As expected, Paul Feig's “Spy” took the weekend box office crown with $30 million. Excuse us for being slightly disappointed it didn't make more.
The Melissa McCarthy comedy has been hyped since it debuted at the SXSW Film Festival in March and delighted theater owners at CinemaCon in April. Critics were behind it with a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 75 grade on Metacritic. For some reason, however, that didn't translate into a stronger debut for the 20th Century Fox release. In fact, it's somewhere in the middle of “The Heat's” $39.3 million debut two years ago and the critically lambasted “Tammy's” $21 million take. Both those films had long runs, but this isn't the out of the box home run many of Fox's peers were expecting. Could it be that McCarthy needs a bigger star alongside her to really hit blockbuster numbers? Because, in this case, Jason Statham or Jude Law don't have enough starpower to generate enough excitement in this context.
Dropping to no. 2 was last weekend's champ “San Andreas.” The Dwayne Johnson disaster flick pulled in another $26.4 million for a solid $92 million in just 10 days. The Warner Bros. production will become the eighth flick in Johnson's career to cross the $100 million mark domestically sometime on Tuesday.
After taking the top spot on Friday, “Insidious Chapter 3” had an expected Friday to Saturday drop (in this case of 27.2%) and settled into third. The Focus Features release opened to $23 million which is significantly lower than “Chapter 2's” $40.2 million take in September 2013. The difference this time around? “Chapter 3” hit theaters in a much more competitive summer marketplace and James Wan was no longer in the director's chair. Like all the “Insidious” flicks it should be very profitable, but Focus may have overestimated its appeal by attempting a June launch.
It's not really a bomb (yet), but Warner Bros. and HBO's “Entourage” movie proved that not all TV series deserve to jump to the big screen. Earning just $10.4 million over the three-day, “Entourage has made $17.8 million since Wednesday. It's hard to see it grossing more than $40 million overall at this point which isn't good considering it cost a reported $35 million to make. Clearly, the marketing was wrong and the “ride” is over.
One of the most intriguing box office battles over the past four weeks is the nearly day to day back and forth between Universal's blockbuster “Pitch Perfect 2” and WB's beloved “Mad Max: Fury Road.” “Fury Road” has mostly won the weekday war while the Bellas have serenaded weekend matinee audiences. Final results may tell a different story on Monday, but studio estimates from both companies gave the fifth slot to “Mad Max” this time around with $7.9 million and $130.8 million domestic. “Perfect 2” was right behind it with another $7.7 million and a monster $160 million in sixth. Both films have earned $307.8 million and $241.6 million cross the globe respectively.
Debuting strongly in just 483 theaters was the critically acclaimed Brian Wilson biopic “Love & Mercy.” The Roadside Attractions release took in $2.2 million over the frame for a very good $4,600 per screen.
New films opening on Friday include “Jurassic World” and, in limited release, Sundance favorites “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” and “The Wolfpack.”