After two weeks of little happening, someone arrived and shook the local charts like a snow globe. So what we have here is a bit of a mini blizzard…
Blizzard, you say? A hurricane will also do, since everything is in the wrong place. Several new debuts have upended the status quo, though some movies have been shaken more than others.
Naturally the top debut was The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, finally sewing up this series about teenage rebels fighting Donald Sutherland. No doubt it will be a chart heavyweight for a while, but with Spectre‘s arrival this weekend it won’t retain the top spot for much longer.
This new arrival may have pulled away audiences from other films. Burnt recorded the largest drop of the week, falling from 5th to 9th. Frankly I’m surprised it has been performing so well, since the film was a bit of a flop overall. Clearly local moviegoers like food (and perhaps Bradley Cooper) in this films.
Hotel Transylvania 2 also took a big plunge, moving down from 4th to 7th. That is a bit of a fall, but not really bad news: the animated sequel has been a big hit, surpassing the original by several million dollars worldwide. A third movie is already in the making.
Bridge of Spies, the latest Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg collaboration, had a more modest step down from 2nd to 4th. It’s doing well for a war/spy film, but remains the least successful of the pair’s four collaborations.
Goosebumps also took a slight step down to 2nd, but that was expected with the arrival of Hunger Games. Blinky Bill, on the other hand, held tight. The Australian animation debuted at 3rd last week and stayed put.
Most of the shake-up on the chart is due to three other debuts. The highest arrival (outside Hunger Games) is ‘n Man Soos My Pa, a local drama arriving just in time to replace the other stoic drama, Dis Ek Anna. While that dealt with abuse, this is the tale about a man reconciling his awful childhood with his estranged alcoholic father.
Action thriller, No Escape, debuted at a rather tepid 6th, which on the local charts means ‘adult moviegoers who don’t have much else to see”. The 6th spot is usually a place for mature faire to begin their quick journey off the charts. I don’t expect No Escape to do any different – perhaps faster if all the negative reviews hold true. On the other hand, if it’s got good action it may find a surprise audience.
Also new to the circuit was War Room, proving you shouldn’t judge a movie by its title. This is about a family falling apart and how the power of a local church and prayer helps them get their lives back together. So it’s an evangelical movie, though in its favour Kurt Cameron is nowhere to be seen. It also stars a mainly black cast, which could prove to be a strong draw locally. But 8th is a weak opening.
At 10th was another slight drop: the comedy How To Make Love Like An Englishman, which I think is a terrible title for a wry, dry tale about a playboy forced to take on married life.
01. HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2 (Incl 3D & Imax)
02. GOOSEBUMPS (incl 3D)
03. BLINKY BILL
04. BRIDGE OF SPIES
05. N MAN SOOS MY PA
06. NO ESCAPE
07. HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 (Incl 3D)
08. WAR ROOM
09. BURNT
10. HOW TO MAKE LOVE LIKE AN ENGLISHMAN
Four movies left the charts this past weekend. Local drama Dis Ek Anna had a fairly good run, but then went from 6th to gone. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials was at 7th last week, but has left and sadly shattered my hopes to see it briefly share a chart with Hunger Games. The Martian also finally bowed out after an okay run that came nowhere near reflecting its success in the US. Finally, the underdog of the year, The Perfect Guy, left after a surprise re-emergence last week.
Hotel Transylvania 2 continues to be the top overall earner at just shy of R18 million.
Last Updated: November 25, 2015
