“Dumb and Dumber To” nabbed $8.3 million in its third week in theaters, driving its domestic total to $72.2 million. On the opposite end of the intelligence spectrum, “The Theory of Everything” performed well in its expansion, earning $5.1 million. The biopic about astrophysicist Stephen Hawking moved from 104 to 802 domestic locations this week and looks to be a strong awards season contender. It has earned $9.6 million since premiering four weeks ago.
Its not all math and theoretical astronomy. The Focus Features release examines Hawkings’ relationship with his first wife and the love story has helped the film move beyond art houses to appeal to audiences across the country.
“We’re playing very broadly,” said Jim Orr, Focus Features president of distribution. “We’re not just doing well in the New Yorks and Los Angeleses and San Franciscos, we’re playing well in the middle of the country.”
Atlanta and Dallas were among the film’s biggest markets, Orr noted.
One of “Theory’s” main competitors for Oscar glory, “The Imitation Game,” got off to a strong start in limited release. The story of code breaker Alan Turing scored the year’s second highest per screen average, commanding $120,518, behind only “The Grand Budapest Hotel’s” $200,000 average. The Weinstein Company release made $482,071 in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles.
“It exceeded our expectations,” said Erik Lomis, distribution chief for the Weinstein Company. “This is a fantastic result for the film to open like this in this crowded, competitive marketplace.”
Even with the rough comparisons to last year’s record setting numbers, Thanksgiving is on track to be one of the movie industry’s biggest, if not the biggest, weeks of 2014.
“The common story for 2014 has been how does it compare to 2013 and this is another case where it doesn’t live up,” said Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.
Article Appeared @http://variety.com/2014/film/news/box-office-hunger-games-rules-thanksgiving-horrible-bosses-2-penguins-fall-short-1201367180/