‘House with a Clock in Its Walls’ ticks a box-office win
NEW YORK — The gothic family fantasy “The House With a Clock in Its Walls” exceeded expectations to debut with an estimated $26.9 million in ticket sales at the weekend box office, while audiences showed considerably less interest in Michael Moore’s Donald Trump-themed documentary, “Fahrenheit 11/9,” than his George W. Bush-era one.
“The House With a Clock in Its Walls” was easily the biggest draw on a quiet weekend at North American movie theaters, where the other three new wide releases all disappointed or downright flopped.
“Fahrenheit 11/9” opened with $3.1 million in 1,719 cinemas — a huge debut for most documentaries but a fraction of the $23.9 million opening generated in 2004 by Moore’s record-breaking “Fahrenheit 9/11.” That film went on to make $222.4 million worldwide, a record for documentaries.
Moore’s new film, which examines the rise of Trump and other developments such as the water crisis in his hometown of Flint, Mich., was the first release from former Open Road chief executive Tom Ortenberg’s new distributor, Briarcliff Entertainment. It had been predicted to open with $5 million to $8 million.
But despite a surge in success for documentaries at the box office — including “RBG,” “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” and “Three Identical Strangers” — “Fahrenheit 11/9” didn’t catch on.
Dan Fogelman’s “Life Itself” and the home invasion thriller “Assassination Nation” both barely made a blip in nationwide release. Though Fogelman’s “This Is Us” is one of TV’s toprated series, his “Life Itself” bombed with $2.1 million despite a starry cast including Olivia Wilde, Oscar Isaac and Antonio Banderas.
The film — an unabashedly sentimental tale of destiny across generations — drew some of the most scathing reviews of the year, landing it a 13 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
In an interview last week, Fogelman blamed “primarily white male critics who don’t like anything that has any emotion,” prompting many female critics to point out that they, too, thought “Life Itself” was, as Variety’s Jessica Kiang wrote, “manipulative and contrived.”
The Amazon Studios release, which opened in 2,609 theaters, was one of the worst performing wide releases of the year, as was Sam Levinson’s “Assassination Nation.” The Neon thriller grossed just $1 million in 1,403 theaters.
But Universal Pictures’ “The House With a Clock in Its Walls,” based on the classic book written by John Bellairs and illustrated by Edward Gorey, capitalized on a recent dearth of childfriendly options. The film, directed by the horror veteran Eli Roth with a budget of $40 million, stars Jack Black and Cate Blanchett.
“This was on the high end of any expectations,” said Jim Orr, head of distribution at Universal. Orr credited the studio’s producing partners at Amblin Entertainment as well as the release date in a normally slow month. “We really saw an opportunity in late September to kick off the fall season with this PG family film, and obviously it was well-positioned.”
With the fall movie season getting started, a few specialty films hit theaters, drawing packed theaters in limited release.
Bleecker Street’s “Colette,” starring Keira Knightley as the iconic French author, debuted with $156,000 in four theaters, good for a per-screen average of $39,000. Jacques Audiard’s dark Western “The Sisters Brothers,” starring Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly, opened with $122,000 in four theaters for a $30,500 perscreen average.
Estimated ticket sales were for Friday through yesterday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore.
Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through yesterday also are included. Final domestic figures will be released today.