The $33 million tracking for Luc Besson‘s Lucy seemed crazy. It was a rated-R movie with Scarlett Johansson in the lead role, a position she isn’t typically known for. Add to that, Besson’s largest opening for one of his films was $17 million back in 1997 with The Fifth Element and I’m not sure I saw any press for the film, after all, Johansson is busy with Avengers: Age of Ultron and if I’m not mistaken, it was only Morgan Freeman huffing helium with Jimmy Fallon when it comes to the film’s late night press. And yet, it’s number one at the box office in a big way.
With $44 million, Lucy is your number one film at the box office this weekend. Budgeted at $40 million the film will likely do well internationally, though I think we should expect a 60-65% drop next weekend, if not more, thanks to the “C+” CinemaScore and the impending arrival of Guardians of the Galaxy. Nevertheless, this is a great result for a fun film. Now let’s just hope instead of a sequel they try something else fun and imaginative rather than beating an already dead horse.
Speaking of, Brett Ratner‘s Hercules, which did fare better with opening day audiences, scoring a “B+” CinemaScore, but not even 3D and IMAX ticket prices could bolster this one any higher than $29 million. Not bad, but definitely not great considering the $100 million budget and remember, Lucy had none of those 3D upcharges, making that $44 million look even better. When it comes to judging this film’s success it will come down to international dollars where Hercules brought in $28.7 million this weekend.
Then we come to Clarius Entertainment’s second ever release on the heels of their earlier bomb, Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return. The film is And So It Goes, starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton and it managed a mere $4.5 million this weekend to go along with a “B+” CinemaScore.
When it comes to last weekend’s number one, The Purge: Anarchy did as anyone would expect, dropping 67% for a sophomore weekend total of $9.8 million. Still, the film is now up to $51 million domestically on a $9 million budget and has been received much better than the first. Expect a third film in less than a year and let’s just hope it’s a little more inventive.
Skirting the edges of the top ten we find the limited opening of Anton Corbijn‘s A Most Wanted Man, which I still need to see. The film, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his final roles, opened in 361 theaters and managed a solid $2.1 million. Richard Linklater‘s Boyhood expanded even further this weekend, playing in 107 theaters now and amassing $1.7 million for a $16,120 per theater average.
Finally, Woody Allen‘s Magic in the Moonlight opened in only 17 theaters and brought in a satisfying $425,730 for a $25,043 per theater average. You can read my review of that one here.
Oh, one more thing, Godzilla finally opened in Japan this weekend. No numbers are in just yet, but it will definitely push the monster movie over $500 million worldwide just as Godzilla 2 got a push at Comic Con this weekend.
As I already said, next weekend brings Guardians of the Galaxy as well as the James Brown biopic Get On Up, which could result in some interesting numbers, though we all know Guardians will be #1 with early predictions targeting a $60+ million opening, though I think it will be higher than that. Care to post any early predictions in the comments?
