‘The Walk’ Begins To Stroll Slowly On Wednesday – Box Office

Sony/TriStar’s Twin Towers suspense pic The Walk collected an estimated $240K in its top hat from 448 Imax and PLF sites. While that figure files as No. 11 on Wednesday’s chart led by Sony’s Hotel Transylvania 2 in No. 1 with an estimated $1.9M (and $55.7M), keep in mind that only summer audiences (and kids off on school break) flock to Imax films during middle of the week: Universal’s Everest only did slightly better than The Walk in its Thursday night with $325K at 481 hubs, before making another $1.97M on Friday (for a fully reported $2.298M). So, Wednesday was a preview of sorts for The Walk. Even though The Walk had already landed this weekend as an opening date before The Martian moved in, the Robert Zemeckis’ film about French tightrope walker Philippe Petit has the extra benefit of getting out there first and generating some buzz, before Matt Damon’s astronaut film beams everybody up. Already, Fandango reports that The Martian is outselling Gravity pre-sales, and that film holds the October opening record with $55.8M. CinemaScore hasn’t officially released grades yet, however, critics love The Walk at an 87% Rotten Tomatoes score (Top critics like it at 92%). And with autumn awards contending fare, it’s reviews that puts asses in seats. The Walk also carries a PG-rating, which will assist in pulling the entire family in; just make sure grandma doesn’t have vertigo. Current five-day opening estimate for The Walk is $3M.

Slotting second on Wednesday was Warner Bros.’ Nancy Meyers comedy The Intern which made $1.7M for a six day cume of $23.3. The shield also had Black Mass in third with $1.14M at 3,188 theaters and a running cume in its second week of $45.8M. Universal’s Everest ranked fourth with an estimated $940K at 3,006 venues and a running total of $26.9M in week two.