By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Hey, Chuck, those damned dirty apes are back, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes led the box office with an estimated $72.3 million debut.
The big noise among exclusive bows was unquestionably Boyhood that benefited from a sterling promotional campaign that generated a whopping $374,000 from five engagements. Also good were the grumpy old guys of Land Ho! with a $36,000 tally at four excursions.
The potential competition decided to sit this one out but there was activity in the niches, including a couple of new titles from India. The Hindi Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania was off to a fair start of $383,000 as was the Telugu Drushyam that grossed $214,000. In Quebec, three local titles bowed including a concert film with local sensation Marie-Mai that didn’t translate. The other two titles were better but … not by much.
Session revenues were slightly better, translating into a 15% bump from last weekend. It was nonetheless a 24% decline from 2013 when the second weekend of Despicable Me 2 grossed $43.9 million and edge out newcomers Grown Ups 2 and Pacific Rim that bowed respectively with $41.5 million and $37.3 million.
Like the Bond franchise, POTA, has proved both its malleability and ongoing popularity and trackers were pretty much in the ballpark with prognostications of $70 million to $75 million. Dawn followed up nicely from Rise of the Planet of the Apes with an apt moral fable and sufficient digital effects to provide a handful of video games with ample fodder. Roughly 8% of its box office came from Premium Large Format engagements but the studio was unable to sync a deal with IMAX … unfortunately.
The opening weekend audience per studio exit polling was 58% male with 55% of viewers aged 25-years and older. The film opened day-and-date in 26 international markets including Australia and South Korea but holding back in major territories undoubtedly glued to today’s World Cup final. It tallied up an estimated $31 million.
On the alternative front, Begin Again expanded to national level, but appears to have run out of steam. Chef also added a few playdates and its $24 million gross will be impossible to overtake, though the likes of Ida, Obvious Child and The Grand Seduction have all surpassed the expectations of less optimistic pundits.
| Weekend (estimates) July 11 – 13, 2014 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | Fox | 72.3 (18,230) | NEW | 3967 | 72.3 |
| Transformers: Age of Extinction | Par | 16.5 (4,220) | -55% | 3913 | 209.1 |
| Tammy | WB | 12.9 (3,720) | -40% | 3465 | 57.3 |
| 22 Jump Street | Sony | 6.6 (2,360) | -32% | 2811 | 171.9 |
| How to Train Your Dragon 2 | Fox | 5.9 (2,040) | -34% | 2885 | 152.1 |
| Earth to Echo | Relativity | 5.5 (1,700) | -34% | 3230 | 24.6 |
| Deliver Us from Evil | Sony | 4.6 (1,520) | -53% | 3049 | 24.9 |
| Maleficent | BV | 4.2 (2,010) | -32% | 2077 | 222 |
| Begin Again | Weinstein Co. | 2.9 (3,110) | 132% | 939 | 5.3 |
| Jersey Boys | WB | 2.5 (1,270) | -52% | 1968 | 41.7 |
| Think Like a Man Too | Sony | 2.4 (1,980) | -50% | 1231 | 61.8 |
| America | Lionsgate | 2.4 (2,210) | -11% | 1105 | 8.2 |
| Edge of Tomorrow | WB | 1.8 (1,680) | -49% | 1103 | 94.5 |
| The Fault in Our Stars | Fox | 1.5 (1,470) | -42% | 1002 | 119.6 |
| Chef | Open Road/VVS | 1.3 (1,840) | -24% | 701 | 24.1 |
| X-Men: Days of Future Past | Fox | 1.0 (1,570) | -46% | 655 | 229.2 |
| Snowpiercer | Weinstein Co. | 0.6 (1,710) | -39% | 356 | 2.6 |
| Rio 2 | Fox | .40 (1,390) | 7% | 285 | 129.6 |
| Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania | Big Pictures | .38 (3,790) | NEW | 101 | 0.38 |
| Boyhood | IFC | .37 (74,800) | NEW | 5 | 0.37 |
| Neighbors | Uni | .35 (1,300) | -17% | 267 | 148.6 |
| Blended | WB | .34 (1,020) | 4% | 335 | 44.7 |
| The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | Sony | .33 (1,360) | -28% | 244 | 201.6 |
| Third Person | Sony Classics | .24 (1,070) | 49% | 227 | 0.56 |
| A Million Ways to Die in the West | Uni | .23 (1,200) | -20% | 188 | 42.6 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $144.90 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | -24% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | 15% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Obvious Child | A24 | .22 (1,790) | -41% | 124 | 2.8 |
| Drushyam | iDream | .21 (3,290) | 65 | 0.21 | |
| Ida | Music Box | .14 (1,620) | -41% | 85 | 3.1 |
| Life Itself | Magnolia | .12 (2,160) | -9% | 55 | 0.31 |
| Grand Seduction | eOne | .11 (1,290) | -32% | 88 | 2.7 |
| Le Vrai du faux | Seville | 80,400 (1,040) | 77 | 0.08 | |
| Les Vacances du petit Nicols | Metropole | 42,700 (1,190) | 36 | 0.04 | |
| Land Ho! | Sony Classics | 36,900 (9,220) | 4 | 0.04 | |
| Yves Saint Laurent | Weinstein Co. | 33,900 (2,420) | -28% | 14 | 0.16 |
| The Perfect Wave | Mission Pictures | 28,200 (2,560) | 11 | 0.03 | |
| Marie-Mai Live au Centre Bell | TVA | 18,700 (405) | 46 | 0.02 | |
| Underwater Dreams | 50 Eggs | 5,700 (2,850) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Rage | Image Ent. | 5,300 (530) | 10 | 0.01 | |
| Closed Curtains | Variance | 5,100 (5,100) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Where Was God? | TRU Media | 3,850 (3,850) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – July 10, 2014) | |||||
| Distributor | Box Office | Market Share | |||
| Warner Bros. (15) | 939.1 | 16.90% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (13) | 936.5 | 16.80% | |||
| Sony (14) | 832.5 | 15.00% | |||
| Buena Vista (11) | 810.6 | 14.60% | |||
| Universal (10) | 575.8 | 10.40% | |||
| Paramount (9) | 515.2 | 9.30% | |||
| Lionsgate (14) | 293.4 | 5.30% | |||
| Open Road (6) | 108.9 | 1.90% | |||
| Relativity (6) | 95.1 | 1.70% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (5) | 88.2 | 1.60% | |||
| Weinstein (16) | 82.7 | 1.50% | |||
| FreeStyle (6) | 70 | 1.30% | |||
| Focus (6) | 39.1 | 0.70% | |||
| eOne/Seville (16) | 37.1 | 0.60% | |||
| Other * (176) | 131.8 | 2.40% | |||
| 5556 | 100.00% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.4% | |||||
| Top Domestic Grossers (Jan. 1 – July 10, 2014) | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Market Share | |||
| Captain America: The Winter Soldier | BV | 258,044,754 | |||
| The Lego Movie | WB | 257,257,169 | |||
| X-Men: Days of Future Past | Fox | 228,137,071 | |||
| Maleficent | BV | 217,824,808 | |||
| The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | Sony | 201,241,570 | |||
| Godzilla | WB | 198,108,951 | |||
| Transformers: Age of Extinction | Par | 192,531,298 | |||
| 22 Jump Street | Sony | 165,261,139 | |||
| Divergent | Lionsgate | 150,947,895 | |||
| Neighbors | Uni | 148,278,485 | |||
| How to Train Your Dragon 2 | Fox | 146,203,361 | |||
| Frozen * | BV | 137,638,201 | |||
| Ride Along | Uni | 134,986,540 | |||
| Rio 2 | Fox | 129,234,812 | |||
| Lone Survivor | Uni/eOne | 125,026,404 | |||
| The Fault in Our Stars | Fox | 118,123,484 | |||
| Mr. Peabody & Sherman | Fox | 111,192,223 | |||
| 300: Rise of an Empire | WB | 106,679,622 | |||
| Noah | Par | 101,416,757 | |||
| Edge of Tomorrow | WB | 92,685,092 | |||
| * does not include 2013 box office | |||||
