Bombs away! Turns out five credited screenwriters, a decade plus in development, and a title that sounds like a Bodman fragrance didn’t do R.I.P.D. any favors over the weekend as the Men in Black clone managed to limbo under already super low expectations. When we reported analysts saying it was tracking “worse than any summer movie we’ve seen,” those analysts were predicting an opening weekend “as low as” $15-17 million (on a $130 million production budget). The reality was much worse, debuting at number seven with $12.7 million, for Universal’s biggest bomb since Battleship.
But not all is lost, R.I.P.D. director Robert Schwentke also had the sequel to the movie he directed opening this weekend in Red 2, and R.I.P.D. not-star Ryan Reynolds voiced the lead in Turbo. One of those had to be number one, right?! Sorry, no. Turbo was almost as big a bomb as R.I.P.D., opening in third with $21.5 million on a $135 million budget. Honestly, even for a kid’s movie, a snail that dreams of being a racecar (seriously, not even a racecar driver, like an actual racecar) is pretty lazy. Meanwhile, Red 2, which “only” cost $84 million to make, grossed a slightly less disappointing $18.4 million, down from $21.5 for the original. The overall box office was down 20 percent from last year. I’ve already started buying popcorn, so that when theaters all close up, I can charge myself six dollars for it and dump soda on the floor to remember what moviegoing was like. Heck, I might even give myself a dry handj.
The big winner this weekend was The Conjuring, doubling its $20 million budget with a $41.5 million opening. Horror movies are increasingly seeming like the safest bet these days, and this one had the benefit of actually being kinda decent. Elsewhere, Grown Ups 2 earned $20 million for a $79.5 million total and is shaping up to be one of Sony’s most profitable movies of the summer because God is dead.
1. The Conjuring (Warner Bros.) – $41,530,000
2. Despicable Me 2 (Universal) – $25,059,000 ($276,159,000)
3. Turbo (Fox) – $21,500,000
4. Grown Ups 2 (Sony) – $20,000,000 ($79,500,000)
5. Red 2 (Lionsgate) – $18,500,000
6. Pacific Rim (Warner Bros.) – $15,955,000 ($68,235,000)
7. R.I.P.D. (Universal) – $12,763,000
8. The Heat (Fox) – $14,000,000 ($129,292,000)
9. World War Z (Paramount) – $5,200,000 ($186,941,000)
10. Monsters University (Buena Vista) – $5,005,000 ($248,998,000) [Indiewire]
No changes to Fantasy Summer Box Office this week, but we all whiffed pretty hard not choosing R.I.P.D. or Turbo as a bomb pick.
Fantasy Summer Box Office Standings
Laremy (First overall pick)
1. Iron Man 3 – $175.3
2. Man of Steel $117 million / $225 million budget = 52%, 100 minus 52 = 48.
3. Epic: 33.5
4. Lone Ranger: 29.4
Total: 286.2
Vince (2nd pick):
1. 6 Fast 6 Furious: 97.4
2. Pacific Rim: 38.3
3. The Wolverine
4. We are the Millers (Bomb)
Total: 135.7
Bret (3rd pick)
1. Star Trek 2: 71
2. Despicable Me 2: 82.5
3. Lone Ranger (Bomb): 29m on a 250m budget = 12%, 100 – 12 = 88.
4. After Earth: 27
Total: 268.5
Brendan (4th pick)
1. Man of Steel: 116.6
2. Hangover 3: 41.7
3. The Internship: 18.1
4. The Great Gatsby (Bomb): $51 million on a $105 million budget, which equals 49 percent of budget, subtracted from 100 is 51.
Total: 227.4
Ben (5th):
1. Monsters University: 82
2. Planes
3. World War Z: 66
4. World War Z (Bomb): $66 million on a $190 million budget, equals 34.7 percent of budget, 100 minus 35 equals 65.
Total: 213