun day for me.
I’d say that if you’re a fan of Riddick, watch it.
I think someone in a decision-making position examined the movie release calendar and planned accordingly.
There’s no similar competition at the theaters. No other movie targeting the Riddick/Vin Diesel demographic.
I believe Riddick will overperform the same way Pitch Black overperformed and took people by surprise.
Not sure what the haters are going on about, seems like a strong opening weekend for Riddick considering this is a low budget action picture. Diesel and Twohy loved the character and have struggled for years to make this movie.
I think Chronicles of Riddick was way too ambitious and big for this character. Riddick was a fun, hard-R, throwback sci-fi action picture.
All these mean-spirited haters that are trashing this film and Diesel, look at Terminator and look at what Cameron and Schwarzenegger were able to do with $6.4 million. The film only made $38 million, which is good for 1984, but then in 1991 they made a freaking $105 million sequel. At the time, that was absurd. I’m not saying Riddick is going to be the next Terminator, but I’m glad the internet wasn’t around in the 1980′s so haters could turn their noses up at what Cameron did with the Terminator movies.
It’s the strangest thing. Nobody ever says the Riddick movies are bad but they just don’t make any money. I guess you have to respect Vin Diesel for being so passionate about a franchise that’s not really paying dividends for him.
Actually, the weekend after Thanksgiving is the slowest box office weekend if the year.
You are incorrect….the weekend after Labor Day sells the fewest tickets and is the lowest grossing weekend of the year.
Diesel is more expensive than gas, he should have done the math. Am of the cynical bunch who doesn’t even want to say the word Riddick. And the poor dude dropped a house on it, that only works in the Wizard of Oz to kill witches, ps, OPM dude, OPM.
Only a small number of people follow NFL so theatres/cinemas theoretically offer broader appeal than a bunch of overpaid Z listers