At the eleventh hour, Screen Gems cancelled all press screenings for No Good Deed, suggesting the film was a dud and they didn’t want critics spoiling any chance for the film to make some money at this weekend’s box office. I have no idea if the tactic had a direct effect on the box office, but with $24.5 million the Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson thriller took #1 at this weekend’s box office with ease and with a “B+” Cinema it seems people enjoyed it on some level.
The weekend’s other new release, Dolphin Tale 2 (aka The Sequel You Were All Asking For), brought in $16.5 million and I can’t tell if that’s good or bad. Clearly it’s a worse opening than the original, which opened with $19.1 million in 2011. The budget is only $36 million, which is actually one million less than the original, but the original only brought in $95.4 million worldwide so I have to assume this is all about DVD and television rights because I don’t know why a sequel would even be made in the first place. The “A” CinemaScore says the people that saw it liked it, but I’m not expecting this one to match the $72.2 million cume the original managed.
Next we come to The Drop, which I thought was opening in only 500 theaters, but actually opened in 809 theaters across the country, where it made $4.2 million this weekend. I don’t have a CinemaScore for the Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and James Gandolfini starrer, but I like the result and hope word of mouth is strong as it will expand even further next weekend. I really enjoyed this one and hope it finds a large audience.
Finally, Guardians of the Galaxy is now the only film this year to cross $300 million, adding another $8 million to its cume. It’s now over $610 million worldwide with October openings in China and Italy still to come.
Next weekend sees The Guest arriving on Wednesday (and I fully suggest you see it) while A Walk among the Tombstones, The Maze Runner, This Is Where I Leave You and Tusk head to theaters on Friday. I would expect Maze Runner to take #1, but am curious to see how all the others do as there could very easily be a surprise, strong performer.
