Harry and Lloyd still have it.
The Farrelly Bros.' “Dumb and Dumber To” starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels took No. 1 at the box office this weekend with a robust $38 million finish, nearly 20 years after the first film became a commercial smash. That compares with a $16.3 million opening for the original movie (about $26 million when adjusting for inflation), which held up spectacularly well to finish with over $127 million domestically and a grand total of $247 million worldwide. The sequel represents Carrey's biggest live-action opening since 2003's “Bruce Almighty,” which took in a gargantuan $68 million in its first weekend.
Coming in a close second was Walt Disney Animation's “Big Hero 6,” which fell 36% to an estimated $36 million in its second weekend. That brings the Marvel adaptation to a grand total to $111.6 million in 10 days. Though it faces some competition from family-oriented films like “Penguins of Madagascar,” “Annie” and “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” in the coming weeks, it should continue to hold up well as none of those titles are packing the same kind of heat as the animated superhero flick.
In third place, Christopher Nolan's “Interstellar” – which opened at No. 2 last weekend – also held up well, dropping 38.6% to an estimated $29.2 million. That brings the sci-fi film's grand total to $97.8 million and puts it within striking distance of $200 million domestically, if it continues to exhibit strong legs.
The weekend's other wide opener, romantic drama “Beyond the Lights,” came in fourth place with an estimated $6.5 million, giving it a so-so per-screen average of $3,633 from 1,789 theaters. Starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Nate Parker, the $7 million-budgeted film should finish in the black given its stellar “A” Cinemascore (indicative of strong holds in the weeks ahead) and further grosses to be reaped from home-video/VOD sales.
In fifth place, David Fincher's “Gone Girl” continued to demonstrate spectacular legs with $4.6 million in its seventh weekend, representing a drop of only 25%. With $153.7 million in the can domestically and a grand total of over $318 million worldwide, the $60 million-budgeted film is one of the year's bona fide runaway hits, benefiting from the built-in fanbase for Gillian Flynn's bestselling novel, solid reviews, awards-season buzz and a strong water cooler factor that saw it become the subject of numerous think pieces and word-of-mouth chatter.
Other notables this weekend were the Bill Murray starring vehicle “St. Vincent,” which finished in sixth place with $4 million (a drop of only 25%) for a superb $33 million after six weeks; the Jon Stewart-directed “Rosewater,” which debuted outside the top ten with a rather disappointing $1.2 million from 371 screens (a per-screen average of $3,235); Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's critically-acclaimed “Birdman,” which brought in $2.45 million in tenth place after adding nearly 400 screens ($11.5 million total after five weeks); and awards-season hopeful “Foxcatcher” starring Steve Carell, which grossed a sizzling $288,000 from only six locations for a very impressive per-screen average of $48,000.
You can check out the full top ten chart below.
Did you see any movies this weekend? Let us know in the comments.
Weekend Top 10:
1. “Dumb and Dumber To,” $38.1 million.
2. “Big Hero 6,” $36 million.
3. “Interstellar,” $29.2 million.
4. “Beyond the Lights,” $6.5 million.
5. “Gone Girl,” $4.6 million.
6. “St. Vincent,” $4 million.
7. “Fury,” $3.8 million
8. “Nightcrawler,” $3 million
9. “Ouija,” $3 million
10. “Birdman,” $2.5 million.