Box Office Musings

[misplaced validity]

I'm both glad and sad that Hot Pursuit tanked. I'm glad because it seems like it's just a bad movie. I'm sad, though, because I like to see female-driven movies do well and this could hurt future movies. I don't get why Witherspoon chose this one; I thought she was back on track in terms of making films she liked. I am sure the female-centered nature of the movie appealed to her, but surely she could have found a better one?

[dug11]

It does seem like an odd choice. Maybe she was hoping for her The Heat? She's definitely talented and funny enough for something better than Hot Pursuit. They couldn't even cut a decent trailer for the film, so I am worried about how bad the final product is.

I think Pitch Perfect 2 will hit big enough this weekend to show how well female-centered films can do. I am curious to see how Amy Schumer's Trainwreck does later in the summer as well.

[tonygoldenemmy]

Yeah, I'm intrigued to see how Trainwreck fares. On one hand, the trailer and early notices are awfully strong, but This is 40 and Funny People garnered pretty ho-hum receptions from audiences and the ratings for the Schumer-hosted MTV Movie Awards were just dreadful.

Oh and I actually caught/was dragged to a matinee of Hot Pursuit today. It's not 6% RT score bad - I think I'd give it a C- - but it's definitely a case of two great comic actors who have surprisingly strong chemistry together and are stuck in a complete clunker of a vehicle.

[mahogany soul]

Well, the fact that Schumer wrote Trainwreck and not Apatow is a key difference. This will be the first time he's directed a feature he hasn't wrote. I hope the film launches Schumer into the stratosphere, but judging by her current position, she isn't too far already.

[dug11]

And I think the MTV Movie Awards have been suffering in the ratings for a while now, if I remember correctly. Schumer has a lot of heat right now, so it'll be interesting to see if that equates bigger grosses for Trainwreck.

[Raybee]

Probably suffering from all those franchises dominating all the time. First Twilight, then The Hunger Games. Zzzzz.

[dug11]

Pitch Perfect 2 earned $28 million last night. The Hollywood Reporter is projecting a weekend of $64 million, which would put it just a couple million short of topping the original's final gross. Universal also only spent $29 million making it, so it'll be a big win for them.

Mad Max: Fury Road, which cost around $150 million, made $16.8 million yesterday and will finish in the low $40 million range, unless it sees a boost from word-of-mouth.

Pitch Perfect 2 also beat Mad Max: Fury Road in many foreign Friday grosses, which was a little more surprising to me. Although, I guess the former does go "international" for the sequel, which probably helps the appeal.

[dug11]

Pitch Perfect 2 opened to a MASSIVE $70.3 million. I am sure it will come down a bit with actuals because the studios want a nice, round number. But that is incredible. Especially for a $30 million film. It also eclipsed the entire gross of the first film in one weekend. Not sure how often that happens, the movie that comes to mind for me is The Spy Who Shagged Me topping Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

Mad Max: Fury Road hit $44 million, which is good. But it will need strong holds in the coming weeks to match its $150 million budget. Both openers will get a nice inflated second weekend with Memorial Day.

The Avengers: Age of Ultron fell 50%, earning $38 million. It's total stands at $372 million - officially the #1 film of the year stateside. It remains to be seen if it can best Furious 7 for the worldwide title.

In other news, Hot Pursuit completely collapsed in week two. It fell 59% to only $5.8 million. Ouch. At least it wasn't expensive to make.

Far from the Madding Crowd expanded and landed at #10, up 67%.

[dug11]

Oh, and The D Train had the biggest second week drop ever, it seems. It fell 95.5%(!!!)

[mahogany soul]

And I wonder if the anal penetration that occurs between Black and Marsden will be blamed for that....