The wave of new films at multiplexes this weekend failed to make much of an impact on the US box office chart, giving previous releases a chance to stand their ground.
The Martian edged out last week’s number one, Goosebumps, to return to the top spot. Ridley Scott’s sci-fi adventure raked in another $15.9 million according to studio estimates, bringing its total domestic haul to more than $166 million.
Although Goosebumps slipped, the spooky children’s movie still made $15.5 million for Sony in its second week. Meanwhile Steven Spielberg’s political thriller stayed in third place, adding nearly $11.4 million to its takings.
The casualties came in the form of The Last Witch Hunter, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, Rock the Kasbah and Jem and the Holograms, as well as Crimson Peak and Steve Jobs.
Vin Diesel’s Witch Hunter recorded ticket sales of $10.8 million, landing it in fourth place. The Paranormal Activity sequel could not beat Hotel Transylvania 2 to break into the top 5. Rock the Kasbah is a smaller production but even the combination of Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson and Zooey Deschanel could only muster $1.5 million.
Despite the huge marketing push, Guillermo del Toro’s gothic romance Crimson Peak tumbled to eighth position and its earnings were down 57% from its opening weekend.
However, one of the biggest surprises turned out to be Steve Jobs. The highly acclaimed Danny Boyle film on the iconic Apple co-founder and CEO expanded nationally but only made an additional $7.3 million. Some forecasts had put that figure at $19 million a few days ago.
