'Need for Speed' Can't Go Fast Enough
Welcome to Box Office Report where Aaron Paul's movie career has hit a roadblock.
.Welcome to Box Office Report where Aaron Paul's movie career has hit a roadblock. But while the weekend box office may be marked by the high profile failure of Need to Speed, smaller movies are telling the bigger success stories. The Veronica Mars movie—which by now should be known as "The Little Movie That Could"—grossed $2 million dollars, just making it into the weekend's top ten. The movie is playing in 291 theaters many of which Warner Bros. rented out, and was also available for purchase online. Meanwhile, Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel is pulling off an even more impressive feat, coming in eighth place by making $3.6 million while only playing in 66 theaters. This is after last weekend where it set a record per-screen average for a live-action movie. But let's get down to the top five, bitch, as our good friend Aaron Paul would say.
1. Mr. Peabody & Sherman (Fox): $21.2 million in 3,951 theaters
After taking second place to the 300 sequel last weekend, this animated bit of updated nostalgia took the top spot away from those burly Athenians. Mr. Peabody, which features the voice of Modern Family's Ty Burrell, fell just 34.2 percent. Take that, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
2. 300: Rise of An Empire (Warner Bros.): $19.1 million in 3,490 theaters
Though the CGI-fest failed to retain the top spot, falling 57.6 percent, it still came in a close second to Mr. Peabody.
3. Need for Speed (Buena Vista): $17.8 million in 3,115 theaters
And this is where things get rocky. Maane Khatchatourian of Variety reports that the Aaron Paul-starring race car movie won the box office both Thursday and Friday, but then failed to keep up with the pack. This is bad news for DreamWorks, a studio which has suffered its share of box office bombs recently thanks to the failures of The Fifth Estate and Delivery Man. That said, the movie is doing better overseas, where it made $45.6 million.
4. Non-Stop (Universal): $10.6 million in 3,183 theaters
Liam Neeson's plane-set action movie dropped a spot from last week, but still held its ground in the top five.
5. Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club (Lionsgate): $8.3 million in 1,896 theaters
The Tyler Perry empire was dealt a blow this weekend when The Single Moms Club opened to just $8.3 million, the lowest opening ever for a Perry-directed movie, according to Pamela McClintock at The Hollywood Reporter. The Single Moms Club sunk lower than Perry's Daddy's Little Girls, which opened in 2007 to $11.2 million in 2,111 theaters.