New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

The distant second place film at the box office this weekend is 22 Jump Street. The Jonah Hill/Channing Tatum buddy cop sequel claimed another $15.4 million this weekend, down 44% from $27.5 million last time. The fact that a sub-$20 million performer finishes in second exemplifies how weak the rest of the top ten is right now, especially in comparison to Transformers. 22 Jump Street is still a huge hit, though. It has a running total of $139.8 million after 17 days. It has already beaten the final domestic take of 21 Jump Street, $138.4 million.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 continued its puzzling run with a third place finish this weekend. The animated sequel earned $13.1 million, bringing its 17-day take to $121.8 million. It has now fallen well behind the pace of the original movie, which had tallied $133.4 million after its third weekend in theaters. The latest adventure of Toothless and Hiccup fell 47%, a slight improvement from 50% last frame. The good news for the production is that the $145 million production has already grossed $80 million worldwide. Why it is not doing better in North America remains a mystery.

The last two spots in the top five were claimed by last weekend’s number one film, Think Like a Man Too, and the leggiest summer release to date, Maleficent. Kevin Hart’s second blockbuster of 2014 grabbed $10.4 million, down 64% from last week. Obviously, this comedy is dying quickly at the box office but since it has already earned $48.2 million against a $24 million budget, it is a triumph. The same is true of Maleficent, which dropped only 36% while pulling in $8.2 million. It has now grabbed $201.9 million domestically and $384 million overseas. In the process, Maleficent became the fifth 2014 release to earn at least $200 million, as well as the third release this summer after The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and X-Men: Days of Distant Future Past.

Last weekend’s other new release, Jersey Boys, finished in sixth place this weekend. An $7.6 million take represents a fall of 43% from its debut. With a running total of $27.3 million, this musical is not a total bust for a $40 million film. It’s going to wind up a box office draw at best, though.

Seventh and eighth place this weekend were held by a pair of titles that have been battling since day one. The Fault in Our Stars has already won the fight after a first day knockout, but Edge of Tomorrow continues to battle it for supremacy. Amusingly, Edge of Tomorrow has won for the third straight weekend, earning $5.2 million against $4.8 million for The Fault in Our Stars. Of course, a massive gap still exists between them in terms of domestic revenue. The tearjerker has now earned $109.5 million while the Tom Cruise flick stands at $8.4.2 million. Internationally, the picture is reversed as The Edge of Tomorrow has managed $218 million overseas. The John Green adaptation has actually done quite well abroad with $65 million, but it’s still a significant gap.

Rounding out the top ten are a comic book adaptation and the latest film from a director who made his career via comic book adaptations. X-Men: Days of Future Past clings to its top ten placement with another $3.3 million, bringing its running total to $223.4 million domestically along with $478 million overseas. Meanwhile, Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau’s low scale cooking project, Chef, continues to stake a spot at the bottom of the charts. This weekend, it garnered another $1.7 million, giving it a running total of $19.4 million as it falls a tiny 3%. Chef has finished in either ninth or tenth place for six consecutive weekends now, an oddly impressive streak.

The top 12 this week earned combined revenue of $171.5 million. Despite Age of Extinction's nine-figure debut, box office is still down 6.3% compared to the same weekend last year. While no film grossed more than $45.6 million during that weekend, there were five titles that earned at least $20 million, so quantity beats quality... and yes, I feel a little dirty describing Transformers 4 as "quality."

Top Weekend Box Office for 6/27/14-6/29/14 (Estimates)
Rank	Film	Distributor	Estimated Gross	Weekly Change	Running Total
1	Transformers: Age of Extinction	PARAMOUNT	$100,000,000	New	$100,000,000
2	22 Jump Street	Sony	$15,400,000	- 44%	$139,837,000
3	How To Train Your Dragon 2	Fox	$13,100,000	- 47%	$121,814,500
4	Think Like a Man Too	Sony	$10,400,000	- 64%	$48,168,000
5	Maleficent	Disney	$8,237,000	- 36%	$201,871,000
6	Jersey Boys	WARNER BROS.	$7,610,000	- 43%	$27,342,000
7	Edge of Tomorrow	WARNER BROS.	$5,210,000	- 47%	$84,155,000
8	The Fault In Our Stars	Fox	$4,800,000	- 44%	$109,545,000
9	X-Men: Days of Future Past	Fox	$3,300,000	- 46%	$223,393,500
10	Chef	Open Road Films	$1,654,000	- 3%	$19,410,000
11	Godzilla	WARNER BROS.	$1,000,000	- 47%	$197,085,000
12	Neighbors	Universal	$739,500	- 46%	$147,194,885
	Also Opening/Notables
	America	Lionsgate	$39,000	New	$39,000
	Snowpiercer	Radius/twc	$162,127	New	$162,127
	Begin Again	Weinstein Co.	$148,325	New	$148,325
	Yves Saint Laurent	Weinstein Co.	$24,502	New	$24,502
	The Internet's Own Boy	Filmbuff/participant Media	$24,301	New	$24,301
	Siddharth	Zeitgeist	$4,500	New	$4,500
	Third Person	Sony Classics	$80,654	+ 108%	$136,384
	Coherence	Oscilloscope	$13,500	- 21%	$34,729
	A Summer's Tale	Big World Pictures	$10,950	- 15%	$32,915
	Le Chef	Cohen Media	$34,750	+ 208%	$310,039
	The Last Sentence	Music Box Films	$10,000	+ 11%	$24,177
	The Signal	Magnolia Pictures	$67,000	- 55%	$553,288
	The Rover	A24	$100,596	- 79%	$979,903
	Obvious Child	A24	$555,595	+ 127%	$1,285,225
	A Million Ways To Die In the West	Universal	$511,980	- 68%	$41,670,935
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations

Continued:       1       2