Overall business was ahead of last year's lackluster 4th of July frame by 2%, which had Transformers: Age of Extinction at #1 for a second-straight frame ahead of Melissa McCarthy's Tammy.
It was very close in estimates, but by the time actual numbers were released, Inside Out was the victor, climbing to the top spot in its third weekend. The critically-acclaimed Pixar flick was down 43% from last weekend to $29.8 million, for a strong $245.9 million pick-up in just 17 days. Within the next few days or so, Inside Out will become the biggest animated movie domestically since Frozen (2014's biggest animated movie was The LEGO Movie at $257 million). Inside Out will probably lose some momentum next weekend as the highly-anticipated Minions arrives, but its guaranteed to finish above $300 million domestically. Overseas, business continues to be solid, with the worldwide gross at $365 million and continuing to grow.It had to settle for the runner-up spot in the end (it was projected to win the weekend at first), but Jurassic World still continued to roar. The blockbuster reboot of the iconic trilogy was off 46% in its fourth go-round to $29.2 million, for a terrible (just kidding!) $556.5 million gross in 24 days, passing $550 million in record time. Jurassic World passed Avengers: Age of Ultron and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part II this weekend to take fifth place on the all-time worldwide chart, at $1.384 billion worldwide and still surging.
Box office analysts were divided on how Terminator: Genisys would do this weekend, but it turned out to be a disappointment. Arnold Schwarzenegger's return to the formerly James Cameron franchise pulled in a meager $27 million over the three-day frame ($7,190 per-venue average), and $42.5 million since its Wednesday launch. That's short of the expectations given by distributor Paramount, which were hoping for a $55 million 5-day debut. For Schwarzenegger, this is the best debut he's had in a while, but that might be the only positive on the domestic side. The previous installment, Salvation, had a $51.9 million 5-day launch, though that was over Memorial Day Weekend. The CinemaScore was a decent "B+", though reviews were negative (27% on Rotten Tomatoes). Next weekend won't offer any competition, so it may hold up OK over the long-term. But, I'm not sure if this will justify the other two Terminator movies Paramount currently has on the calendar for 2017 and 2019. The budget was $155 million.Opening in fourth place with way less than expected was sequel Magic Mike XXL. Despite a decent start on Wednesday, the stripper flick fell apart over the weekend, earning just $12.9 million over the three-day stretch (over the five-day period, it had earned $27.9 million). That's far away from the first Magic Mike, which had picked up $39 million over its opening weekend in 2012. What went wrong? The first movie seemed like an event for women, so for a second movie, despite strong buzz, it just didn't come across as anything special. Distributor Warner Bros. sixth movie of summer 2015 did have fairly good reviews (64% on Rotten Tomatoes), and the CinemaScore was an "A-". Also, the budget was only $15 million, so this will quickly wind up in the black. But for those hoping for another sequel may not want to get their hopes up too high.
Another R-rated sequel that has struggled is Ted 2, which plummeted 67% from its mediocre opening to $11.2 million. Seth McFarlane's latest is at a mediocre $58.5 million in 10 days and the century mark is now out of play. Like Magic Mike XXL, Ted 2 is further proof that lightning doesn't always strike twice (even if the predecessor seemed well-liked).
Max was off 46% to $6.6 million, for an OK $25.4 million 10-day pick-up. The dog flick will face competition from Minions this coming weekend, and is on pace for a finish close to $40 million. Spy, on the other hand, was unhurt by all the competition, and was off just 35% to $5.1 million, for a very solid $97.5 million pick-up in one month of release. San Andreas had some of its audience taken away by Terminator, and fell 48% to $2.8 million. Dwayne Johnson's disaster flick is at a strong $147.2 million in six weeks of release.
Limited release Me and Earl and the Dying Girl expanded to nearly 900 locations and earned $1.2 million ($1,433 per-venue average), for a $3.9 million gross since its limited release 24 days ago. Rounding out the Top 10 in its third week was Dope, which fell 60% to $1.1 million, for a mediocre $14.1 million gross in 17 days.
