Holdover The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 has been shifted to the second spot at the box office, making room for Exodus: Gods and Kings as it victoriously takes the lead with $24.5 million from 3,503 locations.
The biblical epic, which cost $140 million to produce, follows the story of Moses (Christian Bale) as he rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses (Joel Edgerton), and leads the Israelites out of slavery. Alongside Bale and Edgerton, the film stars Ben Kingsley, John Turturro, Sigourney Weaver and Aaron Paul.
Audience members, who were 54 percent male and 65 percent over the age of 25, gave Exodus a B minus CinemaScore, with mediocre reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. The film played especially well to Hispanic and African-American moviegoers, who made up 18 percent and 20 percent of the crowd, respectively.
“We got the religious audience, but the opening audience was much more diverse than just that,” said Spencer Klein, executive vice president of theatrical distribution at Fox.
Compared to previous religious-themed films (Noah with $43.7 million, Son of God with $25.6 million, and The Passion of Christ with $83.8 million), 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment’s Exodus fell somewhat short when it debuted over the weekend. With it premiering in December, where films tend to stick around much longer, Klein stated that there is still hope for the film to grow, although there is stiff competition ahead (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, family musical Annie, Disney’s Into the Woods and Fox’s threequel Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb).
“This is a great start for us leading into the holiday stretch,” said Klein, adding, “In this play period you get such a big multiple [on a film’s opening weekend].”
Following Hunger Games’ second place finish with $13.2 million and a domestic total of $277.4 million, is Penguins of Madagascar with $7.3 million in its third week. The film has earned a grand total of $58.8 million domestically.
The weekend’s other wide release was Chris Rock’s Top Five, finishing in fourth place with $7.2 million across 979 theaters. Written, directed by, and starring Chris Rock, the film tells the story of New York City comedian-turned-film star Andre Allen, whose unexpected encounter with a journalist (Rosario Dawson) forces him to confront the comedy career-and the past-that he’s left behind.
Unlike Top Five’s opponent, Rock’s comedy managed to receive much more positive reviews, as well as an 89 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“We got the launch we wanted and the reaction we had hoped for,” said Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures. “We do feel that word of mouth is going to continue to build as we keep expanding.”
Rounding out the top five is Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Big Hero 6 with $6.1 million, for a cumulative total of $185.3 million.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: December 5-7
- Exodus: Gods and Kings – $24.5 million
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 – $13.2 million
- Penguins of Madagascar – $7.3 million
- Top Five – $7.2 million
- Big Hero 6 – $6.1 million
- Interstellar – $5.5 million
- Horrible Bosses 2 – $4.6 million
- Dumb and Dumber To – $2.8 million
- The Theory of Everything – $2.5 million
- Wild – $1.6 million
