Weekend Box Office (June 5 - 7, 2015)
THIS WEEKEND Melissa McCarthy anchored her first solo number one hit with the action-comedy Spy which topped the North American box office with an opening of $29.1M, according to final studio figures. The Fox release averaged a solid $7,838 from 3,711 locations and was backed by strong reviews from critics.
It was the third time McCarthy has hit or exceeded a $29M debut following the 2013 films Identity Thief and The Heat, but both of those had major co-stars while Spy was sold on the funnywoman as the prime draw. The R-rated pic also featured some co-stars like Rose Byrne, Jude Law and Jason Statham. Spy's audience was 60% female and 65% over 25. With good buzz and no comedies next week, the road ahead looks bright.
The hit disaster film San Andreas dropped to second place in its sophomore session taking in $25.8M for a reasonable 53% drop. Warner Bros. has amassed a strong $98.5M and could be headed for a domestic finish of around $160M.
The horror sequel Insidious: Chapter 3 debuted to healthy results in third place with $22.7M from 3,002 theaters for a stellar $7,559 average. While a far cry from the $40.3M debut of its 2013 predecessor, the PG-13 chiller still delivered a strong debut for the genre, and for a threequel. Young women powered the success as the audience was 54% female and 69% under 25.
Entourage opened in fourth place proving that the HBO series was always more of a cult hit than a mainstream one. The R-rated film debuted to $10.3M over the Friday-to Sunday period and $17.7M since opening on Tuesday night at 7pm. The three-day average was a mild $3,309. Reviews were lackluster but audiences were satisfied as the CinemaScore grade was a solid A-.
Mad Max: Fury Road followed with $7.8M, down 45%, for a new cume of $130.7M for Warner Bros. Universal's comedy hit Pitch Perfect 2 fell 49% to $7.6M boosting the total to $160.9M from North America with the global gross rising to a rosy $250M.
Down 50% to $7.2M was Disney's big-budget sci-fi pic Tomorrowland which has banked only $76.4M to date. Worldwide is just $170M. Avengers: Age of Ultron grossed $6.3M in its sixth round, off 44%, giving Disney and Marvel $438.2M to date domestically with the global gross at a hefty $1.35 billion.
Following a weak opening, the Cameron Crowe dud Aloha tumbled a disturbing 67% to $3.2M putting the sum at a dismal $16.3M for Sony. The horror flick Poltergeist had direct competition this weekend and dropped a steep 66% to $2.7M. Fox has taken in $44.3M so far.
The top ten films grossed $122.8M which was down 20% from last year when The Fault In Our Stars opened at number one with $48M; and down 13% from 2013 when The Purge debuted in the top spot with $34.1M.
Compared to projections, Spy and Insidious: Chapter 3 opened very close to my respective forecasts of $31M and $21M while Entourage debuted below my five-day prediction of $24M.
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Watch the NEW trailer for The Good Dinosaur.
For a review of Tomorrowland visit The Chief Report.
Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when Jurassic World arrives looking to score one of the biggest openings of the year.
| # | Title | Jun 5 - 7 | May 29 - 31 | % Chg. | Theaters | Weeks | AVG | Cumulative | Distributor |
| 1 | Spy | $ 29,085,719 | 3,711 | 1 | $ 7,838 | $ 29,085,719 | Fox | ||
| 2 | San Andreas | 25,839,225 | 54,588,173 | -52.7 | 3,812 | 2 | 6,778 | 98,465,426 | Warner Bros. |
| 3 | Insidious: Chapter 3 | 22,692,741 | 3,002 | 1 | 7,559 | 22,692,741 | Focus | ||
| 4 | Entourage | 10,283,250 | 3,108 | 1 | 3,309 | 17,668,088 | Warner Bros. | ||
| 5 | Mad Max: Fury Road | 7,831,453 | 14,178,236 | -44.8 | 2,720 | 4 | 2,879 | 130,665,718 | Warner Bros. |
| 6 | Pitch Perfect 2 | 7,573,350 | 14,823,140 | -48.9 | 3,403 | 4 | 2,225 | 160,854,945 | Universal |
| 7 | Tomorrowland | 7,200,103 | 14,303,679 | -49.7 | 3,012 | 3 | 2,390 | 76,414,081 | Disney |
| 8 | Avengers: Age of Ultron | 6,339,663 | 11,401,402 | -44.4 | 2,471 | 6 | 2,566 | 438,153,559 | Disney |
| 9 | Aloha | 3,240,312 | 9,670,235 | -66.5 | 2,815 | 2 | 1,151 | 16,282,116 | Sony |
| 10 | Poltergeist | 2,705,009 | 8,059,126 | -66.4 | 2,229 | 3 | 1,214 | 44,306,937 | Fox |
| 11 | Love & Mercy | 2,122,177 | 480 | 1 | 4,421 | 2,122,177 | Roadside Attr. | ||
| 12 | Dil Dhadakne Do | 1,326,267 | 238 | 1 | 5,573 | 1,326,267 | Eros | ||
| 13 | Home | 828,905 | 1,251,611 | -33.8 | 715 | 11 | 1,159 | 171,919,512 | Fox |
| 14 | Far From the Madding Crowd | 701,535 | 1,459,138 | -51.9 | 610 | 6 | 1,150 | 9,890,206 | Fox Searchlight |
| 15 | I'll See You In My Dreams | 550,000 | 525,837 | 4.6 | 165 | 4 | 3,333 | 1,850,000 | Bleecker St. |
| 16 | Furious 7 | 436,315 | 1,005,410 | -56.6 | 471 | 10 | 926 | 350,034,110 | Universal |
| 17 | Hot Pursuit | 418,372 | 1,402,067 | -70.2 | 537 | 5 | 779 | 33,352,726 | Warner Bros. |
| 18 | Ex Machina | 358,509 | 782,727 | -54.2 | 302 | 9 | 1,187 | 24,299,872 | A24 |
| 19 | Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 | 333,179 | 782,529 | -57.4 | 368 | 8 | 905 | 68,379,504 | Sony |
| 20 | Cinderella | 303,470 | 242,908 | 24.9 | 302 | 13 | 1,005 | 198,782,354 | Disney |
| Top 5 | $ 95,732,388 | $ 109,294,630 | -12.4 | ||||||
| Top 10 | 122,790,825 | 131,136,807 | -6.4 | ||||||
| Top 20 | 130,169,554 | 136,288,493 | -4.5 | ||||||
| Top 20 vs. 2014 | 130,169,554 | 159,826,331 | -18.6 |
This column is updated three times each week: Thursday (upcoming weekend's summary), Sunday (post-weekend analysis with estimates), and Monday night (actuals). Opinions expressed in this column are those solely of the author.
Last Updated: June 9, 2015 at 4:15PM ET
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