The Fourth of July holiday box office is not turning out exactly as many thought it would. Instead of two highly anticipated newcomers fighting for the top spot Hollywood is witnessing another duel between two of the summer's biggest hits: “Jurassic World” and “Inside Out.”
Pixar's critically acclaimed hit “Inside Out” took the top spot on Friday earning $12.5 million for a stellar $228.5 million in just 15 days. “Inside” will easily become just the third Pixar movie to cross $300 million domestic and has an excellent shot of surpassing “Finding Nemo's” $339 million take when all is said and done.
“Jurassic World” continued its monstrous run at no. 2 with another $11.8 million and $539 million to date. The Universal Studios blockbuster is easily the no. 1 movie of 2015 and is less than $90 million away from taking the no. 3 slot all time from “Marvel's The Avengers.” Quite remarkable for a franchise many thought had lost its mojo after 2001's “Jurassic World III.”
“Terminator: Genisys” followed in third with $10.6 million and $26.1 million over its first three days. It's highly unlikely “Genisys” will match “Terminator Salvation's” opening weekend of $65.3 million in 2009. Unless international grosses save the day “Genisys” may become one of the summer's biggest bombs.
Faring far worse in fourth was “Magic Mike XXL.” The sequel to 2012's surprise hit took in only $6.3 million on Friday and has earned $21.3 million since opening on Wednesday. Frankly, that's shocking considering pre-release polling and the perceived popularity of the first movie. Perhaps Warner Bros. knew something the rest of the industry didn't when they limited the production budget to just $14.8 million. At worst, “XXL” will break even and you can't necessarily say that for “Genysis.”
Rounding out the top five was “Ted 2” which earned just $4.4 million and was down 66% from its opening day one week ago. The Seth MacFarlane comedy has taken in $51.7 million and won't hit the $100 million mark domestically. For comparison's sake, the original “Ted” earned $218.8 million three years ago.
Look for complete weekend estimates Sunday on HitFix.
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