Big-budget whaling epic In the Heart of the Sea sprung a leak at the US box office this weekend, with just $11m (£7.3m) on opening, despite the presence of Thor star Chris Hemsworth in the lead and Oscar-winner Ron Howard in the director’s chair.
The $100m seafaring epic debuted in second place behind enduring Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, which held No 1 for the fourth week in a row with another $11.3m. In the Heart of the Sea, also starring Benjamin Walker, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, Cillian Murphy and Tom Holland, tells the story of a whaling voyage in 1820, which is said to have inspired Herman Melville’s classic American novel Moby-Dick, about a vengeful white whale. But the film is listing under the weight of distinctly middling reviews, and is currently rated 43% “rotten” by the critical aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
“The first half works quite well simply as a procedural, but when the action comes we run into trouble,” wrote Guardian’s Jordan Hoffman in his review. “The well-earned seriousness is washed away as we’re broadsided by B-movie tropes. It may very well be that an enormous white whale possessed of all Poseidon’s fury tormented the men of the Essex, but by the movie’s third act, we’ve fishtailed into pure silliness.”
Mockingjay – Part 2’s continuing success came as the North American box office experienced a lull ahead of Friday’s release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur moved up one spot to third place with a third-week return of $10.4m, more than $5m down on its return last time out. The top five was rounded out by Rocky spin-off Creed, with $10.2m in its third week, and festive comedy horror Krampus, with $8m in its second week.
There were no other new films in this week’s top 10, but the Oscar-tipped comedy-drama The Big Short, about a group of investors who bet against the market in order to benefit from the financial crisis of 2007–2010, did well on limited release. Starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt, Adam McKay’s film took $720,000 from just eight cinemas – a record – to land in 15th place overall, off the back of its four Golden Globe nominations last week.
North American box office, 11-13 December
1. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2: $11.3m. Total: $244.4m
2. In the Heart of the Sea: $11m (new)
3. The Good Dinosaur: $10.4m. Total: $89.6m
4. Creed: $10.1m. Total: $79.3m
5. Krampus: $8m. Total: $28.1m
6. Spectre: $4m. Total: $190.7m
7. The Night Before: $3.9m. Total: $38.2m
8. The Peanuts Movie: $2.6m. Total: $124.9m
9. Spotlight: $2.5m. Total: $20.3m
10. Brooklyn: $1.9m. Total: $14.3m
