Box Office: Lord & Miller Slay the Dragon
Sunday, June 15, 2014 at 8:45PM Amir here with the weekend’s box office report. There was a huge surprise as How to Train Your Dragon 2, a critically acclaimed sequel to a massive box office success started at second place, a full $10m behind. Who’s the dragon slayer? Another critically acclaimed sequel to a massive box office success, 22 Jump Street. Still, despite the popularity of the first film and both Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, few imagined the animated family option would fall behind the raunchy comedy, but so it is. This is all the more impressive considering the screen count of Dragon was one of the highest ever.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
01 22 JUMP STREET $60 NEW
02 HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 $50 NEW
03 MALEFICENT $19 (cum. $163.5) Podcast
04 EDGE OF TOMORROW $16.1 (cum. $56.6) Capsule
05 THE FAULT IN OUR STARS $15.7 (cum. $81.7) Review
Still, despite the early receipts, I think the animated film will come out on top in the end, both because family films have better staying power and because competition in the next few weeks is non-existent. Of course, Lord & Miller, the filmmaking team behind the Jump Street franchise are no strangers to animation success. Earlier in the year, they opened The LEGO Movie to a $60m-plus opening as well; a double achievement that I believe is unique for any director in one calendar year. Correct me if I’m wrong on that count.
The top five list is rounded out with Maleficent, the unfortunately underselling Edge of Tomorrow and The Fault in Our Stars. Further down the list, The Rover, which played Cannes in May opened to respectable numbers on five screens – it had the second best per screen average of the weekend after Jump Street. (Glenn reviewed The Rover here.)
I haven’t yet seen any of the above films, because, Football people! Football! It’s the World Cup and the World Cup trumps all. What have you watched this weekend?
Reader Comments (10)
Lord and Miller are the first directors to have two $60m+ openings in one year. Before this weekend there were only two directors that had two $50mil+ openings in one year (the Wachowskis with Matrix 2 and 3 and James Wan with Conjuring and Insidious 2).
I wonder if we'll ever see a record like that not involving a sequel.
Does this mean that Jonah Hill will have to kiss the tip of Channing Tatum's dick?
Saw DRAGONS 2 and loooooooooooved it.
I saw "Test." I was underwhelmed, but mostly because I was expecting a different kind of film. I was expecting an AIDS melodrama, but it was a minor key character study with a weirdly uncharismatic central performance.
You're right about the Cup, Amir! It's been fascinating so far... I may slip in a visit to see 'How to Train Your Dragon 2', if I can tear my family away from the TV long enough....
I'm rooting for two underdogs in the Cup myself: U.S.A (hee) and Mexico. I hope you'll be praying along with me on Tuesday for us to beat, or at least tie, Brasil... Vamos, México! Si se puede!! :)
Passed on both 'Jump' & 'Dragon'. Went for 'The Immigrant' on Saturday & 'Edge of Tomorrow' on Sunday. All in all, a great theatre-going weekend!
Saw "How to Train Your Dragon 2" and' "22 Jump Street." I think "Dragon" is worthy of best picture consideration. Cried like a baby at the ending sequences. "22 Jump Street" is more of the same from the original. But if you need any more proof that Channing Tatum is the effin' man, then Exhibit A, people.
In theater: How to Train Your Dragon 2. I laughed, I almost cried. I thought it hurtled a little too quickly past a major second act trauma in order to make way for the heroic finale, but that's a minor quibble ultimately.
At home: Pioneers in Ingolstadt and Death in Venice. Death in Venice would be a stone cold masterpiece were it not for some unfortunately didactic, histrionic flashback scenes. As it is it's still pretty damn great.
I finally watched "The English Teacher," the little-seen comedy-drama with Julianne Moore in child molester glasses to denote "nerd" and a host of actors from the theater world that would get theater geeks like me excited (Nathan Lane, Norbert Leo Butz, Nikki Blonsky, Jessica Hecth, etc.). It was charming and actually had interesting ideas about art and compromise, but unfortunately her leading man, well cast due to his scruffy, wet-dog cuteness, was a bit of a charisma void.
I rewatched The Elephant Man after many years. I had forgotten what a spell this highly emotional film casts. Absolutely heartbreaking. And that cast, holy shit.