Weekend Wrap-Up: Ant-Man Tops Terrific Weekend
July 20, 2015
The top of the box office had a small surprise, as Ant-Man earned first place with $57.23 million over the weekend. This is a little lower than predicted, but Minions really collapsed, so Ant-Man easily won the race for the top of the box office race. Meanwhile, Trainwreck had a solid third place opening and could be on its way to $100 million, thanks in part to its target demographic and to its reviews. Overall, the box office pulled in $194 million. This is 9.6% lower than last weekend, but more importantly, it is 30% higher than the same weekend last year. 30%. That's a massive margin of victory. Year-to-date, 2015 has pulled in $6.20 billion, which is 8.1% more than 2014's pace. Summer is winding down, so 2015 is in a great place moving into the slower part of the year. Even if August and September are slower than average, there's almost no chance 2015 will blow through the $460 million lead it has over 2014.
Ant-Man opened with $57.23 million over the weekend, which was enough for first place at the box office. This is a very good start, but not a monster level hit and the Marvel Cinematic Universe had been producing monster level hit after monster level hit. In fact, this is the weakest opening in the MCU since The Incredible Hulk. Fortunately, while the franchise's $200 million domestic streak is very likely over, with 80% reviews, Ant-Man's legs should be good enough to top its production budget. I'm sure the studio will be happy with this result.
Minions plummeted 57% during its sophomore stint, which is terrible for a family film. Fortunately, it had a near-record opening weekend, so it still managed $49.27 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $215.77 million. It became the sixth film released in 2015 to reach that milestone. It won't be the last.
Trainwreck opened with $30.10 million, which is within a rounding error of Friday's predictions. It is also the second biggest opening for a film directed by Judd Apatow, opening just behind Knocked Up. Its reviews remain excellent at 85% positive, which should help its legs. Additionally, its aimed more at women, so its legs should be better than most films. In fact, as Spy showed, it has to potential to top $100 million domestically.
Inside Out landed in fourth place with $11.54 million over the weekend for a total of $306.25 million after a month of release. It became the fourth film released in 2015 to reach the $300 million milestone and just the third film in Pixar's history to get to that mark.
Jurassic World was right behind with $11.45 million over the weekend for a total of $611.23 million after six weeks of release. By this time next week, it could be ahead of The Avengers on the All-Time Domestic Box Office. It will get there, even if it takes more than a week to do so.
There's one final new release in the top ten, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, which earned ninth place with $2.62 million in 256 theaters. This is amazing for a Bollywood film and could be a sign that the market for these films is growing. I really would like to see more of these crossover into the mainstream. Meanwhile, Mr. Holmes just missed the top ten with $2.43 million in 361. It will likely have much better legs than Bajrangi Bhaijaan has, as Bollywood films are notoriously front-loaded.
Finally, we look in on the sophomore class. The Gallows fell 59% to $4.01 million over the weekend for a total of $18.01 million. It only cost $1 million to make, but it likely hasn't even matched it advertising budget. If it can get to $50 million globally, then it should break even early in its home market run. Self/Less won't be as lucky as it fell 58% to just $2.27 million over the weekend for a total of $10.33 million after ten days of release. Its per theater average is less than $1,000, so its theater count could be devastated this coming weekend. It cost $26 million to make, but it will barely get halfway there domestically. Unless it is a surprise hit internationally, it will lose a lot of money.
Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, Jurassic World, Ant-Man, Minions, Self/Less, Inside Out, Spy!, Mr. Holmes, Trainwreck, The Gallows, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Judd Apatow