Moviegoers hopped into their own wayback machine this weekend, visiting some old, old Saturday-morning friends.
Yes, that’s right: Mr. Peabody & Sherman, the dog and his boy who originally rose to fame as part of the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons of the 1950s and ’60s (and who reintroduced themselves repeatedly through the magic of reruns), flew their flying contraption to the top of the box office heap this weekend and claimed the title for its very own.
You might say the beagle has landed … at No. 1.
The DreamWorks feature lost just a little over a third of its week-one audience and earned an estimated $21.2 million—the only movie to crest the $20 million mark this week. A nice little career capper for the world’s smartest dog.
As a result, Themistokles and his ripped Greek warriors discovered for themselves how fleeting empires can be. After reigning supreme last week, 300: Rise of an Empire slipped to second place and $19.1 million.
‘Course, that was still more than enough to trump Need for Speed, the week’s highest-earning newcomer. The movie’s $17.8 million take was, according to Box Office Mojo, far lower than even the weakest-performing Fast & Furious flick. On the other hand, it was in line with what most movies based on video games have made—suggesting, perhaps, that most folks inclined to see such a movie are too busy playing video games to be bothered.
Non-Stop paused, at least momentarily, in fourth place with $10.6 million (or in airliner terms, enough to check three or four bags, depending on weight). It held off the weekend’s other wide-release newcomer, The Single Moms Club. The latter finished fifth with $8.3 million, by far the worst opening of director Tyler Perry’s otherwise incredibly consistent career.
King of Quirk Wes Anderson saw his latest movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel, open just a wee bit wider in its second week of release—to a whopping 66 theaters. But it made an average of $55,152 per theater to become a surprise Top 10 entrant: It finished eighth with $3.6 million.
Oh, and for those Marshmallows wondering how Veronica Mars fared, ticket sales were a little … squishy. The big-screen update of the beloved UPN/CW show played in 291 theaters and earned about 2 million bucks. Not bad for a project funded originally through a Kickstarter campaign, but not enough to perhaps warrant a sequel.
Though if they promised to call it Veronica Mars Attacks, I might kick in a buck or two …
Final figures update: 1. Mr. Peabody & Sherman, $21.8 million; 2. 300: Rise of an Empire, $19.2 million; 3. Need for Speed, $17.8 million; 4. Non-Stop, $10.6 million; 5. The Single Moms Club $8.1 million.
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