Following on the huge success of “American Sniper,” Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) and its Warner Bros. studio took over the top spot in this past weekend’s U.S. box office sweepstakes with an estimated $19.1 million opening for “Focus,” a caper movie starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie that played on 3,323 screens. The film also earned an estimated $12.2 million in foreign ticket sales.
The second-place finisher was “Kingsman: The Secret Service” from Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (NASDAQ: FOXA) in its third week. The film posted $11.75 million in domestic ticket sales, down 36% from the prior week. In its three-week run, the film has raked in nearly $86 million in U.S. ticket sales and more than $124 million domestically. The film’s production budget was $81 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” placed third in its fourth week of release, with domestic sales of $11.2 million, down 32.4% from the prior week. The kids’ movie from Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB) and its Paramount Studios has grossed $140 million in the United States and another $96.3 million internationally, against a production budget of $74 million.
It looks like the run might be winding down for “Fifty Shades of Grey” from Comcast Corp.’s (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Universal Studios. The film’s $10.93 million weekend was down nearly 51% week-over-week. Domestically the film has pulled in nearly $148 million, less than half its $338.4 million international receipts. Worldwide, the film has grossed $486.2 million and is probably a lock for a $500 million total. The movie’s production budget totaled $40 million.
For the weekend, U.S. moviegoers paid $106.4 million to watch 45 movies. That is down more than 10% week-over-week.
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