The Martian gave Ridley Scott and Matt Damon their biggest opening weekend in years. Audiences turned out in droves to see one of the smarter movies we’ve seen in some time (check out our The Martian review) and made it the number one movie of the weekend.
Although it made $55 million and that’s a whole lot of box office greenery, it was not enough to secure the October box office record set by Gravity in 2013. And both sci-fi films were pretty darn close with their final numbers. The Martian’s $55 million was only beaten by the Sandra Bullock Oscar-winning flick by .78 million dollars!
Think the high box office increased Scott’s chance of The Martian being his first Oscar nominee since Gladiator? You bet!
Second place found last week’s winner, Adam Sandler’s Hotel Transylvania 2. It added $33 million to its total, which brought its cume to $90.5 million. Third belonged to one of the most astounding movies of the year, the Emily Blunt-starring Sicario. It made $12.1 million. Look for word of mouth to take that number higher in the coming weeks.
Fourth place found the surprisingly charming The Intern. The Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway comedy made $11.6 million. It has earned $36.5 million since it opened.
Closing out the top five was another former number one movie, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. The Dylan O’Brien-starring flick banked $7.7 million, taking its total to $63.2 million.
Weekend Box Office Top 10:
- The Martian, $55 million
- Hotel Transylvania 2, $33 million
- Sicario, $12.1 million
- The Intern, $11.6 million
- Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, $7.7 million