Surprisingly, it was Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill that ended up on top this weekend. 22 Jump Street lived up to its hype, grossing $60 million, for a per-venue average of a fantastic $18,149 from just over 3,300 locations. For 2014, that ranks as the year's seventh-biggest by far, behind Captain America 2, Godzilla, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Maleficent and The LEGO Movie (which had the same directors as this). It also was way up from the original 21 Jump Street, which debuted to $36 million back in 2012 (that movie opened in second behind The Hunger Games). Tatum continues to prove to be a massive movie star, drawing in a wide audience. Hill is also continuing to grow in his popularity, thanks to this and Oscar-nominated turns in Moneyball and The Wolf of Wall Street. The CinemaScore was a "A-", an improvement over the first movie's seemingly disastrous "C+". Looking at the road ahead, competition is fairly strong, as Think Like a Man 2 may take away some audience next weekend. But, this is still a huge success for all involved. The film has earned $80 million worldwide so far.
For the second time this year, DreamWorks Animation found themselves in the runner-up position with How To Train Your Dragon 2. Though this is a surprise, as the sequel was originally expected to open on top. Instead, it didn't live up to its sky-high expectations and earned just a fairly solid $50 million. That is higher than the first movie, which earned $44 million back in 2010, but its not a huge sequel bump (especially considering the strong marketing campaign and four years of adjusted ticket prices). Its' also less of an opening (extended weekends included)than any other sequel the animation studio has released. However, it was given an "A" CinemaScore, and reviews were strong too (92% on Rotten Tomatoes). Add to that no competition until Planes: Fire and Rescue in mid-July, and it should hold well. However, it will be difficult for it to come close to the original's $215 million domestic gross (nearly 5 times its opening weekend). The sequel has earned $75 million worldwide so far.Disney's Maleficent had a solid hold in third place, off 45% to $19 million. Since opening 17 days ago, the Angelina Jolie headliner has earned a strong $163.5 million, and continues to run about $15 million behind Oz: The Great and Powerful. Still though, with zero competition in the coming weeks, its now a foregone conclusion that the fantasy re-imagining of Sleeping Beauty closes well above the $200 million mark. Overseas, the film has become a huge success, earning $435 million worldwide in three weeks.
Edge of Tomorrow had a sliver of good news this weekend, holding decently in fourth. The Tom Cruise thriller was off 44% to $16.2 million, for a still-sour $56.6 million pick-up in 10 days. The hold is still encouraging by all means, as sci-fi flicks don't usually hold up well. The film will have another chance at holding together next weekend before Transformers: Age of Extinction arrives the following week. The futuristic flick has already earned a decent $240 million worldwide so far with more to go.
After topping last week, The Fault in Our Stars fell all the way to fifth place with a notorious 67% decline to $15.7 million. The YA flick was expected to fall hard, however, as a lot of its core audience came out in droves last weekend. In 10 days, it has earned $81.7 million, or nearly 7 times its' measly $12 million budget. It should still go past $100 million by the time it closes out its run. Overseas has been solid as well.
X-Men: Days of Future Past started to have its good word-of-mouth kick in this weekend. The time travel sequel was off a fairly light 37% to $9.5 million, and passed $200 million in the process, the third film of 2014 to do so. Since its opening four weeks ago, the ensemble flick has earned $206 million domestically. Overseas, the film has been huge, picking up a franchise-high $660 million worldwide so far with a little bit of steam to go.
Godzilla continues to fall fast, and unlike X-Men, may end up closing below $200 million, despite opening to $93 million back in mid-May. The monster movie was in a distant seventh and off another 49% to $3.2 million, for a $191.3 million gross in North America so far. The film opened to a monstrous $37 million in China, the biggest debut yet for a Warner Bros. title yet, and is approaching a solid $450 million worldwide with Japan still to go.
Seth McFarlane's A Million Ways to Die in the West continued its fast descent, off 58% to $3.1 million. The R-rated comedy is a surprise disappointment, even with the strong marketing and McFarlane's runaway success Ted from 2012 bolstering it. In 17 days, the raunchy comedy western has earned $39 million domestic and $60 million worldwide. The budget was only $40 million, so it should still break even.
Taking an expected hit from 22 Jump Street, the first major comedy success of the summer, Neighbors, fell 53% to an estimated $2.5 million, for a fantastic $143.1 million gross in six weeks of release. The Seth Rogen flick looks to make a run for $150 million before all its theaters close out. That would be over eight times its' small $18 million budget.
Jon Favreau's Chef rounds out the Top 10 in its sixth week of release, as its been in wide release for three. The indie hit was off a light 13% to an estimated $2.3 million, for a decent $14.1 million gross so far. Its not a particularly impressive result, though considering it was only in a fraction of the amount of theaters as most of the other wide release, its still fairly decent.
Next week brings Think Like a Man 2 and Jersey Boys. Will Kevin Hart and company be able to topple the Top 2 or will Dragon do a Mr. Peabody and pull out an upset? Look out for weekend predictions on Thursday.
