Two new releases opened in the lower half of the weekend top five on October 16 to 18, with Whalefall earning an estimated $8.0 million from 3,065 theatres and Sense and Sensibility $7.25 million from 2,545, according to Box Office Mojo. Whalefall, from 20th Century Studios, is rated PG-13 and runs one hour and 46 minutes. Sense and Sensibility, from Focus Features, is rated PG and runs two hours and 11 minutes. They finished fourth and fifth, behind Street Fighter, You Can See Everything and Universal’s Other Mommy, which was in its second weekend. Sense and Sensibility holds a 76 percent Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The case that both openings are respectable starts with their worldwide totals, which are well above the domestic numbers. Whalefall has earned $17.5 million worldwide, with international markets supplying 54.3 percent, and Sense and Sensibility has earned $18.5 million worldwide, with 60.9 percent coming from outside North America. Sense and Sensibility’s average of $2,848 per theatre is higher than Whalefall’s $2,610, even though it played in 520 fewer theatres, and its 76 percent critics’ score is a decent starting point for a period drama. Both films also opened ahead of The Social Reckoning, which earned $1.55 million in its second weekend, and each beat the $1.64 million of The Devils. Together the two films have earned $36.0 million worldwide, about $15.3 million of it in North America, and each of them played in more than 2,500 theatres, a wide release by any measure.
The case that the openings are modest is that neither film challenged for the top spot. Other Mommy, in its second weekend, earned $8.35 million, more than either new release, which means a film that fell 70 percent still beat both. Whalefall’s domestic share of its worldwide total is only 45.7 percent and Sense and Sensibility’s is only 39.1 percent, so both depend on overseas markets to look healthy. Each averaged less than $3,000 per theatre, against $8,671 for Street Fighter and $17,543 for You Can See Everything, and neither film matched the $15.0 million of the documentary playing in 855 theatres. Sense and Sensibility, a drama running two hours and 11 minutes, also had a longer running time than Whalefall’s one hour and 46 minutes, which allows fewer showings per day, and the PG rating of the Focus Features film and the PG-13 rating of the 20th Century Studios release place them in different audience bands.
For the studios, the openings matter because both films will have to hold their screens against a crowded autumn calendar, and the second weekend will decide whether they reach the totals of the earlier releases. Verity has earned $66.1 million domestically and Heart of the Beast $58.3 million. For international audiences, which provide the larger share of both new films’ grosses, the weekend shows that a period drama and an adventure film can find audiences abroad even when the American numbers are small.
Whalefall and Sense and Sensibility opened close together and both lean heavily on overseas ticket sales. Neither made a strong claim on the weekend, but the worldwide numbers keep both in the running for a longer life.
