Of the box office articles written this weekend, and the upcoming articles which will confirm the box office receipts on Monday, some will have a negative slant in reporting about the box office for Steve Jobs. Some will write in a tone for click bait schadenfreude by acting as though Steve Jobs is your run of the mill commercial release instead of the arthouse fare that it truly is. With box office estimates for Steve Jobs to earn just shy of $8 million in its first wide release weekend in the US, in total, it will have earned just over $10.1 million. This film has legs and with overseas box office, and excellent critical reviews, it will do fine.
The Hollywood Reporter puts things into perspective:
In the U.S., Steve Jobs was expected to generate as much interest among adults as Bridge of Spies, considering the attention surrounding Boyle's biopic, starring Michael Fassbender as the legendary and controversial Apple co-founder. But the Universal film had to settle for a seventh-place finish after grossing $7.3 million from 2,493 theaters.
Those backing Steve Jobs had wanted to land somewhere in the teens, but are counting on a long run throughout awards season (an A- CinemaScore should help word of mouth). Jobs is pulling in strong numbers in core cities including New York and Los Angeles, meaning it is playing more like an arthouse title than a commercial release. Aaron Sorkin wrote the adapted script for the film, also starring Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen and Jeff Daniels.
Two weekends ago, the $30 million movie scored the top location average of the year to date when opening in New York and Los Angeles. Last weekend, it did solid business when expanding into a total of 60 theaters. Through Sunday, Steve Jobs' domestic total is $10 million.
Update 10:30pm EST: As on spot as usual, IndieWire's Anne Thompson remarks on how the performance of Steve Jobs this weekend won't affect its Oscar contention. An excellent film is an excellent film period, regardless of 'wide release' box office.
"Steve Jobs" Falls Way Short (Hint: The Adult Audience Isn't Infinite)
With "The Martian" and "Goosebumps" predicted to place where they did — and close to the weekend, same was expected for "Witch Hunter" — some projected "Steve Jobs" at the top spot, with perhaps as much as $20 million. Instead, it did under $7.3 and in a weak weekend ended up seventh.
This is disappointing, but not as much as might be seen. As indicated here last week, the writing was on the wall when, after nabbing the year's best platform opening, "Jobs"' 60-theater break fell short of similar "Sicario" in its second weekend.
That suggested it had a more narrow audience. And it is not unusual for a film when it shows relative signs of weakness (and emphasis on relative — last weekend was very strong) that it might indicate a trend that will increase as a film widens.
And that's what happened. In its third weekend, "Sicario" went wide in slightly more theaters grossed $12.1 million. So plotting out results to date, even $10 million seemed closer to likely.
But "Steve Jobs" is facing different conditions than "Sicario" — multiple films, including "The Martian" and "Bridge of Spies," as alternatives. Also, as we wrote in today's Arthouse Audit about how "The Suffragette" and "Truth" are both lagging, too many true stories and biopics may be flooding the market.
"Jobs" is doing well enough to maintain its status as an awards contender. But for once this year, Universal, nearly faultless in their strategy, might have gone wider more quickly than interest in this film warranted. (Ed: This!)