No big surprise this weekend, at least not at the top, where Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles took the #1 spot for a second weekend in a row with $28.4 million as its domestic cume climbs to $117.6 million while Guardians of the Galaxy was closely behind in second with $24.7 million as it is now over $222.3 million domestically.
We find the first of the weekend’s new releases in third and no, it doesn’t star Sylvester Stallone and a rag tag group of aging action stars. It’s Let’s Be Cops, a comedy Fox didn’t even screen for critics here in Seattle, and while it brought in $17.7 million, falling short of the $20+ million tracking, I’d say it’s doing decently after a big start on Wednesday, bringing in $26.1 million total over the last five days. The “B” CinemaScore suggests it will drop as pretty much all films drop, maybe a little faster, but with a $17 million budget I’d say it’s done its job.
Coming in fourth is The Expendables 3, which may have an “A” CinemaScore, but that comes with a massively disappointing $16.2 million, well shy of the $23 million tracking heading into the weekend. Worst of all, that PG-13 rating clearly did nothing to bolster its performance as 66% of the opening weekend audience was 25 years or older. Maybe next time don’t make a movie that betrays your content?
It will be interesting to see if there is any next step in this franchise as it has clearly become a franchise targeting overseas dollars if anything, but domestically the opening for The Expendables in 2010 was $34.8 million, that dropped to $28.5 million with The Expendables 2 in 2012, which, unlike the first, wasn’t able to crack $100 million domestically, but internationally the two films made $220.4 and $171.4 million respectively. If Expendables 3 can continue that trend it may continue to be worthwhile, but I get the feeling this is the last film in this franchise we’ll be seeing.
Next up is The Giver from the Weinsteins which boasted a cast that included Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites and Taylor Swift and opened with a soggy $12.7 million, hardly the kind of number studios are looking for when opening a young adult adaptation and the “B+” CinemaScore seems to suggest those that saw it were pleased, but likely going home with a “It’s pretty good, but you can wait to rent it” attitude.
Finally, perhaps the most exciting news of the weekend is Boyhood has made it into the top ten as it added 265 theaters this weekend, now playing in 771, and brought in $1.95 million, enough to take tenth place. The film is now at $13.8 million domestically and pretty much in a tie with Y Tu Mama Tambien as the second largest release from IFC ever. I don’t think it will be topping the $241.4 million My Big Fat Greek Wedding brought in, but second place will be fine for this little feature.
In other news, Lucy is now over $100 million domestically, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is now over $200 million, How to Train Your Dragon 2 crossed $500 million worldwide after opening in China this week and the Godzilla remake is also over $500 million finally.
Next weekend sees the release of If I Stay starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For and When the Game Stands Tall. WB is doing a heavy push for If I Stay and I’ll be curious to see if Sin City 2 can come beat or surpass the $29.1 million the first one brought in back in 2005. There is no tracking just yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it do something around $35+ million. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it do around $25 million, though I do think there is a level of excitement for it. Could be interesting.
