Spectre and The Peanuts Movie both have solid debuts this weekend

The early box office numbers are in and, as predicted, both new releases had very strong openings. Here’s what went down:

Spectre, the new James Bond film that could prove to be the final instalment with Daniel Craig, opened in the top spot with an estimated $72.5 million. That’s an excellent number, though not quite where Skyfall was when it hit theaters back  in 2012. That film debut with $88.3 million, but it also hand stronger reviews going for it, along with a big hit single courtesy of Adele. Spectre has an alleged budget of $200 million +, so it’s going to have to perform extremely well both in North America and overseas to be considered a financial success. It remains to see if it can do it. I saw Spectre Friday night and I have to say, while I enjoyed a lot of the action set pieces, I thought the film was slower than previous Craig entries in the series, with far too much exposition trying to tie his four films all together. Credit to Dave Bautista for his performance as the physical heavy of the film, and I also enjoyed Christoph Waltz as Blofeld, but overall I thought Spectre was a lacklustre entry into the series.

Debuting in second place was The Peanuts Movie, which brought in an estimated $43 million. The film has been playing well with most critics and fans alike, and should prove to be the choice for families over the next few weeks. I took my daughter to this one on Saturday afternoon and we both had a good time, especially when classic Peanuts-ism such were on display. My daughter, who is 5, did get a bit restless throughout the film – it certainly moves slightly slower than the typical animated films kids are used to these days. But The Peanuts Movie has a lot of heart and soul going for it, and for anyone who grew up with Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the gang, it’s definitely worth seeing.

As for the rest of the top five, The Martian landed in third place with $9.2 million, and should cross the $200 million mark within the next few days. Goosebumps was in fourth place with $6.2 million, while Bridge of Spies closed things out in fifth place with $6 million.

So, to recap, here were our predictions:

1) Spectre – $76 million
2) The Peanuts Movie – $42 million
3) The Martian – $9 million
4) Goosebumps – $6 million
5) Bridge of Spies – $5.5 million

And here’s how the weekend is estimated to turn out:

1) Spectre – $72.5 million
2) The Peanuts Movie – $43 million
3) The Martian – $9.2 million
4) Goosebumps – $6.2 million
5) Bridge of Spies – $6 million

Next weekend sees the release of The 33 and Love The Coopers. Be sure to check back on Friday to see our predictions!