The Martian premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2015.[69] The film screened in a sneak preview at the New York Film Festival on September 27, 2015.[70] It also screened at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, on September 29, 2015.[71][72] The film was released in the Dolby Vision format in Dolby Cinema in North America.[73]
Box office forecast
Two months before The Martian's release, BoxOffice forecast that the film would gross $46 million on its opening weekend in the United States and ultimately $172 million in its theatrical run. The magazine said positive factors for its performance included the continued sales of Weir's novel, Scott's success with past science fiction films, and the positive reception of prior space-based films Gravity (2013) and Interstellar (2014). The magazine said negative factors included Damon not being a consistent draw at the box office, Gravity and Interstellar setting high expectations, and Scott's "stumble" with his previous film Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014).[74] A week before the film's release, pre-release trackings in North America (United States and Canada) showed that the film was on pace to earn between $40–50 million at its opening weekend from 3,826 theaters.[75]
In comparison to other contemporary space films, Gravity, facing far less competition, opened to a better-than-expected $55.8 million in 2013. In November 2014, Interstellar debuted to $47.5 million.[75] Unlike Gravity and Interstellar, which had the benefit of IMAX locations, boosting profits, The Martian was not initially playing in IMAX, since IMAX was committed to an exclusive run of Robert Zemeckis' The Walk. The Martian played in more than 350 premium large-format theaters including 2,550 3D locations.[75][76] Also, the film was released several days after the announcement of NASA's discovery of water on Mars' planetary surface,[41][42] which might have aided in boosting its opening.[77] Ticket selling website Fandango reported that the film was outselling Gravity.[77] Unlike Gravity, The Martian did not contain abundant 3D spectacle (even though it was filmed in 3D), and was longer than Gravity.[78]
Theatrical run
The Martian was a financial success.[79] It grossed $228.4 million in the United States & Canada and $402.2 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $630.6 million against a budget of $108 million.[4] Worldwide, it was the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2015.[80] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $150.32 million, accounting for production budgets, P&A, talent participations, and other costs, with box office grosses, and ancillary revenues from home media, placing it tenth on their list of 2015's "Most Valuable Blockbusters";[81] and The Hollywood Reporter reported around $80–100 million profits for the film.[82]
The film was released in theaters in 2D and 3D.[83] In the United Kingdom, it was released on September 30, 2015, a Wednesday,[84] and in the United States on the following Friday, October 2, 2015.[85] It was also released in 49 markets including Mexico, Hong Kong, India and Taiwan from the weekend October 2–4, 2015 and expanded to Germany, Russia, and South Korea the following weekend. It opened in Spain on October 16, then France on October 21. China opened on November 25 and Japan bowed in the first quarter of 2016 on February 5.[86][87] Various sites estimated the film to gross between $45 and $50 million over its opening weekend in the United States.[88]
In North America, it opened on Friday, October 2, 2015, and earned $18.06 million on its opening day of which $2 million came from premium large formats from 3,831 theaters.[89][90] The film's Friday gross included $2.5 million from late-night Thursday screenings that took place in 2,800 theaters.[91] During its opening weekend, it earned $54.3 million from 3,831 theaters ranking first at the box office which is the second biggest October opening, behind Gravity ($55.7 million) and the second biggest for Scott, behind Hannibal ($58 million) and Damon, behind The Bourne Ultimatum ($69.2 million).[4] The film made $6 million at 375 premium large format screens.[92] 3D accounted for 45% of the ticket sales while RealD 3D accounted for 42% or $23 million of that sales which is one of highest for the 3D company in 2015.[92] The film fell short of breaking Gravity's record which might have been hurt by Hurricane Joaquin, the NFL season and the last day of the Major League Baseball regular season.[92] In its second weekend of release, it dropped gradually by 31.9% and earned $37 million from 3,854 theaters (+23 theaters) maintaining the top position. The Martian's demographics in its sophomore weekend remained in sync with its opening frame drawing 52% males and 72% over 25.[93] It topped the box office for two consecutive weekends before being dethroned by Goosebumps in its third weekend after a close race between the two ($23.6 million for Goosebumps and $21.3 million for The Martian).[94][95] It returned to the top of the box office for the third time in its fourth weekend,[96] and went on the top the box office for four non-consecutive weekends[97] before being overtaken by Spectre in its fifth weekend.[98] On November 5, the film surpassed Gladiator ($187.7 million) to become Scott's highest-grossing film at the domestic box office.[99]
Internationally, The Martian was released in a total of 81 countries.[100] Outside North America, it opened on the same weekend in 54 markets and grossed $44.6 million from 9,299 screens topping the international box office as well as opening at No. 1 in over 15 markets.[86] The following weekend, it added 23 more markets and grossed an estimated $57.5 million from 77 markets from 12,859 screens.[100] Its opening weekends in South Korea ($12.5 million)[nb 1], the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta ($10.2 million), Russia and the CIS ($7.4 million), France ($6.9 million), Australia ($4.5 million) and Germany ($4.3 million; behind Inside Out) represented its largest takings.[86][100][102] In terms of total earnings, the United Kingdom ($35.3 million), South Korea ($33.6 million), Australia ($16.57 million) and Germany ($16 million) are the top markets.[103][104] In South Korea, it became Fox's third-highest-grossing film ever behind Avatar (2009) and Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015).[103] It topped the box office outside of North America for two consecutive weekends before being overtaken by Ant-Man in its third weekend[105] but returned to the top in its fourth weekend.[102] In its fifth weekend, it was surpassed by Spectre thereby topping the international box office for three weekends in total.[103] The Martian opened in China on Wednesday, November 25 and earned $50 million in its five-day opening weekend from 4,848 screens of which $6.6 million came from 249 IMAX theaters.[106] In its second weekend, it fell by 60% to $13.7 million,[107] while in total, it grossed $95 million there.[108] It opened in Japan on February 5, 2016 under the name Odyssey,[100][109] where it earned $5.2 million from 8,333 screens in its three-day opening weekend, debuting at No. 1 at the box office and helped the film push past the $600 million mark. Its Saturday and Sunday take was $4.25 million.[109][110] It dropped just 19% in its second after adding $3.4 million.[111] It has topped the box office there for four consecutive weekends and as of February 28 has grossed a total of $23.2 million.[112][113]
For its United States release, the film was originally scheduled to be released on November 25, 2015, but 20th Century Fox switched The Martian with Victor Frankenstein so that the former would be its first film for all audiences in the country's fall season (September–November).[114] On the film's 3D screenings, RealD's chief Anthony Marcoly said 3D technology was proliferating from action-packed blockbuster films commonly released in the United States' summer season. Marcoly said the technology was being used in more immersive storytelling, citing The Martian and The Walk (released the same year) as two examples.[83]
Home media
The Martian was released on Digital on December 22, 2015 and on Blu-ray and DVD on January 12, 2016. It was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on February 14, 2016. An extended cut of the film adding an additional ten minutes was released on June 7, 2016.[33]
