Weekend box-office – 27th of December 2014 to 9th of January 2015 – will the Five Armies battle off competition?

We weren’t here last week so we’ll be covering the past two weeks of box-office results. So far, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings/Hobbit films have been a financial phenomena, reaching the combined takings of nearly $5 billion but there’s was an evident slip up between An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug. The Battle of the Five Armies is billed as the defining chapter of the series but it might not be destined for the same commercial glory as it’s heading up the competition of musical remake Annie and fantasy sequel Night at the Museum 3. Last week, we predicted it’d top the chart but let’s see what went down in the past two weeks.

US:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Director: Peter Jackson – $54.7 million
2. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – Shawn Levy – $17.1 million
3. Annie – Will Gluck – $15.9 million
4. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott – $8.1 million
5. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – $7.9 million

UK:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – £5.4 million
2. Paddington – Paul King – £2.5 million
3. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – Shawn Levy – £1.9 million
4. Dumb and Dumber To – Bob and Peter Farrelly – £1.8 million
5. Penguins of Madagascar – Eric Darnell, Simon J Smith – £0.7 million

And here’s the results for the second week.

US:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – $40.9 million
2. Into the Woods – Rob Marshall – $31.1 million
3. Unbroken – Angelina Jolie – $30.6 million
4. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – Shawn Levy – $20.2 million
5. Annie – Will Gluck – $16.5 million

UK:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – £4.2 million
2. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott – £2.6 million
3. Paddington – Paul King – £2.6 million
4. Annie – Will Gluck – £2.3 million
5. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – Shawn Levy – £1.6 million

While these figures do appear disappointing (and they are a major step down from previous instalments), the Hobbit films this succeeds both had pre-Christmas releases. During the holidays, there’s no rush to see new releases at the weekend so this conclusion to the series will still be raking in cash mid-week. Unbroken and Into the Woods’ $30 million+ entries are promising. Night at the Museum and Annie had seemingly crushing openings but they’ve somehow increased takings in Week Two. Biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings too had similar concerns but it has stills reached global grossings of $150 million and out to regain double its budget, eventually.

Here are our predictions for next week.

US:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson
2. The Woman in Black: Angel of Death – Tom Harper
3. Into the Woods – Rob Marshall
4. Unbroken – Angelina Jolie
5. The Gambler – Rupert Wyatt

UK:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson
2. The Woman In Black: Angel of Death – Tom Harper
3. Birdman – Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
4. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott
5. Paddington – Paul King

Evangeline Lilly and Orlando Bloom in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, this week’s US and UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 20th to 26th of December 2014 – will Exodus evict Hunger Games?

Following the classics Blade Runner, Alien and Gladiator, Ridley Scott’s more recent financial success has varied. Both action epic Robin Hood’s mediocre takings of $320 million and crime thriller The Counselor’s measly $70 million but Prometheus ($400 million) proves the seventy seven year old Brit’s staying power in cinema. His new star studded biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings has clocked a budget of $140 million so it’ll be a major feat to reflect success in that. Its week of release sees it battling few other competitors but that may not guarantee its own success. We predicted its triumph last week but let’s discover what really happened.

US:

1. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Director: Ridley Scott – $24.1 million
2. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – $12.7 million
3. Penguins of Madagascar – Eric Darnell, Simon J Smith – $7.2 million
4. Top Five – Chris Rock – $6.9 million
5. Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams – $6.1 million

UK:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – £9.8 million
2. Paddington – Paul King – £2.9 million
3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – £1.1 million
4. Penguins of Madagascar – Eric Darnell, Simon J Smith – £1.1 million
5. The Imitation Game – Morten Tyldum – £0.5 million

Exodus’ debut is by no means a flop but this certainly is sub-par; hopes of crossing the $300 million threshold aren’t promising. Comedy Top Five, directed by and starring Chris Rock, is the only new entry of the week. In the UK, The Hobbit’s final instalment The Battle of the Five Armies makes its debut and has marginally surpassed The Desolation of Smaug’s takings. This is a greatly pleasing sign ahead of its US release. Paddington, Hunger Games 4 and The Imitation Game all slip places. This week I’ve scored an impressive 7/10.

US:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson
2. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – Shawn Levy
3. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott
4. Annie – Will Gluck
5. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

UK:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson
2. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – Shawn Levy
3. Dumb and Dumber To – Bob and Peter Farrelly
4. Paddington – Paul King
5. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence

Christian Bale in Exodus: Gods and Kings, this week’s US number one.

Richard Armitage and Martin Freeman in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, this week’s UK number one.

Wallace, Foxx and Diaz in first trailer for Annie and new Captain America 2 posters

Will Gluck’s remake of the classic musical has taken leaps in development today with the first poster (above) and trailer released. If you’re unfamiliar with the original, it sees a young orphan rescued from her monstrous foster Mrs Hannigan by a vastly wealthy businessman. Combine the love for the original and director Gluck’s comic talent showcased in Easy A with the big names of stars Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild, 12 Years a Slave), Jamie Foxx (Ray, Django Unchained), Cameron Diaz (Gangs of New York, Shrek), Bobby Cannavale (Broadwalk Empire), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Thor: The Dark World) and Rose Byrne (X-Men: First Class) and producers Will Smith and Jay Z, we should be in for a big hit.

This month’s biggest release is undoubtedly Marvel’s new thriller Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Today, Sebastian Stan’s titular villain joined the likes of Chris Evans’ Cap, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury and Anthony Mackie’s Falcon as the stars with their own banners for the film. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo also direct Robert Redford, Toby Jones, Hayley Attwell, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp and Dominic Cooper.

Annie – February 6th 2015

Captain America: The Winter Soldier – March 28th