The weekend box office of 9-11 January 2015 welcomed to its charts the highly expected Taken 3, which hurried to take the lead position, thus dethroning persistent names like The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies or the Christmas released and once favorite pictures Unbroken or Into the Woods. The voyage of Liam Neeson at the top of the box office was explosive and immediate, as reached a total gross of $40.4 million, thus becoming the ‘’second-highest January opening ever’’. Apart from Taken 3, the top positions of the weekend box office welcomed the biography-drama Selma, which also gathered great sums.
Taken 3 was expected to blow the box office charts before its release on 9 January 2015, taking into consideration the success of the previous movies of the franchise. Taken 2, for instance, grossed about $49 million, earning 18% more that the weekend box office leader of this report. Box office mojo spreads charts per days, so the evolution of the last Taken is obvious through the entire weekend. In the day of its release, the action-crime picture gained $14,800,000 and Saturday met with even a higher number – $15,600,000. Sunday, nonetheless, was the least productive for Olivier Megaton’s thriller, with a gross of only $10,000,000.
The second position in the weekend box office was attributed to another 9 January released movie, Selma, an Ava DuVernay directed biography-drama. The weekend gross of the movie was $11,200,000, noticeably lower in comparison to the lead. Although the difference between the first two positions is enormous, box office mojo gives the Martin Luther King picture great chances in the next weekend box office, considering its great reviews and praise by critics. The movie opened with the sum of $3,780,000 and increased on Saturday, when grossed $4,700,000. Although the sums were modest in comparison to Taken 3, Selma managed to obtain a great number two position in charts, surpassing the Christmas released Into the Woods.
Rob Marshall’s fantasy positioned as third in the weekend box office charts, surpassing both box office favorite The Hobbit and Christmas favorite Unbroken. The weekend gross of the Meryl Streep and Anna Kendrick starring picture was of $9,750,000. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies followed as number 4, with a close total of $9,435,000, after being the lead of the weekend box office for several weeks and thus chances are that the last Hobbit becomes the lowest-grossing title of the franchise. The last title in the top five titles of the weekend box office was the Angelina Jolie directed Unbroken, starring Jack O’Connell as hero Louis Zamperini. The story of the Olympic runner and war prisoner grossed a weekend total of $8,368,000.
Top 10 titles of the weekend box office of 9-11 January 2015 (via Box office mojo):
1. Taken 3 – $40,400,000
2. Selma – $11,200,000
3. Into the Woods – $9,750,000
4. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – $9,435,000
5. Unbroken – $8,368,000
6. The Imitation Game – $7,624,000
7. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – $6,700,000
8. Annie (2014) – $4,919,000
9. The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death – $4,825,000
10. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – $3,750,000