Weekend Actuals: 'Ride Along' Rolls Out with Solid Debut, '13 Hours' Doesn't Win or Lose, 'Norm' Bombs

     What do you get when you open a buddy comedy with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart, a bloody R-rated war film directed by the guy you only recognize from making huge robots fight each other, and a low-budget, terribly-reviewed animated film against a bunch of Oscar-nominated movies on the same weekend? A pretty mixed bag, apparently, as none exceeded expectations in any way but weren't outright flops either (except for the animated film).

     In first place was the $40-million Kevin Hart/Ice Cube led buddy comedy from Universal 'Ride Along 2', which opened below the first's $41.5 million three-day debut and grossed $35.2 million from 3,175 locations ($41m four-day). While that is the eight biggest January opening on record and the fifth best MLK four-day opening, it's below expectations and significantly down from the aforementioned $41.5 million debut of the first. However, everybody knew it would never match the heights of its predecessor as comedy sequels rarely outdo their predecessors. At least its drop wasn't as big as recent comedy sequels 'Horrible Bosses 2' (off 44.9%) and 'Ted 2' (down 38.4%). 'Ride Along' performed more in line with last March's 'Get Hard', which opened to $33.8 million in 3,212 theaters, and 2010's 'The Other Guys', which debuted to $35.5 million from 3,651 locations.
     It opened to $11.9 million on Friday, increased 13.1% on Saturday to make $13.5 million, and dropped 26.7% on Sunday for a $9.9 million take. It fell 41.6% on MLK Day to make $5.8 million. The (three-day) weekend-to-Friday ratio here is 2.96-to-1, which is slightly better than the 2.88-to-1 ratio of 'Ride Along' from 2014. It's way better than the R-rated comedy sequels 'Ted 2' (2.52-to-1) and 'Horrible Bosses 2' (2.5-to-1). If it follows the patterns of 'Ted 2' ('Horrible Bosses' isn't exactly a good comparison due to its Wednesday opening), the sequel will wind up with around $83 million. If 'Ride Along' plays like 'Get Hard', a $91 million finish is in store. Reviews are much worse than those films (an awful 14% on RT), but word-of-mouth is more promising (64% Flixter and 'B+' CinemaScore). The PG-13 rating should make it more accessible to younger audiences than those R-rated openers, so it should hold up a bit better. 'Ride Along' should finish in the $95-$100 million range.
     In a very strong second place, Fox's $135-million Leonardo DiCaprio led Western thriller 'The Revenant' expanded into 3,559 locations this weekend and grossed $31.8 million, down a slim 20.2% from last weekend. 'Revenant' has been holding up very well throughout its run, and should continue to do so due to the 12 Oscar nominations it scored on Thursday. Counting the estimated $37.5 million it brought in over the four-day weekend, the film has now earned a stellar $95.7 million. A finish of around $155 million still seems likely.
     'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' yielded the weekend crown and occupied third place with $26.3 million ($33m four-day). That is down a respectable 37.8% from its fourth outing in theaters, and with an outstanding 5 Oscar noms it should keep holding up well. 'Star Wars' has so far brought in $859 million, and a $905 million total is now a guarantee.

     '13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi' failed to replicate the massive successes of previous mid-January war films like 'Lone Survivor' ($37.8m), 'Zero Dark Thirty' ($24.4m), and of course 'American Sniper' ($89.3m). While the $50-million Michael Bay directed war flick was never expected to, it still had the potential to break out among audiences. Unfortunately, reviews weren't even close to being as strong as the three previously mentioned movies (a middling 59% on RT), although word-of-mouth is about on par (87% Flixter and 'A' CinemaScore). The political controversy surrounding the film (including the recently released statement made by Hillary Clinton) might have also turned off some moviegoers as well. '13 Hours' pulled in an estimated $16.2 million in three days and $19.2 million in four, behind the pre-release predictions of a $18-$20 million three-day weekend and a $22-$25 million four-day weekend.

     Earning $5.9 million on Friday (including $900k from Thursday night showings), '13 Hours' declined 2.3% on Saturday to earn $5.8 million, and dropped 21.1% on Sunday to earn $4.5 million. Earning $3 million on MLK Day (a 33.3% decrease from Sunday), '13 Hours' should experience lighter holds than Bay's previous efforts. It's the first Bay film to get a good Flixter score since the first 'Transformers' back in 2007. However, that score could be inflated a bit due to its nature as a modern warfare film. It's unlikely '13 Hours' will have 'American Sniper' or 'Zero Dark Thirty' legs due to the weaker reviews and weaker starpower. However, it should follow 'Lone Survivor''s pattern closely, which is a similar war film where the heroes have to fight against a ridiculous amount of terrorists without outside help. With those kinds of legs, '13 Hours' should reach $55 million by the end of its run.
     'Daddy's Home' took fifth place with $9.5 million ($11.9m/-20.7% four-day), down 36.4% from last weekend. The $50-million comedy has so far brought in a strong $131.9 million since opening on Christmas, and should finish with around $145 million.
     In a weak sixth place, 'Norm of the North' tanked with just $6.8 million. That's way below the $19.4 million opening of 2014's 'The Nut Job', and only slightly ahead of last August's 'Shaun the Sheep Movie' ($4m). The $18-million animated comedy suffered from atrocious reception given off by critics (0% on RT) and audiences (25% Flixter and 'B-' CinemaScore) alike.
     'Norm' began with $1.6 million on Friday, increased 90% on Saturday to make $3 million, and dropped 24.9% on Sunday to gross $2.3 million (it increased 12.2% on MLK Day to earn $2.5 million). The ratio is 4.25-to-1, which is a bit better than 'The Nut Job'. Still, don't expect it to hold up as well due to much weaker reviews (the aforementioned 0% rating, only achieved by the worst of the worst) and word-of-mouth (the first wide release since 'Fantastic Four' in August to get in the 20's on Flixter). A total of around $20 million is likely for this flop.
     Overall box office was up a slim 2.8% from last weekend, grossing $151.3 million, and down 33.7% from last year when 'American Sniper' expanded and demolished the January opening record.
     Next weekend looks to be a bit quieter, as the holdovers are likely to take the top spot while 'Dirty Grandpa' (the Robert De Niro/Zac Efron led R-rated comedy), 'The Boy' (STX's latest PG-13 thriller), and 'The Fifth Wave' (expected to be the latest YA adaptation to underperform) will likely debut softly.