Well, it seems despite the fact people didn’t like 2013’s The Purge that hasn’t had much of an effect on the box office prospects of The Purge: Anarchy, which not only topped Friday’s box office with an estimated $13 million, but scored a “B+” CinemaScore from opening day audiences, much better than the first film’s “C”. However, the Friday number is down $3.7 million from the first film and the sequel cost Universal $6 million more to produce. Then again, we’re talking about a $9 million budget here, which is likely to be tripled by the end of the three day… not too shabby.
In second was Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which is likely to eek above The Purge and take the weekend box office with a shade over $30 million or so.
Disney’s Planes: Fire & Rescue is performing similarly to The Purge in that it is a sequel to a lackluster first film and it is also performing worse than the first film, bringing in an estimated $6.2 million on Friday compared to the $8.5 million earned by the first film last year. We’re probably looking at a $17-18 million weekend for the kids flick.
Finally, Sex Tape is a bust, or at least a non-starter. With an estimated $5.7 million on Friday, we’re looking, at best, at something like $16 million for the weekend. The budget was only $40 million, but a “C+” CinemaScore is unlikely to give the film much of a boost. It seems only Melissa McCarthy can open an R-rated comedy no one finds funny and earn that kind of a CinemaScore and still survive.
I have included the Friday top ten below (courtesy of Box Office Mojo) and I’ll be back tomorrow morning with a complete wrap-up.
- The Purge: Anarchy – $13.0 million
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – $10.4 million
- Planes: Fire & Rescue – $6.2 million
- Sex Tape – $5.7 million
- Transformers: Age of Extinction – $2.7 million
- Tammy – $2.2 million
- 22 Jump Street – $1.4 million
- How To Train Your Dragon 2 – $1 million
- Earth To Echo – $1 million
- Maleficent – $954,000
