‘War Room,’ Spanish language cartoon stand out at the box office

LOS ANGELES — Summer blockbusters gave way to the small and highly targeted over a sleepy Labour Day weekend at the box office, with notable performances from the faith-based “War Room” and the Spanish language cartoon “Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos”.

Sony’s “War Room” fought its way to first place in its second weekend in release, earning $12.6 million across the four-day holiday weekend, according to Rentrak estimates on Monday. The microbudget family drama, which cost only $3.5 million to produce, has grossed $27.9 million to date.

Financial success for faith-based films is not exactly a surprise at this point, but “War Room’s” impressive hold from its opening weekend is significant.

Paul Dergarabedian, Rentrak’s senior media analyst, attributes “War Room’s” second weekend success to heightened awareness after it nearly usurped “Straight Outta Compton” last weekend.

Also, word of mouth is strong for “War Room”. Dergarabedian said according to exit polling, 75 per cent of the audience said they would definitely recommend the movie — a substantial and interesting contrast to the dismal critical reception for the film.

“It’s just a great story of a film that really filled a void in the marketplace, with a message that the audience could really get behind,” he said.

New release “A Walk in the Woods”, debuted in third place, behind previous champ “Straight Outta Compton”, with $10.5 million from 1,960 screens. The buddy dramedy based on Bill Bryson’s memoir starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte cost a reported $8 million to make and has taken in $12.2 million since its Wednesday opening.

Fourth went to “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation”, the heart-pounding Tom Cruise vehicle, which pulled in $7.2 million its sixth week in theatres for a cumulative gross of $180.5 million.

The action pic “The Transporter Refuelled”, meanwhile, opened in fifth with a lacklustre $9 million from over 3,400 screens. Costing only $21 million to produce, this franchise outing subbed in a relatively unknown actor, Ed Skrein, for star Jason Statham, who had helped the previous three films succeed.

Dergarabedian said while both films will likely perform decently in theatres, their VOD earning potential is great.

“Both of those movies will end up being profitable on the small screen down the road,” he said.

But, it was Pantelion’s Spanish-language animated film “Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos”, that truly stood out among the pack, taking in $4.4 million from just 395 locations over the four-day weekend. Although it doesn’t come close to the sensational $10.4 million Labour Day weekend debut of Pantelion’s 2013 film “Instructions Not Included”, it does still illustrate the significant power of an underserved audience.

“Latinos represent 17 per cent of the population and buy 24 per cent of movie tickets. They go to the movies all the time and they go to movies as families. If we can create a film that resonates with families over a holiday weekend, it tends to do well,” said Paul Presburger, CEO of Pantelion.

“Where Hollywood releases big movies that appeal to everyone, we release movies that specifically and culturally appeal to the Latino audience,” he added.

They relied on grassroots marketing to get the word out about the film and plan to expand to over 580 locations next weekend.

“It’s the highest per-theatre average of any film in national release, that film, like ‘War Room,’ filled a void in the marketplace,” said Dergarabedian. “Hollywood is creating a lot of diverse product. It’s all about people relating to what’s going on on-screen.”

Sixth was “No Escape”, the expat adventure film starring Owen Wilson as a father trying to save his family in the middle of a foreign country’s political uprising. It raked in $5.4 million.

“The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”, based on the 1960s TV spy series, slipped a notch to seventh place with a little more than $3.4 million in weekend ticket sales.

In a surprise finish, eighth place went to Mexico’s “Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos” (A Rooster with Many Eggs), a Spanish-language animated feature, with $3.4 million.

The result was stunning because the 3D film about a little rooster that fights a mean rancher opened in less than 400 theatres, was shown in its original Spanish with English subtitles and had little advertising in North America.

Horror flick “Sinister 2” — about a child’s nightly visitations from ghoulish kids — dropped to ninth, making slightly less than $3.4 million.

“Inside Out,” Pixar’s 3D animated comedy drama set in the mind of a young girl, was tenth at $3.1 million.

It has made $348.2 million after 12 weeks in movie theatres.