The Friday box office of 2 January 2015 met with a fresh release and a horror sequel, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death making its way into the top positions of the chart. With a weekend box office and New Year’s Day box office winner like The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies as contender, it was impossible for the haunting sequel to reach the first position of the Friday charts, but a number 2 position is the best it could have scored in such conditions.
It is impressive, though, that a horror story with no critical acclaim managed to surpass the Christmas box office lead, Unbroken, and its follower, Into the Woods. Scores of the Angelina Jolie directed war drama and Rob Marshall’s fairy-tale ride were as tight as those reported for the Christmas chats, but positions have decreased in time from first versus second to second versus third and now Into the Woods is the only one which managed to rest in the top three positions of the charts. As for the reported gaining, The Hobbit cashed a total of $8,375,000 and the freshly released horror, The Woman in Black 2 grossed $7,750,000. Rob Marshall’s trip Into the Woods gathered $7,457,000 and was closely followed by Unbroken with $7,400,000.
The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death is a Tom Harper directed horror sequel and it stars Helen McCrory as Jean Hogg, Jeremy Irvine as Harry Burnstow, Phoebe Fox as Eve Parkins and Leanne Best as Woman In Black. The story traces the haunting at Eel Marsh House and focuses on a group of unwanted children arriving from a WWII London and who play an important part in the revival of the dark spirit of the house.
Collider underlined the fashion of releasing horror films in the first week of the New Year, which started in 2012, with The Devil Inside and its ambitious opening of $33.7 million. In that very year, the first Woman in Black opened only at the beginning of February and was reported to gather $20.8 million in its first three days, from 3 to 5 February 2012. The New Year horror box office tradition was followed in 2013 by Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, which gathered $18.3 million, ‘’an all-time low for the famously profitable franchise’’.
Friday, 2 January 2015, box office top five titles (via Box Office Mojo):
1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – $8,375,000
2. The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death – $7,750,000
3. Into the Woods – $7,457,000
4. Unbroken – $7,400,000
5. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – $5,925,000