Comic-Con killed us last weekend, so we couldn’t get to the box office, but in case you somehow missed it, there two big takeaways were a massive hit and a big flop. “Minions” crushed the box-office with a $115 million haul — making for the first summer ever to feature four films that opened with $100 million plus (“Minions,” ‘Age of Ultron,’ “Jurassic World,"and “Furious 7”). The flop was Focus Features and Ryan Reynolds. Ironically, the actor was killing it in Hall H with the presentation of his upcoming irreverent superhero movie. "Deadpool," but meanwhile his in-theaters movie, "Self/Less," couldn’t gross more than $6 million despite being on over 2,300 screens. Even Warner Bros.’ no-name horror "The Gallows" opened with nearly $10 million. Better hope non-Comic-Con audiences turn out for “Deadpool.”
On to this week. It was Marvel vs. Amy Schumer, but also the second week rein of Universal’s “Minions.” There’s up and downs to all of it, but in many ways, everyone’s a winner. Marvel’s “Ant-Man” won the weekend at #1 with $58 million. It is down 11% from “Captain: America: The First Avenger,” and Marvel’s second lowest grossing debut weekend ever after "The Incredible Hulk," which grossed $55 million in 2008 (adjusted for inflation, it is the studios lowest though). So, it’s definitely a relatively diminutive opening for Marvel, but most can agree for a minor character like “Ant-Man” with loveable, but not-quite-a-huge-star Paul Rudd, it’s a solid number. Think of it like this: “Ant-Man” still outgrossed the opening weekend numbers of Dwayne Johnson’s “San Andreas” and “Mad Max: Fury Road.” So it’s certainly no knock out of the park, but Marvel still demonstrates the power of their brand at the box office. International audiences and second week numbers will be key for its continued success because, for example, “San Andreas” may not have smashed the box office completely opening weekend, but the disaster picture has grossed $459 million worldwide, which is not too shabby. And lets not forget, “Ant-Man” earned an A Cinemascore, which bodes well for the future.
READ MORE: Review: ‘Ant-Man’ Starring Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll, And More
Marvel’s lowest grossing picture is "The Incredible Hulk," which only hit $263 million globally. “Ant-Man” is already at a $114 million total, thanks to international grosses. It should be able to surpass ‘Hulk,’ but the question is if the movie can surpass the next highest grosser, “Captain America: The First Avenger," which took in $370 million worldwide in 2011. Perhaps this tweet by Mark Harris best sums up Marvel’s heft and limitations.
$58M for Ant-Man is a reminder both that the Marvel name is magic and that even magic has a ceiling.
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) July 19, 2015
“Minions” fell 56.6%, but the movie still grossed a terrific $50 million in its second week of release. Here’s a mind-blowing number: after 10 days of release, the animated tooner is already at $625 million worldwide and Universal has had an outstanding year without only one superhero franchise to its name. The studio has already grossed a record $5 billion worldwide this year and its only July (it’s the fastest any studio has ever reached that mark). Most major studios post over $1 billion at the end of the year if they’re lucky. Universal’s comedy “Trainwreck" from Judd Apatow opened with $30.2 million, which is nothing to sneeze at when you figure comedienne Amy Schumer has essentially never been in a movie, let alone been the lead. And if that opening sounds low, well, it’s not, it’s the second highest grossing Judd Apatow-directed opening ever and just a few hundred thousand shy of “Knocked Up," which debuted with $30.6 million in 2007 and went on to almost hit $150 million stateside. An A- Cinemascore is a good augur for future weekends as well.
READ MORE: ‘Trainwreck’ Starring Amy Schumer Is One Of Judd Apatow’s Best To Date
Pixar’s “Inside Out” is still holding on with might. In its fifth week of release it only fell -34% and added another $11.6 million to its now $306.3 domestic total — making it only the third Pixar movie to cross the $300 million mark at home. Internationally, the movie isn’t a powerhouse in the same way, but at $490 million worldwide, it’s doing more than okay. Meanwhile, “Jurassic World” continues to be massive. At $611 million domestically, the blockbuster will easily be the highest grossing movie of 2015, barring however “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” shakes the planet. Sitting at $1.513 billion worldwide, Universal’s Dino pic is the fourth highest grossing movie of all time, but it should take the number three slot from "The Avengers" by next weekend. Likewise, it’s currently the fourth highest grossing movie domestically, but should also surpass ‘Avengers’ by next weekend. 7/22/15 Update: OK, it took less than a week, "Jurassic World" is now the third highest grossing movie of all time. The movie is currently at $1.522 billion and counting.
Incidentally, “Terminator: Genisys” is starting to putter-out fast. In its third week of release the film dropped off 61% from the previous weekend. The movie has grossed $80 million domestically so far, but if this keeps up, and it probably will, it will drop out of the top 10 in two weeks and will fail to hit the $100 million mark at home (most projections have it ending around $94M). Overseas it’s doing much better ($196 million so far), but it’s not quite spectacular. The worldwide gross currently sits at $277 million and the future of the franchise feels like its deeply in doubt — the the picture is likely going to end up with the ignominious distinction of being the lowest grossing entry of the series (Even “Terminator: Salvation” grossed $371 million globally in 2009).
READ MORE: Pixar Finds Poetry In Emotion With ‘Inside Out’
“Magic Mike XXL” had a fantastic hold in week two, dropping only 25.5%, which is amazing stickiness. So its “bomb” on opening weekend is possibly overstated in the long run. But having grossed $58 million in three weeks, it will still fall far short of the $100-plus-million the original grossed stateside in 2012. “Ted 2” can forget it. The first movie hit an insane $548 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing comedy of all time, but we’re going to have to chalk it up as a fluke. Part 2 won’t hit $100 million at home and international audiences don’t seem to care either. Right now the picture is at $143 million, so we can probably assume it won’t hit $200 million globally, ever. Someone needs to number crunch on sequels when all is said and done as this has to be one of the biggest sequel box office disparities ever.
In specialty release, Ian McKellen’s “Mr. Holmes” won the weekend singlehandedly, hauling in $2.4 million from 363 screens, though its $6,857 per screen average isn’t overwhelming. The weekend’s best PSA goes to Woody Allen‘s "Irrational Man," which grossed $188,000 from five screens for a $37,600 per screen average. Even with mixed reviews, that’s the fourth highest grossing indie PSA of 2015.
1. Ant-Man—$58,040,000
2. Minions — $50,200,000 ($216,692,000)
3. Trainwreck —$30,200,000
4. Inside Out — $11,660,000 ($306,363,000)
5. Jurassic World — $11,400,000 ($611,174,000)
6. Terminator: Genisys — $5,400,000 ($80,640,000)
7. Magic Mike XXL— $4,500,000 ($58,636,000)
8. The Gallows —$4,005,000 ($18,007,000)
9. Ted 2 — $2,700,000 ($77,457,000)
10. Mr. Holmes —$2,489,000
