Audiences shell out plenty for ‘Spectre’ and ‘Peanuts’
James Bond had a license to kill at the box office and executed that mission with a $73 million tally, according to studio estimates.
Daniel Craig ’s fourth turn as James Bond easily outpaced a strong showing for The Peanuts
Movie, which still thrived at $45 million in its debut.
Both movies provided a needed spark to a box office that has been slumping — down dramatically last weekend vs. the year before in what was an overall tough October for new releases.
“It’s a great story, James Bond and Charlie Brown, two iconic characters over 50 years old,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior box office analyst for Rentrak. “It took Bond and Brown to get the box office back on track.”
Spectre is the second-biggest Bond opening behind 2012’s Sky
fall, which took $88.4 million. The U.S. tally fell short of analysts’ initial expectations for the weekend, following Spectre’s record opening in the U.K.
“Unquestionably, this is a big, big success,” Dergarabedian says.
The 3-D computer animated
Peanuts marked a strong return for the beloved comic strip characters. Director Steve Martino and screenwriter/producer Craig Schulz, son of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, carefully developed a film that honored fans.
“They obviously took their time with this project and did it right,” says Jeff Bock, box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. “Peanuts will have legs through the holiday season. All signs point for this to be the beginning of a new Peanuts franchise.”
Matt Damon and The Martian continued to excel with $9.3 million and third place. The Ridley Scott film has $197.1 million total.
Jack Black as children’s horror author R.L. Stine in Goosebumps continued to pull in young audi- ences, taking fourth place with $7 million ($66.5 million total).
Tom Hanks and director Steven Spielberg ’s Cold War collaboration Bridge of Spies rounded out the top five with $6.1 million for a total of nearly $55 million.
Awards hopefuls Spotlight, about The Boston Globe’s investigation into the Catholic Church child abuse scandal, and 1950s drama Brooklyn, starring Irish actress Saoirse Ronan, performed well in limited openings. In five theaters, the two movies averaged $60,400 and $36,200 per screen respectively.
Final numbers are expected Monday.