October 2015 was one of the worst months of the year, with The Martian as the only movie of the month to really dominate, although Hotel Transylvania 2 also did very well for the kids. Many of the movies that hit were flops and last weekend was the worst of the entire year. Movie studios have to be happy that November is here because the box office just blew up with two big releases this weekend.
The big winner this weekend was Spectre, which brought in an impressive $73 million for the latest James Bond movie. While the movie has been polarizing, with many critics blasting it as a failure while many fans call it a great return to the fun Bond of the past, it led the weekend with a nice average of $18,580 a theater. Right behind that was the new animated movie Peanuts. The adventures of Charlie Brown and Snoopy finished its opening weekend with a nice $45 million, with an average of $11,547 a theater.
This was also a six percent improvement over the same weekend last year. It was also a 148 percent increase in box office over last weekend.
While budget for Spectre was 2.5 times more than that of Peanuts, both movies should make their budgets back comfortably. Peanuts got an A through CinemaScore while Spectre got an A-, both making it look like the movies will coast through most of November without a problem.
Spectre’s box office take is the eighth highest domestic James Bond movie of all time and the weekend was the second highest ever after only Skyfall. Internationally, Spectre made $117.8 million and it has made a total of $296.1 million after 10 days internationally. The biggest problem domestically is the fact that the final Hunger Games movie hits in two weeks and will take a lot of business, as it ranks only second in anticipation to Star Wars next installment.
Peanuts also faces some tough competition, as a new Pixar movie is coming out on Thanksgiving with Good Dinosaur. Both movies should do well over the holidays, though they will slightly eat each other’s box office.
The Martian, who took first every week since its release except for the week Goosebumps came out, finished third this weekend with a nice $9.3 million take. Domestically, The Martian is up to $197 million and just became the highest grossing Ridley Scott movie of all time, passing Gladiator. Worldwide, The Martian has passed $485 million and is also Scott’s highest grossing movie worldwide.
Goosebumps continues to make money, even after Halloween, with a fourth place finish of $6.9 million. Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies also keeps plugging along with another $6 million in its fourth weekend.
History
Last year, the top movie at the box office was Big Hero 6, which made $56.2 million. The second place movie was Interstellar, which hit $47.5 million. It was the exact opposite of this weekend, with a big movie and an animated movie both opening, but last year, it was the animated movie that won out.
Head back to 1982, and the top movie at the box office was the horror anthology Creepshow, which brought in $5.8 million in its opening weekend. First Blood, which was on top of the box office, dropped to second while E.T. continued an impressive streak, with a third place finish after 23 weeks, for a $286.7 million at the time. It finished with an amazing $359.1 million in its domestic life.
25 years ago, Home Alone made its debut at the weekend box office, with a $17.0 million take. That was a nice start for a movie that would end up making $285 million before it bowed out. Also opening that weekend was Rocky V, which took second. This year, the next installment of the Rocky franchise opens with Creed. Another opening weekend movie in 1990 was Rescuers Down Under, which took fourth place.
15 years ago, a Christmas movie opened this weekend, with the live action version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. That movie made $55 million, which was followed by Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, which made $22.7 million. Also opening that weekend was The 6th Day and Bounce.
Five years ago, Unstoppable opened at the box office but only finished in second place. The box officer winner was Megamind, an animated movie with Will Ferrell as the main voice. Skyline and Morning Glory also opened five years ago this weekend.
Weekend Box Office
| Position | Title | Weekend | Total |
| 1 | Spectre | $73M | $73M |
| 2 | The Peanuts Movie | $45.0 | $45.0 |
| 3 | The Martian (1) | $9.3 | $197.0 |
| 4 | Goosebumps (4) | $6.9 | $66.4 |
| 5 | Bridge of Spies (3) | $6.0 | $54.9 |
| 6 | Hotel Transylvania 2 (4) | $3.5 | $161.2 |
| 7 | Burnt (6) | $3.0 | $10.2 |
| 8 | The Last Witch Hunter (6) | $2.6 | $23.5 |
| 9 | The Intern (11) | $1.8 | $71.4 |
| 10 | Paranormal Activity: Ghost Dimension (10) | $1.6 | $16.2 |
Weekend box office estimates courtesy of Box Office Mojo