Weekend Wrap-Up
Sub-Par Openers Slow July 4th Box Office
By John Hamann
July 6, 2014
Sixth is new release Earth To Echo, Relativity Media’s hope for a summer sleeper. This is The Goonies meets E.T., but unfortunately, the film isn’t good enough to hold onto to those kinds of comparisons, so down it goes at the box office. Earth to Echo earned $5.3 million before the weekend hit, but earned less on Friday ($2.63 million) than it did on Wednesday ($2.65 million). Over the Friday-to-Sunday part of the weekend, Earth To Echo earned a lame $8.3 million, and will soon be forgotten by all. Who is celebrating this box office result? Disney. The mouse house sold distribution rights to Relativity, who then had to pay for the marketing.
Angelina Jolie and Maleficent continue a remarkable run at the summer box office, as the movie is now into its sixth weekend. Maleficent earned another $6.1 million this weekend, off only 27% compared to the previous frame. So far, Maleficent has earned $213.9 million domestically, and needs a couple of good holds to outgross Oz The Great and Powerful stateside, as that one earned $234.9 million. Overseas, Maleficent has earned $416 million, which means the worldwide gross is now at $630 million.
Eighth is Jersey Boys, and after a 42% drop last weekend, the target audience may be finally showing up for this one. This weekend, the Clint Eastwood film earned $5.2 million, which means it was off only 33% compared to last weekend. Unfortunately, it’s all too little, too late, as this one cost $40 million to make, and has a domestic gross of $36.7 million so far.
Think Like A Man Too completes its stunning fall from grace, as this one moves from number one at $29 million to number nine with only $4.9 million in only two weekends. Following a 65% drop last weekend, the Kevin Hart comedy falls another 53% this weekend, and is going to finish with one of the lower open to total multipliers we’ve seen from this kind of release. So far, the Think Like A Man sequel has earned only $57.2 million.
Tenth spot goes to Edge of Tomorrow, as Tom Cruise hangs on for a top ten spot in weekend five. Edge earned another $3.6 million and declined 33%. Since its muted debut, this thriller has held well, but it’s not going to be enough to make up for the $178 million production cost. So far, Edge of Tomorrow has earned $90.9 million stateside, and had $234 million overseas coming in to the weekend.
America, the latest conservative documentary from Dinesh D’Souza, didn’t behave like his last documentary, 2016: Obama’s America. That one earned $6.5 million when it expanded to 1,091 venues. This time, Lionsgate went wider quicker, and the film earned $2.7 million this weekend from 1,105 venues.
Overall, the box office is in a sad state of affairs, but given the slower second weekend for Transformers, the soft Tammy, and the documentary America flopping, maybe audiences are learning something. The top 12 earned only $118.5 million, off more than $100 million from last year over the same weekend, when Despicable Me 2 led the top 12 to $221.6 million. The last time July 4th landed on a Friday, the top 12 earned $153.2 million, so it can’t be completely blamed on the holiday. Next weekend brings Dawn of the Planet of the Apes to theaters, and hopefully that one breathes a little life into the box office.
| 1 |
Transformers: Age of Extinction |
PARAMOUNT |
$36,400,000 |
- 64% |
$174,746,000 |
| 2 |
Tammy |
WARNER BROS. |
$21,170,000 |
New |
$32,906,000 |
| 3 |
Deliver Us From Evil |
Sony |
$9,500,000 |
New |
$15,000,000 |
| 4 |
22 Jump Street |
Sony |
$9,400,000 |
- 41% |
$158,854,000 |
| 5 |
How To Train Your Dragon 2 |
Fox |
$8,750,000 |
- 34% |
$140,000,000 |
| 6 |
Earth To Echo |
Relativity |
$8,250,000 |
New |
$13,500,000 |
| 7 |
Maleficent |
Disney |
$6,133,000 |
- 27% |
$213,882,000 |
| 8 |
Jersey Boys |
WARNER BROS. |
$5,160,000 |
- 33% |
$36,705,000 |
| 9 |
Think Like a Man Too |
Sony |
$4,900,000 |
- 53% |
$57,192,000 |
| 10 |
Edge of Tomorrow |
WARNER BROS. |
$3,640,000 |
- 33% |
$90,870,000 |
| 11 |
America |
Lionsgate |
$2,725,000 |
+ 6958% |
$4,042,320 |
| 12 |
The Fault In Our Stars |
Fox |
$2,450,000 |
- 52% |
$115,850,000 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
Life Itself |
Magnolia |
$140,000 |
- 18% |
$140,000 |
| |
Snowpiercer |
Radius/twc |
$998,325 |
+ 483% |
$1,501,844 |
| |
Begin Again |
Weinstein Co. |
$1,316,000 |
+ 882% |
$1,853,000 |
| |
Yves Saint Laurent |
Weinstein Co. |
$38,722 |
+ 60% |
$86,110 |
| |
Third Person |
Sony Classics |
$119,859 |
+ 61% |
$291,794 |
| |
Le Chef |
Cohen Media |
$42,229 |
+ 19% |
$118,268 |
| |
Obvious Child |
A24 |
$382,652 |
- 30% |
$1,942,046 |
| |
X-Men: Days of Future Past |
Fox |
$1,840,000 |
- 45% |
$227,069,000 |
| |
Godzilla |
WARNER BROS. |
$418,000 |
- 55% |
$197,902,000 |
| |
Chef |
Open Road Films |
$1,678,000 |
+ 1% |
$22,040,000 |
| |
Neighbors |
Universal |
$393,750 |
- 50% |
$148,015,280 |
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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