IP MAN 3 beats THE FORCE for no. 1

28 Dec 2015

Singapore - IP MAN 3 叶问 3 (PG13) beats STARS WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS to claim the no. 1 spot over the final weekend of 2015.

Other debuts include ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE ROAD CHIP (PG) and CAROL (R21).

Once again, Box Office Mojo's ranking and numbers do not tally with those that cite Cinematograph Film Exhibitors Association as a source.

Here's what we know...

IP MAN 3 grossed an estimated US$1.88m, according to a Facebook post shared by distributor Shaw. It also set a record for highest single day gross for a Chinese film when it collected an estimated US$543,324 on Christmas Day.

The first IP MAN 叶问 opened seven years ago in 2008 with US$505,498 from 22 screens and grossed US$2,049,498; the sequel IP MAN 2 叶问 2 started with US$1,264,919 on 51 screens for a US$3,291,610 cume in 2010. 

Box Office Mojo's numbers for IP MAN 3 do not parallel that reported by Shaw. Apart from the weekend gross that does not tally, the number of screens is suspiciously low (20) and the screen average unusually high (US$53,781). Based on a manual count*, IP MAN 3 is actually playing on an estimated 71 screens across 28 cinemas.

As for other films with suspicious figures -

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
No of screens (BOM): 39
No of screens (manual count): 135 screens across 30 cinemas
Gross to date (BOM): US$4,969,443 (S$6,978,986)  - close to the S$7m reported in Lianhe Zaobao (29 Dec). 

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE ROAD CHIP
No of screens (BOM): 28
No of screens (manual count): 42 screens across 27 cinemas
Weekend Gross (BOM): US$691,986 (S$971,811)  - close to the S$1.02m reported in Lianhe Zaobao (31 Dec).  

CAROL
No of screens (BOM): 4
No of screens (manual count): 7 screens across 7 cinemas
Weekend Gross (BOM): US$20,047 (S$28,154)  - pretty far off the estimated S$50K reported in Lianhe Zaobao (31 Dec). I'm not sure who has the correct numbers on this one.  

Other noteworthy discrepancies:

Weekend grosses for THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 2 and LOVE THE COOPERS need to be verified as their rankings differ on BOM and CFEA. 

POINT BREAK (3 screens) and MR. UNBELIEVABLE (5 screens) are missing from BOM.

The ranking below is from sources that cite CFEA, but the figures, except from IP MAN 3 are from BOM.

Do note that all figures, even those not flagged, probably need further verification (if only CFEA's figures and full ranking are published publicly on a regular basis). 


Box Office (24-27 Dec)

1 (-) Ip Man 3 叶问 3 (PG13)
US$1.88 / US$1.88m
? screens
[figures need further verification]

2 (1) Star Wars: The Force Awakens (PG)
US$1,472,306 / US$4,969,443
? screens
[figures need further verification]

3 (-) Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (PG)
US$691,986 / US$691,986
? screens
[figures need further verification]

4 (2) Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie (G)
US$44,567 / US$727,589
19 screens

5 (3) The Good Dinosaur (PG)
US$40,261 / US$2,126,563
15 screens

6 (-) Carol (R21)
US$20,047 / US$20,047
? screens
[figures need further verification]

7 (4) Point Break (NC16)
N.A.
3 screens

8 (6) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (PG13)
US$8,158 / US$3,131,849
3 screens
[figures need further verification]

9 (5) Mr. Unbelievable (PG)
N.A.
5 screens

10 (7) Love the Coopers (PG13)
US$12,244 / US$108,792
1 screen
[figures need further verification]

Legend: 
This Week / Last Week / Title / Rating
Weekend Gross / Total Gross

Sources: Box Office Mojo and Cinematograph Film Exhibitors Association

* The manual count is tallied based on Wednesday's sessions (30 Dec). The number of sessions are counted against the film's running length to get an estimate on the number of screens at each location. The screen count shouldn't be too different from those over the weekend.