Ron Howard’s whaling drama “In the Heart of the Sea” has been destroying, heading for a lackluster opening weekend of $11 million to $12 million at 3,103 U.S. locations, early estimates showed Friday, December 11.
"The Force Awakens" lurking, few studios wanted to push out a new release ahead of the expected box-office behemoth.
Ron Howard is no stranger to movie success - his film Beautiful Mind - biographical drama film based on the life of John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics. was won two Oscars back in 2002.
His other hit films include Frost/Nixon and Apollo 13.
But his 2006 adaptation of The Da Vinci Code - the 2006 mystery-thriller film, while a commercial success, failed to hit the spot with critics.
His last feature, car-racing drama, "Rush," grossed just $27 million here, though it cost just $38 million to make and ultimately earned a profit via overseas grosses.
In the Heart of the Sea is a 2015 American biographical adventure thriller film based on Nathaniel Philbrick's 2000 non-fiction book of the same name about the sinking of the American whaling ship Essex in 1820, an event that inspired the tale of Moby-Dick.
Directed by Ron Howard, the film stars Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, and Brendan Gleeson.
On December 11, 2015, the film In the Heart of the sea was released in the United States.
Howard shot the film in 2013 and Warner Bros. had originally planned to open it on March 13 of this year, but the studio decided earlier this year to push it back nine months. Village Roadshow co-financed.
North American box office top ten:
1. "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 2," $11.3 million.
2. "In the Heart of the Sea," $11 million.
3. "The Good Dinosaur," $10.5 million.
4. "Creed," $10.1 million.
5. "Krampus," $8 million.
6. "Spectre," $4 million.
7. "The Night Before," $3.9 million.
8. "The Peanuts Movie," $2.7 million.
9. "Spotlight," $2.5 million.
10. "Brooklyn," $2 million
