For the first time since Captain America: The Winter Soldier back in April, a movie topped the box office for two consecutive weeks. But unlike that movie, which had stiff competition to fend off, this weekend was easy game for Transformers: Age of Extinction. The Michael Bay sequel didn't hold well, however, it fell 64% to $36.4 million, the hardest second weekend drop of the franchise. Extinction is fading quickly, possibly due to word-of-mouth not being as good as the "A-" CinemaScore says it is. At $174.7 million in 10 days, it is trailing the other movies now by a wide margin (though its not direct apples-to-apples due to the others opening mid-week). With direct competition from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes next week, it is likely this will miss the $300 million mark. That's a little disappointing, but still a strong result. Overseas, on the other hand, is some of the best results the franchise has had. It will become China's biggest movie ever in just two weeks of release (!) early-week, and its already at near $600 million worldwide. The $1 billion mark seems to be nearly certain to fall now.
The bunch of new releases didn't really impress. As expected, though, it was Melissa McCarthy that ended up as the biggest one. Her comedy, Tammy, didn't disappoint for the most part. It earned $21.2 million, for a $32.9 million pick-up since Wednesday. For the three-day weekend, it averaged a decent $6,110 from 3,465 locations. That was below expectations, which were predicting a 5-day start in the $40 million range. Does this blow McCarthy's winning streak? No. With just a $20 million budget, Tammy will still easily turn a profit. But in a mixed year for comedies, it landed smack in the middle of the succeeding Neighbors and 22 Jump Street, and flops A Million Ways to Die in the West and Blended. Reviews were negative and the CinemaScore was a discouraging "C+". It should hold fine until S** Tape arrives in two weeks.There was $1.2 million separating third from sixth place. There's a chance the places might switch by the time actuals are reported tomorrow.
Debuting in third place to mediocre results was the horror flick Deliver Us from Evil. The heavily-promoted film earned less than expected, with $9.5 million ($15 million since Wednesday), averaging a mediocre $3,116 from 3,049 locations. Many were thinking this could be a breakout, especially with some buzz leading to its release. But, it appears horror hasn't been attracting fans as of late, and this seemed generic enough that it just couldn't take in a huge audience. Reviews weren't good and audiences gave it a mixed "B-" CinemaScore, so look for this to fall off in the weeks ahead. If there's a shadow of hope, the budget was only $20 million.
22 Jump Street held surprisingly well in the face of Tammy, off 41% to $9.4 million, for a strong $158.9 million pick-up since its debut 24 days ago. 22 passed Neighbors this past week to become the year's biggest comedy so far, and is on pace for a $180 million finish. Even though Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill say there's not going to be a third movie, I wouldn't be surprised if the studio thought of something different.
How To Train Your Dragon 2 finally saw a strong hold, and in the face of new competition. The animated sequel eased 33% to $8.8 million, for a still-underwhelming $140 million gross in 24 days. Its trailing Kung Fu Panda 2 by $3 million through the same point, but based on that movie's pattern following its' fourth weekend, I see this one finishing ahead with around $175 million. That's still a little disappointing, but overseas should save it (it hasn't opened in some major territories yet and is at almost $300 million so far).
The final new major wide release wound up in sixth place with fairly dismal results. Family film Earth to Echo only managed to pull in $8.3 million (abysmal $2,554 average from 3,230 locations), for a $13.5 million 5-day start. That's below the modest expectations that had expected this to pull in nearly $20 million for the 5-day stretch. But, with the exception of Maleficent, family films have struggled over the past few months. And Echo bared too much resemblance to E.T. that not many seemed to care to want to see this. On the upside, the budget was just $13 million. And while marketing expenses were likely expensive, this might still be a minor success with DVD sales added in. Reviews were mixed (the best among the new releases), while audiences gave it a solid "A-" CinemaScore.Speaking of Maleficent, the Angelina Jolie blockbuster continues to amaze, holding extremely well once again in its sixth weekend. Disney's re-imagining of Sleeping Beauty fell only 27% (the lightest drop of the Top 10) to $6.1 million, for a $213.9 million gross in 37 days. It is only $5 million behind Oz: The Great and Powerful through the same point, and it now looks possible for it to close ahead of that movie's $235 million final gross. Its' also $3.5 million behind X-Men: Days of Future Past at the same point, and could finish ahead of that movie as well. Overseas, it has passed $400 million, and could finish above $700 million worldwide by the time its finished. Certainly a huge winner for Disney.
Finding its footing, Clint Eastwood's Jersey Boys was off just 33% to $5.2 million, for a decent $36.7 million pick-up in 17 days. In the next couple days, the Broadway adaptation will pass the final grosses of Invictus and J. Edgar to become Eastwood's biggest directorial effort to date. That's at least saying something. A $50 million final gross (at most) is still nothing to be jumping for joy for.
Two weekends ago, Think Like a Man Too was on top with $29 million. Now it is in ninth place in its third. The comedy sequel fell 53% to $4.9 million, and has earned $57.2 million so far. Now it looks like the sequel will fall short of $70 million and earn around two-thirds of its' predecessor's $91 million final gross. A third movie still looks like it might happen, especially with this movie only carrying a $24 million price tag.
Rounding out the Top 10 in its fifth weekend is Edge of Tomorrow, which continues to hold itself together. The action flick eased 33% to $3.6 million, for a $90.9 million gross in one month of release. Edge passed Oblivion and Elysium's final grosses this past week, and it looks like it might just get past $100 million by the time its' finished. Overseas, it is at $340 million on its way to around $375 million. Considering its $178 million pricetag however, its still not a hit by any means. But at least it will be far ahead of notorious flops Jack the Giant Slayer, John Carter, Total Recall and Battleship.
Next weekend? Will Dawn of the Planet of the Apes breathe life back into the box office?
