Weekend Wrap-Up
The Rock Shakes Up Box Office with San Andreas
By John Hamann
May 31, 2015
Fourth goes to Mad Max: Fury Road, which continues its effective run. After a $24.6 million Memorial Day frame, the George Miller action epic was able to keep its drop below 50% in its third weekend and keeps its strong run going. This weekend, Max earned $3.9 million on Friday, off only 42% from the previous Friday, setting it up for another good weekend. It was able to turn that Friday into a weekend gross of $13.6 million, giving it a drop of only 45% compared to the previous frame. The $150 million masterpiece was the number one film on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week, and crossed the $100 million mark on Wednesday, its 13th day of release – one day faster than last November’s Interstellar, which finished with $188 million. Mad Max: Fury Road has earned $115 million domestically, and another $133 million from overseas venues. I see Max picking up $150 million domestically, but it will need a lot more from foreign theaters if it has any hopes of finishing in a profitable position.
Avengers: Age of Ultron is fifth again this weekend as it continues its successful run. The Marvel property earned another $10.9 million, off 50% compared to last weekend, as San Andreas likely cut into its audience. Age of Ultron is now pacing about 50% behind the original Avengers on a weekend-to-weekend basis, but it is staying ahead of where Iron Man 3 was at this point in its run. Ultron has now amassed $427.1 million domestically, and has $894 million from overseas theaters.
That puts the open of new release Aloha down in sixth, which is a disappointment for Sony and should be a disappointment for all of us, as the great Cameron Crowe serves up another questionable feature. After disappointing with Elizabethtown and We Bought a Zoo, I had high hopes for Crowe’s Aloha, given the cast that includes Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams and Bill Murray. While maybe not a great film, the box office result for a Cameron Crowe film is similar to that of previous efforts. Aloha earned $10 million over its opening frame, in line with We Bought a Zoo’s $9.8 million opening frame (which included Christmas Day on its first Sunday) and Elizabethtown’s $10.6 million. Aloha cost $37 million to make and will be lucky to earn $30 million of that back domestically.
Poltergeist got hammered in its second weekend, following its decent $22.6 million opening over the Memorial Day frame. Its second Friday dropped a disastrous 73%, a drop higher than the worst case scenario. It didn’t recover enough over the rest of the weekend, earning only $7.8 million and falling 66%. The Fox remake cost $35 million to make – for the studio, blissfully low – as it has already matched that amount domestically at $38.3 million. It shouldn’t have to do much overseas to get this one into the win column.
Eighth is Far From the Madding Crowd, which surprised last weekend with an 83% uptick over the previous frame thanks to a significant increase in screens. This weekend, Fox Searchlight added a handful more, and the arthouse release earned $1.4 million, giving it a drop of 38%. This small release has now earned $8.4 million stateside, and has pulled in a similar amount overseas.
Ninth is Hot Pursuit, which has only stayed in the top ten this long due to a lack of new releases. This weekend it earned $1.4 million, fell 62%, and now has a cume of $32.4 million. Tenth is Home, from DreamWorks Animation. Home earned another $1.2 million and declined 34%. It has earned $170.4 million domestically, and $350 million worldwide, which isn’t enough for a film with a $135 million budget.
Overall, the box office continues to struggle versus last year, but I maintain that good news is just around the corner. The top 12 this weekend earned $129.9 million, well off of the $160 million earned last year with Maleficent on top, and the $160.8 million earned the year previous when Fast & Furious remained number one. Next weekend brings more fresh meat to summer cinemas, and titles include Insidious Chapter 3, Entourage, and Melissa McCarthy’s Spy. If McCarthy can get Spy to $40 million, and the horror flick opens where the last one did, the three openers could combine for $100 million plus. Check back next weekend to see how it all rolls out.
| 1 |
San Andreas |
WARNER BROS. |
$53,215,000 |
New |
$53,215,000 |
| 2 |
Pitch Perfect 2 |
Universal |
$14,841,300 |
- 52% |
$147,540,020 |
| 3 |
Tomorrowland |
Disney |
$13,803,000 |
- 58% |
$63,188,000 |
| 4 |
Mad Max: Fury Road |
|
$13,625,000 |
- 45% |
$115,915,000 |
| 5 |
Avengers: Age of Ultron |
Disney |
$10,920,000 |
- 50% |
$427,070,000 |
| 6 |
Aloha |
Sony |
$10,000,000 |
New |
$10,000,000 |
| 7 |
Poltergeist |
MGM |
$7,800,000 |
- 66% |
$38,266,000 |
| 8 |
Far From the Madding Crowd |
FOX SEARCHLIGHT |
$1,420,000 |
- 38% |
$8,362,000 |
| 9 |
Hot Pursuit |
WARNER BROS. |
$1,370,000 |
- 62% |
$32,351,000 |
| 10 |
Home |
|
$1,150,000 |
- 34% |
$170,408,000 |
| 11 |
Furious 7 |
Universal |
$987,075 |
- 57% |
$349,231,025 |
| 12 |
Ex Machina |
New Line Cinema |
$767,713 |
- 45% |
$23,587,042 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
Heaven Knows What |
Radius/TWC |
$15,032 |
New |
$15,032 |
| |
Tanu Weds Manu Returns |
Eros |
$750,000 |
- 25% |
$2,280,000 |
| |
When Marnie Was There |
Gkids |
$33,020 |
+ 21% |
$77,281 |
| |
I'll See You In My Dreams |
Bleecker Street |
$516,161 |
+ 79% |
$1,045,889 |
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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