But Universal held onto the top spot as their blockbuster Jurassic World made it (narrowly) a third-straight week at #1, and held on fairly well. The revival of one of the most iconic film franchises in history is projected to be off 49% to $54.2 million, for a 17-day gross of a more-than-huge $500.1 million, and passing Avengers: Age of Ultron on Friday to become the biggest movie of 2015 domestically. If that estimate holds, it will be the fastest ever a movie has reached the half-billion mark domestic. Jurassic World became just the fifth movie in history to pass the half-billion barrier stateside, after Avatar, Titanic, The Avengers and The Dark Knight. For third weekends, Jurassic World had the third-biggest behind Avatar and The Avengers. Overall, the film is still on track to finish ahead of The Avengers ($623 million) to become the biggest movie in history ever not directed by James Cameron. Stronger competition does arrive Tuesday night in the form of Terminator: Genysis, but the 4th of July frame is certain to benefit everyone this coming weekend. Overseas, Jurassic World continued to rule, earning $83 million over the weekend, for a worldwide gross already to $1.24 billion (and still surging). Worldwide, Jurassic World has already entered the Top 10 all-time list at #8, passing Iron Man 3 ($1.22 billion) and will pass Frozen ($1.27 billion) for #7 by the end of the week.It was very close over the weekend, but Disney/Pixar's hit Inside Out once again had to settle for second place. But it held on very well, off just 42% to $52.1 million, for a fantastic $184.9 million gross in 10 days. The well-reviewed animated film did reclaim #1 on Thursday and for a second-straight Friday before retreating just narrowly behind Chris Pratt and the velociraptors on Saturday and Sunday. As for weekend holds altogether, Inside Out held better than Toy Story 3 (47%), Despicable Me 2 (47%), Brave (49%) and Monsters University (45%). With apparent strong word-of-mouth, Inside Out should be in for an even stronger hold over the busy 4th of July frame, and seems set to be the biggest animated movie since Frozen on the domestic side. Overseas, the latest animated hit has earned $82 million from just 42% of the international marketplace. I saw Inside Out on Friday evening, look for a review coming very soon.
But it wasn't all good news, and Universal, despite having a record-smashing year, didn't seem like anything was stopping them. But R-rated comedy sequel Ted 2 was unable to live up to expectations, pulling in $33 million in third place, for a good $9,587 per-venue average. On paper, this is far from a horrible debut, but considering when the first Ted opened to $55 million back on this same weekend three years ago, one has to wonder, what went wrong? Sequels are now more hit-or-miss nowadays, the reviews weren't great (48% on Rotten Tomatoes, "B+" CinemaScore), and the first Ted didn't have two $50+ million holdovers to compete against. Still, considering the only R-rated comedy competition has been Spy, this seemed poised to open better. Seth McFarlane's shtick is fading to a degree, even if Ted 2 doubled the opening of last year's A Million Ways to Die in the West. Competition isn't much (Magic Mike XXL will appeal more to females) until fellow Universal pic Trainwreck arrives in three weeks, so a finish above $100 million seems possible. But, if you're trying to get a franchise going, this kind-of drop-off (the first Ted wound up with over $200 million stateside) isn't what you want. Distributor Universal projected a $45-50 million start, and they produced it for $85 million.
Meanwhile, the other new release, military dog movie Max, did a little bit better than distributor Warner Bros. (their 5th movie this summer) expected. The family flick opened to a decent $12.2 million in fourth place (matching my projection on Thursday), for a per-venue average of a mild $4,277 from 2,855 locations. That number is exactly in line with another animal-centric Warner Bros. flick, Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore from 2010, but that one had 3D boost its gross, had its animals talk, and had a lower per-venue average due to opening in 850 more locations. Max was projected for a debut of around $10 million, with a few optimistic analysts going for $13-15 million. Overall, this debut isn't anything special, but for a film that cost just $20 million to produce (by Warner Bros. and MGM), its very solid. With its military basis in mind, Max may have strong business over the 4th of July frame, before losing some of its audience to the highly-anticipated Minions the following week. Reviews weren't very good (39% on Rotten Tomatoes), though audiences gave it a strong "A" CinemaScore. I saw Max on Saturday, look for a review coming very soon.
In a distant fifth (Top 5 for four-straight weeks), Melissa McCarthy's Spy was relatively unharmed by the foul-mouthed teddy bear (Ted 2), tripping just 31% to $7.8 million, for a solid $88.4 million in 24 days. Spy will have to compete with Magic Mike XXL over the 4th of July frame for females, but still, its' now essentially guaranteed to finish its run above $100 million. Not nearly as strong as Bridesmaids or Identity Thief, but a solid uptick from last summer's Tammy. Spy is also approaching $200 million worldwide.
San Andreas also held well, off 39% in its fifth weekend to $5.3 million, for a solid $141.9 million gross in one month of release. The hit disaster flick is at a very solid $440 million worldwide with still a little bit of gas left in the tank. Despite strong critical reception, Dope had the rug pulled out from underneath it. The independent release fell a Top 10-hardest 53% to $2.9 million in seventh, for a disappointing $11.8 million pick-up in 10 days. Dope will struggle to hit $20 million in its domestic run, and will have to rely on home media sales to generate profit for distributor Open Road Films.
Insidious - Chapter 3 is starting to close its run, as the horror threequel was off 50% in its fourth weekend to $2 million, for a decent $49.8 million pick-up in 24 days. It has passed the Poltergeist remake ($47 million) in terms of total gross for the title of the year's biggest horror flick to date. Hanging on for a seventh-straight weekend in the list, Mad Max: Fury Road (the 3rd Warner Bros. pic in the Top 10) was off 43% to $1.7 million. The critically-adored George Miller reboot stands at $147.1 million in 49 days, and has earned over $350 million worldwide. One other note is that Mad Max is playing in less than 1,000 locations and is still in the list (961, to be precise).
Rounding out the Top 10 in its ninth weekend of release was Avengers: Age of Ultron, which was off 42% to $1.6 million. The superhero sequel has picked up a strong $452.4 million in 63 days and ranks as the eighth-biggest movie of all-time stateside. Overseas, the film will try to push to $1 billion overseas (its at $920 million so far) when it opens in Japan on July 4th.
Next weekend, Terminator: Genysis and Magic Mike XXL open on Wednesday and could both make serious noise. A wildcard is Christian movie Faith of Our Fathers, which could also break out over the holiday weekend.
