Zach Braff‘s indie drama Wish I Was Here stumbles in limited bow while Richard Linklater's unique drama "Boyhood" soars going wide...
Pamela McClintock of THR:
This weekend brought more bad news for the summer box office, with revenue in North America tumbling 24 percent over the same frame last year as a trio of new films -- The Purge: Anarchy, Planes: Fire & Rescue and Sex Tape -- all did less business than expected.
Fox's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes had no trouble staying at No. 1 in its second weekend, holding better than any previous summer tentpole. The Fox sequel fell 50 percent to $36 million for a domestic total of $139 million.
Universal's The Purge: Anarchy came in No. 2 as it opened to $28.4 million. While that's a solid number for a horror title, the modestly budgeted sequel trailed behind The Purge, which debuted to $34.1 million in June 2013. Anarchy, costing $9 million to make, received a B+ CinemaScore.
Nor was Anarchy able to match the $41.8 million debut of New Line's horror film The Conjuring on the same weekend a year ago. The difference helps to explain the year-over-year revenue gap, at least in part. Also, the weekend was left without a pricey summer tentpole when Warner Bros. pushed back the release of Jupiter Ascending to next year.
James DeMonaco returned to write and direct Anarchy, which was produced by Blumhouse Productions and Platinum Dunes.
Disney's animated family film Planes: Fire & Rescue, placing No. 3, also did less than its predecessor. Fire & Rescue grossed $18 million domestically, compared to $22 million for Planes, which debuted in August 2013. The sequel, earning an A CinemaScore, cost $50 million to make. Disney is hopeful that the strong grade from audiences will translate into good word of mouth.
Planes: Fire & Rescue is a spinoff of the popular Pixar franchise Cars and produced by DisneyToon Studios. Dane Cook returns to voice the lead character Dusty Crophopper, who joins the world of wildfire air attack in the sequel. Overseas, Fire & Rescue opened to $9 million from 24 territories for a subdued global launch of $27 million.
The news was all out grim for Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel's new R-rated comedy, Sex Tape. The film debuted to No. 4 with $15 million after receiving dismal reviews and an equally dismal C+ CinemaScore.
Sex Tape reunites Diaz and Segel with their Bad Teacher director, Jake Kasdan. That comedy, opening to $31.6 million in June 2011, grossed a stellar $216.2 million worldwide (Bad Teacher also earned a C+ CinemaScore).
"We made a sweet, funny romantic comedy with stars that we love, but the title is a little confusing to some folks," said Sony distribution chief Rory Bruer. "There's definitely a sweetness to it, and we hope we end up being around for a long while. We also have a strong opportunity overseas."
Sex Tape enjoyed a decent opening in Australia, earning $2.4 million. All in all, the movie debuted in nine foreign territories over the weekend for a total $3 million.
Paramount's Transformers: Age of Extinction rounded out the top five in North America, grossing $10 million in its fourth weekend for a domestic total of $227.2 million. The tentpole remains a juggernaut overseas, earning $81.2 million from 58 territories for an international total of $659.1 million and global haul of $886.3 million -- by far the best showing of the year.
Age of Extinction has amassed $285.7 million in China alone. Post-World Cup openings included Brazil and Germany, where the action film took in a strong $16.5 million and $11.9 million, respectively, over the weekend.
At the U.S. specialty box office, Richard Linklater's acclaimed drama Boyhood is quickly morphing into a hit. Expanding into a total of 34 theaters, the drama placed No. 15 in its second weekend with a stellar $1.2 million. Boyhood, distributed by IFC Films, has earned a total $1.8 million to date and posted a weekend screen average of $35,320.
Zach Braff's Kickstarter-funded project Wish I Was Here struggled in its debut, grossing only $495,000 from 68 locations for a screen average of $7,269. The film, starring Braff, Kate Hudson and Josh Gad, is distributed by Focus Features in the U.S.
Next Up: Dwayne Johnson is Hercules for director Brett Ratner. in an adaptation of the Steve Moore penned comic, the story follows our hero years after he carried out his twelve tasks and has turned his back on the Gods. He discovers a higher calling as he defends the mythical Mount Olympus from an evil army. He and six friends have become mercenaries who've been hired by the King of Thrace to train his men into becoming an army every bit as ruthless as they are.
Luc Besson ("La Femme Nikita," "The Fifth Element") wrote the script for Lucy from which he directed that follows a woman (Scarlett Johansson) who is forced to become a drug mule. When the drug goes into her system, she is transformed into an ass-kicking machine. She can absorb knowledge instantaneously, is able to move objects with her mind and can't feel pain. She sets out to rescue a professor (Morgan Freeman).
Michael Douglas stars in Rob Reiner's And So It Goes as a self-centered realtor with an empathy deficiency, who ends up learning to love again after reconnecting with his granddaughter and forming a friendship with a bubbly neighbor played by Diane Keaton.
A Most Wanted Man is based on author John le Carré's 2008 political novel the story is set in present-day Hamburg, the action begins when a mysterious, near-dead half-Chechen, half-Russian fugitive arrives in the city's Islamic community desperate for help and looking to recover his late Russian father's ill-gotten fortune. The story is loosely based on Murat Kurnaz, a Turkish citizen and legal German resident seized by American authorities and sent to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba before being released without charge in 2006. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright Willem Dafoe, Rainer Bock, Charlotte Schwab,Daniel Brühl Max Volkert Martens and Martin Wuttke star.for director Anton Corbijn.
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