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Sunday, June 15, 2014

Box Office Update: "22" Bests "Dragon 2"

The return of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as undercover officers Schmidt and Jenko in the action comedy sequel 22 Jump Street as well as the comeback of as hiccup in the CG animated sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2 both proved box office gold this weekend..."22" is the champ while "Dragon 2" came in #2.



Pamela McClintock of THR:

Laughing its way to the second-best opening of all time for an R-rated comedy, Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill's 22 Jump Street beat out How to Train Your Dragon 2 for the top spot at the Father's Day weekend box office with $60 million.

The Hangover: Part II remains the record-holder for top R-rated comedy ($85.9 million).

22 Jump Street, costing under $60 million to produce, is a win for Sony and MGM, debuting 65 percent ahead of the first Jump Street, which debuted to $36.3 million in summer 2012. Overseas, the comedy took in $6.9 million from 14 markets for an early cume of $20.6 million, including an outstanding $16.6 million in the U.K., where it opened there last weekend.

Earning stellar reviews, Jump Street also nabbed an A- CinemaScore from moviegoers. In this installment, Hill and Tatum, playing two bumbling undercover cops, are assigned to infiltrate a local college.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie) directed both the original and the sequel. Moviegoers between the ages of 17 and 34 are the most ardent fans of Jump Street. The audience was evenly split between males and females, with an impressive 56 percent of the audience under the age of 25.

"I think it has so many things going for it, starting with the incredible chemistry between Channing and
[Jonah]. These guys are so funny together, and we also had great directors," Sony distribution chief Rory Bruer said.

From DreamWorks Animation and Fox, Dragon 2 took in $50 million, marking DWA's best opening in two years, although some had predicted it would open north of $55 million. Dragon 2 came in ahead of the first Dragon, which opened to just north of $36 million in March 2010.

Jeffrey Katzenberg's DWA needs a win after a series of box office misfires. Overseas, Dragon 2 got off to an impressive start in its first 25 markets (many are smaller), grossing $24.8 million and coming in No. 1 everywhere, including in Russia with $12.8 million. Fox and DWA believe Dragon 2 will be counterprogramming to the World Cup, which got underway June12.

Based on Friday's traffic, projections had showed Dragon 2 launching to $53 million in North America, but a 7 percent drop from Friday to Saturday made that impossible. Generally, family films see a jump on Saturday.

Like 22 Jump Street, Dragon 2 earned glowing notices and an even better CinemaScore (A).

Dean DeBlois returned to direct Dragon 2, which follows the heroic Viking Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his faithful dragon as they try to save the world from the power-hungry Drago. The voice cast also features Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera and Hill.

"This is one of those rare times when audiences and critics are aligned. And with no other animated film in the marketplace for six weeks, Dragon will be flying high," said Chris Aronson, domestic distribution chief for Fox.

Disney's Maleficent continued to bewitch audiences, placing No. 2 in its third weekend with $19 million for a domestic total of $163.5 million and worldwide total of $436.4 million, becoming Angelina Jolie's No. 2 live-action title of all time after Mr. & Mrs. Smith ($478 million).

Tom Cruise's troubled sc-fi epic Edge of Tomorrow didn't find much relief in its second weekend, grossing $16.2 million for a domestic total of $56.6 million. The Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow title fell to No. 4.

Edge of Tomorrow did beat out Fox's YA adaptation The Fault in Our Stars, which tumbled a steep 67 percent in its second weekend to $15.7 million for a North American cume of $81.7 million. The movie's drop underscores how fan-fueled the property is (younger females make up the vast majority of the audience). Nevertheless, the film -- costing just $12 million to make -- will be one of the most profitable properties of the summer.

Furthering Fox's strong summer, X-Men: Days of Future Past crossed the $200 million mark over the weekend at the domestic box office, eclipsing Godzilla and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which will finish the weekend with estimated totals of $191 million and $198 million, respectively. Internationally, Bryan Singer's superhero tentpole has now earned $457.6 million for a world total of $663.5 million.

Robert Pattinson's much-publicized gritty indie drama The Rover, directed by Australian director David Michod (Animal Kingdom) and co-starring Guy Pearce, opened to troubled numbers at the specialty box office, grossing $70,000 from five locations in New York and Los Angeles for a location average of $14,000. The Rover, distributed by A24 Films in the U.S., made its world premiere last month at the Cannes Film Festival.


Here are the top 10 estimates for the weekend of June 13-15 at the domestic box office:

1. 22 Jump Street, 1/3,306, Sony/MGM, $60 million.

2. How to Train Your Dragon 2, 1/4,253, Fox/DWA, $50 million.

3. Maleficent, 3/3,623, Disney, $19 million, -45%, $163.5 million.

4. Edge of Tomorrow, 2/3,505, Warner Bros./Village Roadshow, $16.2 million, -44%, $56.6 million.

5. The Fault in Our Stars, 2/3,273, Fox, $15.7 million, -67%, $81.7

6. X-Men: Days of Future Past, 4/3,042, Fox, $9.5 million, -37%, $205.9 million.

7. Godzilla, 5/2,088, Warner Bros./Legendary, $3.2 million, -48%, $191.3 million.

8. A Million Ways to Die in the West, 3/2,413, Universal/MRC, $3.1 million, -58%, $36.9 million.

9. Neighbors, 6/1,896, Universal, $2.5 million, -53%, $143.1 million.

10. Chef, 6/1,102, Open Road Films, $2.3 million, -13% $14.1 million

Next Up: Clint Eastwood's film version of the Award-winning Broadway musical "Jersey Boys" sings its way into the cineplex. The musical written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice chronicles the pop group Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons and their journey to fame. The group sold 175 million records worldwide before any of the members turned 30. The show has pulled in over $1 billion in ticket sales worldwide. The film uses much of the same music from the stage show.

The film, "Think Like a Man" is based on Steve Harvey's bestselling 2009 book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, and starred comedian Kevin Hart as a self-professed relationship expert who is quick to give advice to his crew of friends, even as his own marriage heads toward divorce. Now the entire cast is reunited for the comedy sequel Think Like A Man Too.

A24 Films's future post-apocalyptic Australian thriller "The Rover" goes wide. Set twenty years from now, Guy Pearce stars as a man who has left every semblance of human kindness behind him. When his final possession, his car, is stolen by a gang of dangerous American criminals, he sets out to track them down. He soon kidnaps the naive simpleton of the gang (Robert Pattinson), the brother of one of the key members (Scoot McNairy).

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