The Martian Blasts Off With $55 Million Box Office Debut

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Ridley Scott’s The Martian was the big winner this past weekend at the US box office, as predicted, with a $55 million US domestic cume.

The Martian, which has received critical acclaim, is based off of Andy Weir’s book of the same name. Weir’s novel was originally an eBook on sale on Amazon for .99 cents. The film was originally supposed to be directed by Drew Goddard, who wrote the screenplay, but Goddard had to unfortunately drop out due to conflicting schedules with Daredevil, Sinister Six, and other projects.

It’s also good news for Fox, Matt Damon and Ridley Scott. Damon is set to appear in the next installment in the Bourne series, and it has been quite some time since he has been the out and out lead in a film. Scott had to coax him out of an 18 month vacation from acting to appear in the film. The critical acclaim of Damon’s acting, as well as the box office numbers, depict him as a viable leading man going forward.

Scott’s previous films, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Prometheus, and The Counselor only received middling reviews and box office receipts from the auteur. The Martian may be seen as a return to form for the famed director.

Finally, Fox may have an end of the year hit on their hands the size of Gone Girl, and they’ll need it to wash away the bad taste in their mouths that arose from the critical and financial flop that was Fantastic Four.

Getting back to the box office totals, Hotel Transylvania 2 came in second, reaping in $33 million, dropping off just 31.9%. Sicario released in an additional 2,561 theaters this past weekend, and came in third, with a total of $12.075 million. The Intern, which debuted in 2nd place last weekend, netted $11.62 million, right ahead Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials with $$7.65 million.