Weekend Actuals: 'Martian' Repeats at #1 as 'Pan' Crashes and 'Walk' Slows Down

     Last weekend's box office champion 'The Martian' remained at first place, easily beating new competition like 'Pan' and 'The Walk', both of which performed poorly considering their budgets ('Pan') and strong reviews ('The Walk').
     #1 spot belonged to 'The Martian' once again, which claimed $37 million this weekend and a solid 31.9% decline. That is a stronger hold than 'Interstellar''s second weekend drop (-40.4% for $28.3m) and reasonably below 'Gravity''s (-22.6% for $43.2m). The $108-million Matt Damon led sci-fi pic from Fox has been benefiting from strong reviews (93% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience reception ('A' CinemaScore), and with $108.7 million already and no major competition until the first weekend of November (when the latest James Bond film and Blue Sky's most recent come out), should end its run with a spectacular $225 million.

     $80-million animated comedy sequel 'Hotel Transylvania 2' held on to second this weekend, dropping 38.5% and grossing $20.4 million. That is a weaker hold than the 36.3% drop of the first 'Hotel Transylvania', but that is understandable as the sequel has been experiencing bigger grosses. 'Transylvania 2' has so far made an impressive $116.9 million through 17 days of release, and a finish of around $170 million is definitely in its sights.
     In a disappointing third place debut, Warner Bros. $150-million Hugh Jackman led fantasy 'Pan' brought in a terrible $15.3 million for a $4,357 per-theater average. The weekend gross is less than half of 'Tomorrowland''s $33 million debut earlier this year on Memorial Day weekend and the average is much less than that film's $8,315 take. It is also noticeably behind 2013's 'Jack the Giant Slayer', which grossed a shameful $27.2 million in its opening weekend for a $7,717 average. 'Pan' started out with $5.2 million on Friday, increased 16.2% on Saturday and grossed $6 million, and fell 30.8% on Sunday to earn $4.1 million. That puts the weekend-to-Friday ratio at 2.94-to-1, suggesting it could have good legs going forward. However, due to the lackluster debut, weak reviews (23% on RT) and word-of-mouth (52% Flixter score), and a crazily huge budget ($150m), 'Pan' will likely crawl past $40 million but anything much more than that would be surprising, making this a box office bomb.
     'The Intern' placed in fourth this weekend with an estimated $8.7 million take and easing 25.7% from last weekend. The PG-13 rated comedy has been holding up very nicely over the past few weekends, and with a $49.6 million cume so far, $70 million shouldn't be out of reach by now.

     $30-million Emily Blunt led R-rated crime thriller 'Sicario' rounded out the Top 5 with $7.6 million, down 37.6% from its nationwide expansion and representing a solid hold. 'Sicario' has now grossed $26.9 million total, and $40 million should be a lock.
     'Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials' held up nicely this weekend, with $5.4 million and a 31.2% drop. The $61-million dystopian YA adaptation has been taking in solid numbers, but is lagging behind its predecessor's pace. 'Scorch Trials' has so far made $70.8 million, and a domestic total of around $85 million is likely.

     In seventh place this weekend, TriStar's $35-million Joseph Gordon-Levitt led biographical drama 'The Walk' took in a disappointing $3.7 million weekend gross and a weak $1,482 per-theater average. 'Walk' was up 138.4% from last weekend when it debuted in 448 IMAX only locations, adding 2,061 locations to the list. Even with critical acclaim (86% on RT) and strong word-of-mouth (86% Flixter score), it failed to break out in its nationwide release. So far, 'Walk' has taken in an uneventful $6.4 million, and if it holds up well, $15 million is likely, although that is nothing to be happy about.
     $53-million Johnny Depp led gangster tale 'Black Mass' grossed $3.1 million this weekend, down an estimated 46.7%. 'Black Mass' has grossed a solid $57.6 million, although that is behind 'The Departed' and 'The Town'. However, anything above $65 million total shouldn't be considered a failure.
     Universal's 'Everest' continues to disappoint with a fourth weekend take (third weekend in wide release) of $3.07 million, down 45.5%. The $55-million hiking drama has made a lackluster $38.3 million so far, and $45 million total should still be in reach.
     'The Visit' grossed $2.5 million, down 36.5% from last weekend. The horror comedy from Universal has so far grossed $61.2 million in 31 days (or 1 month), and $68 million isn't out of the question (or at least not yet).
     'War Room' continued to stay in the Top 12, declining just 34.5% from last weekend and grossing $1.9 million. The $3-million faith-based drama has made $63.6 million, representing immense profitability. $66 million total should be likely.
     Rounding out the Top 12 was 'The Perfect Guy', which fell 41.3% and earned $1.4 million. With a stellar $54.8 million so far, $56 million is a lock.
     The Top 12 this weekend altogether grossed $109.5 million, which is down a troubling 23.3% from last weekend and down 19.3% from last year when 'Gone Girl' repeated against 'Dracula Untold', 'Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day', 'The Judge', and 'Addicted'. Next weekend sees the releases of Sony's PG-rated horror comedy 'Goosebumps', Disney's Tom Hanks led historical drama 'Bridge of Spies', Universal's R-rated gothic horror 'Crimson Peak', and Pure Flix's football drama 'Woodlawn'.