Marking the successful merging of the Nostalgia-Industrial Complex and the Halloween-Industrial Complex (a subsidiary of ChristmasCo™), kiddie horror flick/“90s kid” catnip Goosebumps opened big at the box office this weekend, earning an estimated $23.5 million and knocking The Martian from its lofty No. 1 vantage point. Ridley Scott’s sci-fi movie remained strong, however, maintaining its No. 2 spot with a respectable $21.5 million, nearly $1 from every person who fucking loves science on Facebook.
Solid reviews and the affable presence of Tom Hanks helped Steven Spielberg’s Bridge Of Spies open at No. 3; the movie is likely to maintain that position thanks to a similarly solid “A” CinemaScore, once again proving Spielberg’s populist bona fides. Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak didn’t fare so well, fulfilling all of our most pessimistic predictions at No. 4 with $12.5 million. While flawed, the film does represent an original vision in a marketplace saturated with uninspired reboots, rehashes, and knockoffs, so hopefully its middling performance won’t have too much of a chilling effect.( Then again, Peter Pan origin story Pan is bombing as well, falling from No. 3 to No. 6 in its second week, so maybe the American public just hates Marvel characters in fancy period dress?)
In limited release, up-and-coming distribution company A24—which also recently acquired festival favorites Green Room and The Witch—appears to have an indie hit on its hands, with Room opening to a $30,000 per-screen average on a mere 4 screens. That’s not much compared to Steve Jobs’ $130,236 per-screen opening last week, but considering Room lacks the star power of Boyle and Sorkin’s study of tech jerks in turtlenecks it’s still pretty impressive. (Steve Jobs rose from No. 16 to No. 11 this week, and will probably go higher when it opens wide this weekend.) Also in limited release, Netflix’s day-and-date experiment Beasts Of No Nation has yet to pay dividends, fulfilling theater owners’ worst fears with a No. 33 opening and a dismal $1,635 per-theater average. We’ll see how Idris Elba and his army of child soldiers fare during awards season, though.
For more detailed numbers, visit Box Office Mojo.