Weekend Box Office (January 23 - 25, 2015)

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND It's been nearly a decade since Jennifer Lopez anchored a hit movie. The American Idol judge takes the lead in the new thriller The Boy Next Door which will target adult women this weekend. The singer-actress has enjoyed many box office hits during her career and this film should open to respectable numbers given her broad appeal across race, age, and gender.

Universal's trailers and TV spots have been good and will help excite the target audience. Critics have not been kind, but that is to be expected on a film like this. And while American Sniper is a different kind of film and is more male-skewing, its sales among women have been solid too so it will be a factor that this R-rated JLo flick will have to deal with. Opening in over 2,500 theaters, The Boy Next Door might debut to around $13M.

Disney and its recent acquisition Lucasfilm have a new entry this weekend - the animated fairy adventure Strange Magic. The PG-rated tale is aimed squarely at young kids and despite its promotion of George Lucas, should not pull in many adult Star Wars fans. Epic dabbled in similar territory a year and a half ago so Magic does not feel entirely new here. Paddington will take away part of the family crowd so there is a limit to potential. But the Disney and Lucas brand names will get it some traction, at least in the short term. Landing in 3,020 theaters, Strange Magic may take in about $12M this weekend.

Once a box office titan, Johnny Depp has stumbled upon hard times lately in part due to a string of lackluster films that have just not excited his many fans. His latest offering, Lionsgate's comedy Mortdecai, will do nothing to change that. The R-rated film which co-stars Gwenyth Paltrow (who adds no box office muscle) has not sparked fire with audiences plus trailers and TV spots do not look amusing. Reviews are overwhelmingly negative and there are plenty of better options for grownups right now including a string of films given the stamp of approval by the Academy. Opening in 2,648 locations, Mortdecai might open to about $7M.

Also opening nationwide is the drama Cake starring Jennifer Aniston which heads into 482 locations in all major markets. The R-rated pic has earned mixed reviews but has also attracted plenty of ink for Aniston's snub on Oscar nomination morning. Add in the star's talk show tour this week and it's safe to say there is some good awareness. Cake is falling into the category of awards season contenders that knocked it out of the park in terms of an acting performance, while not being a film being discussed in the Best Picture race. Adult women should make up a large portion of the audience and Aniston has been a pretty reliable draw at the box office.

Box office behemoth American Sniper will have no trouble keeping its crown for a second week. In fact, its second weekend of wide release will likely be larger than the opening frame of any January film in history. Strong buzz, plenty of media talk, and a lack of competition will lead to a strong session with a possible drop of 45% to a stellar $49M weekend. That would boost the Warner Bros. cume up to a staggering $184M with plenty more to go.

Kidpic Paddington enjoyed a solid debut over the long MLK weekend but will face some competition from Magic this time around. A 40% slide would give Universal about $11M for a new total of $39M. Sony's The Wedding Ringer could see a 45% decline to about $11M as well. That would leave Kevin Hart with nearly $40M to date.

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Check the box office chart of Oscar nominations and grosses. Watch the trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron.


LAST YEAR Easily holding onto number one with $21.3M was the Kevin Hart-Ice Cube hit Ride Along leading a top five filed with holdovers. The military winner Lone Survivor followed with $12.9M with the animated film The Nut Job taking in $12.1M. Frozen was still on the list with $9.1M edging out Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit which also collected $9.1M.

LAST WEEKEND's TOP 20

Last Updated: January 22, 2015 at 11:30PM ET

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