Reuters
Director Angelina Jolie’s World War II drama Unbroken finished first at the Christmas Day box office in its debut and edged out another new film for the holiday season, modern fairy tale musical Into The Woods, tracking firm Rentrak said on Friday.
Unbroken, the real-life story of Olympic runner Louis Zamperini’s two years as a prisoner of war in Japan, brought in $15.6mn, helping Comcast Corp.’s Universal film and Jolie’s second directorial effort stand out in the crowded US and Canada holiday film offering.
It came in just ahead of the $15.1mn made by Into The Woods, Walt Disney Co.’s film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway musical. Actresses Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep and the film itself have received Golden Globe nominations.
The last of Peter Jackson’s three Hobbit films, Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, from Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros, tacked on another $13.1mn on Christmas Day after winning the box office in its debut last weekend.
Far down on the list, in 14th place, was The Interview, the Seth Rogen-James Franco farce about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that sparked the devastating cyberattack on Sony Pictures. The raunchy comedy earned $1.04mn playing in 331 mostly independent theatres after the big movie chains bowed out due to threats from hackers.
Sony stitched together a limited release in the theaters and a $5.99 video-on-demand (VOD) rental option on YouTube, Google Play and other sites.
“I’d be surprised if this wasn’t one of the biggest VOD events ever,” said Jeff Bock, a box office analyst at Exhibitor Relations, who thinks Sony could have charged more.
Until Sony discloses the online revenues, it is hard to know if the studio will come anywhere near recouping the $44mn it cost to make the film, plus the $30mn-$40mn that some estimate was spent on marketing the film and its stars, Seth Rogen and James Franco.
The comedy, steeped in gross-out, bathroom humor, depicts the travails of two journalists who get enlisted to assassinate Kim. It might not be a typical Christmas Day release, but it filled theatres and got lots of laughs.
Sony “got $1mn in sales, that’s a nice bit of gravy... knowing the main release isn’t happening the way it should be,” said Gitesh Pandya, editor of boxofficeguru.com.
The theatrical release so far amounts to less than 10% of the cinemas that had been planned for a wide release in the United States and Canada. The film was expected to gross at least $20mn over the long holiday weekend if in wide release, according to Boxoffice.com.
The day before Christmas, Sony Pictures released the movie online via Google Inc’s YouTube and Google Play, Microsoft Corp’s Xbox gaming console and a Sony dedicated website. Sony is looking for more partners for digital distribution, though hundreds of thousands of people have reportedly downloaded the film from pirate sites.
The controversy gave the film exposure to audiences that might never have gone to see it otherwise, and many who showed up on Christmas Day said they were there to support free speech.
One of those was David Humdy, 65, an entertainment industry accountant who saw the film in Los Angeles and declared it “silly, entertaining, better than I thought”.
The extensive press coverage could also boost the film in overseas markets, where Rogen and Franco are not yet big stars.
Pandya believes Sony Pictures will be able to absorb losses easily, as it is not unusual for a film of such a budget to fall short.
“It’s hard to find a way that they recoup it all because they did end up spending a lot of money on marketing for a theatrical release that never happened,” he added.
But the fracas forced Sony to explore more fully a territory looming on the Hollywood horizon: “day-and-date” simultaneous VOD and theatrical release. VOD deals tend to give studios a higher slice of revenue than the 50-50 split they share with US and Canadian movie theatres.
“If this does really well, obviously, the tide will keep turning towards online,” said Bock. “It could send ripples down the line in terms of how Hollywood is going to release its products.”