Friday Box Office Analysis
By Tim Briody
April 18, 2015
Furious 7
Furious 7 spends a third weekend at the top, despite falling another 56% from its second Friday, to earn $8.3 million. Already earning over a billion worldwide, it’s going to cross $300 million mid week and probably has enough left in the tank to hit $400 million here. But the domestic box office isn’t why there will probably be an eighth film. It’s down to $26.2 million, far from the lofty heights of the opening frame, but that’s enough to win this weekend.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2
Kevin James goes back to his breakout movie role and despite an astonishing 0% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, earns $7.3 million on Friday. This is down from the opening day of the first film back in January 2009, which started with $9.7 million. Yes, I’m disappointed that the decline wasn’t bigger, too. If you want somewhat better news, it also has no chance of matching the 3.25 multiplier of the first Mall Cop, as that opened over a holiday weekend and was thus somewhat inflated. Still, $19.5 million makes it a relatively successful opening weekend despite the critical evisceration.
Unfriended
Cyber-horror entry Unfriended earns $6.8 million on Friday. It’s been a good year for horror so far, at least in the review department, with both this and It Follows earning positive reviews. Made for just $1 million, it will be one of the year’s most profitable films relative to budget, with a weekend of $17.4 million.
Monkey Kingdom
Disney’s nature documentary Monkey Kingdom earns $1.6 million on Friday, a step back from last year’s Bears, which started with $2.3 million on this weekend last year (which just happened to contain Easter). These films are slow, reliable earners but never major box office players. The best Monkey Kingdom will do is $4.6 million on the weekend.
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Projected Estimates for the Top Ten (Three-Day)
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Projected
Rank |
Film |
Estimated Gross |
|
1
|
Furious 7
|
26.2
|
|
2
|
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2
|
19.5
|
|
3
|
Unfriended
|
17.4
|
|
4
|
Home
|
8.3
|
|
5
|
The Longest Ride
|
6.8
|
|
6
|
Monkey Kingdom
|
4.6
|
|
7
|
Get Hard
|
4.3
|
|
8
|
The Woman in Gold
|
3.9
|
|
9
|
The Divergent Series: Insurgent
|
3.7
|
|
10
|
Cinderella
|
3.1
|
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