By Erich Schwartzel
"Home" gave DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. a much-needed hit this
weekend, surpassing expectations and topping the box office with an
estimated $54 million.
The children's film features an unlikely duo: singer Rihanna
voices the character of Tip, a young girl who befriends an outcast
alien voiced by "Big Bang Theory" actor Jim Parsons.
Last year, DreamWorks bumped the release date of "Home" from
November to March, with executives saying it was a "kinder" window
for an original-concept title. The movie that it swapped dates
with, DreamWorks' own "Penguins of Madagascar," flopped, but the
switch was the right move for "Home," said Chris Aronson, president
of domestic distribution at Twentieth Century Fox, which
distributed the movies. (Fox's parent company, 21st Century Fox,
was until mid-2013 part of the same company as The Wall Street
Journal.)
"We're going into the big spring weekends," said Mr. Aronson,
adding that "Home" faces little competition for family sales until
Walt Disney Co.'s "Inside Out" debuts June 19.
It also gives DreamWorks a hit at a time when the studio
desperately needs one. The company has issued four write-downs on
features like "Turbo" and "Mr. Peabody & Sherman" since
November 2012. Earlier this year, the company announced a massive
restructuring and creative overhaul that resulted in 500 workers
being laid off. "Home" is the company's only release this year,
making its box-office returns all the more important for the
studio's bottom line.
Overseas, the movie has grossed $48 million so far. "Home" is
the second animated movie to perform well this year; "The Spongebob
Movie: Sponge Out of Water" has collected $160 million since Viacom
Inc.'s Paramount Pictures released it in February.
The weekend's other new release, the R-rated "Get Hard," went
after a very different audience and landed in second place with a
solid $34.6 million. Distributed by Time Warner Inc.'s Warner
Bros., "Get Hard" stars Will Ferrell as a man preparing to go to
prison with the help of businessman played by comedian Kevin Hart.
"Insurgent," from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., fell to third
place in its second week of release, grossing $86.4 million so
far.
Audiences gave "Home" an "A" grade, according to the CinemaScore
market research firm, while "Get Hard" received a "B."
In other box-office news, the horror film "It Follows" expanded
to wide release after good word-of-mouth led to robust returns in a
handful of theaters. It collected $4 million in about 1,200
locations, and its distributor, Weinstein Co.'s Radius-TWC, said it
will expand further next week.
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