By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com

The Weekend Report

They may be pint-sized in every other aspect but Minions are box office gold with a domestic debut estimated at $115.1 million. That left poor seconds for two other national newcomers. The horror entry The Gallows was left hanging with a $9.8 million bow and the sci-fi drama Self/Less had to cope with the latter at $5.4 million.

Best of the exclusive newbies was the American indie Tangerine with $61,200 from five screens. Following last weekend’s bow, biomusical Amy effectively added 344 playdates and posted a potent $1.8 million weekend.

In the niches,  Telugu epic Baahubali, part one of the most expensive Indian film ever made, took a record-breaking $3.4 million in the U.S. as well as a record opening day in India of $8 million. That didn’t deter the Punjabi Hero from posting a decent $82,400 from 22 venues. Also strong were the Filipino The Breakup List with a $312,000 debut and the Chinese Forever Young (based on the U.S. rom-com Only You) with $72,300 from 14 engagements. In Québec, native Ego Trip failed to swell heads with $95,200 from 55 sites.

The frame generated roughly $215 million that ballooned box office by 60% from the prior weekend and was 44% improved from 2014. Twelve months back the launch of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes led with $72.6 million.

Domestic box office crossed $6 billion on Saturday; about 13 days earlier than in 2014. The year to date is roughly 7% ahead of last year’s pace and 4% faster than 2013.

Pundits calculated that the Despicable Me sidekicks might do as much as $100 million as headliners. That proved to be a little low as Minions bowed to the biggest opening day ever for an animated feature, but is likely to fall short of Shrek the Third’s $121.6 million first weekend. The audience tilted 59% female and was 55% aged 25-years and younger with 60% of viewers pegged as families. It appears to be working marginally better with the youngest demographic than Inside Out.

Minions‘ international roll out began two weeks ago and had amassed a sizeable $177 million from 26 territories. The current weekend saw the addition of 30 nations with record-breaking bows for an animated feature in France, Russia, Mexico and Thailand. The estimated overseas weekend is $124 million.

Low-budget chiller The Gallows was expected to open with a $12-$14 million tally but proved to be a lesser evil to the “yellow” peril. It swung 52% female with 53% of viewers aged 25-years old and younger.

Self/Less, reportedly an update of John Frankenheimer’s much-admired 1966 sci-fi thriller Seconds, was pretty much on target with low hanging tracking. Exit demos were unavailable.

Baahubali, marketed as the most expensive film in Indian cinema history, nonetheless proved to be a gamble that paid off handsomely. It’s all the more remarkable as (dubbed versions notwithstanding) it was produced outside the dominant Hindi sector of the industry. A second part to the epic will open in a year.

Weekend (estimates) July 10 – 12, 2015
Title Distributor Gross (avg) % chng Thtrs Cume
Minions Uni 115.1 (26,770) NEW 4301 115.1
Jurassic World Uni 18.1 (5,250) -38% 3441 590.6
Inside Out BV 17.2 (4,730) -42% 3644 283.8
Terminator Genysis Par 13.6 (4,590) -50% 3783 68.6
The Gallows WB 9.8 (3,620) NEW 2720 9.8
Magic Mike XXL WB 9.6 (2,850) -25% 3376 48.3
Ted 2 Uni 5.5 (2,550) -51% 2171 71.5
Self/Less Focus 5.4 (2,280) NEW 2353 5.4
Baahubali Blue Sky 3.4 (14,310) NEW 239 4.9
Spy Fox 3.1 (1,110) -40% 1457 103.5
Max WB 3.4 (1,650) -48% 2088 33.7
Amy A24/Mongrel 1.8 (5,230) 724% 350 2.2
San Andreas WB 1.2 (1,620) -57% 756 150
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Fox Searchlight .66 (1.160) -47% 570 5.5
Dope Open Road/Sony .63 (1,660) -44% 380 15.5
Mad Max: Fury Road WB .61 (1,800) -40% 338 150.3
Avengers: Age of Ultron BV .44 (1,310) -50% 338 455.2
Love and Mercy Roadside Attract/eOne .43 (1,450) -42% 296 11.3
I’ll See You in My Dreams Bleecker Street .34 (1,610) -37% 212 6.4
Pitch Perfect 2 Uni .34 (1,190) -40% 284 183.1
The Breakup List ABS .31 (4,950) NEW 63 0.31
Home Fox .21 (910) -27% 233 175.9
Testament of Youth Sony Classics .18 (1,950) 8% 91 1.2
Tomorrowland BV .17 (900) -55% 192 91.5
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $209.10
% Change (Last Year) 44%
% Change (Last Week) 60%
Also debuting/expanding
Infinitely Polar Bear Sony Classics .16 (2,150) -13% 76 0.6
Cartel Land Orchard .11 (4,300) 790% 25 0.13
Ego Trip Seville 95,200 (1,730) 55 0.16
The Overnight Orchard 98,200 (690) -70% 143 0.91
Faith of Our Fathers IDP 89,600 (590) -80% 154 0.89
The Wolfpack Magnolia 83,900 (1,250) -38% 67 0.97
Hero: Naam Yaad Rakhi Punjabi 82,400 (3,750) 22 0.08
Forever Young China Lion 72,300 (5,160) 14 0.07
A Little Chaos Focus 48,100 (860) -59% 56 0.5
Tangerine Magnolia 61,200 (12,240) 5 0.06
Jimmy’s Hall Sony Classics 39,700 (3,610) 100% 11 0.07
Nowitzki: The Perfect Shot Magnolia 20,300 (5,070) 4 0.02
What We Did on Our Holiday Film Arcade 16,600 (1,350) 12 0.02
Strangerland Alchemy 15,700 (710) 22 0.02
Do I Sound Gay? IFC 10,300 (10,300) 1 0.01
Tap World Vitagraph 10,200 (3,400) 3 0.01
10,000 km Broad Green 9,400 (1,380) 7 0.01
Boulevard Starz 7,100 (3,550) 2 0.01
Domestic Market Share (January 1 – July 9, 2015)
Distributor (releases) Box Office Market Share
Universal (13) 1490.2 25.30%
Buena Vista (11) 1170.1 19.80%
Warner Bros. (19) 1084.8 18.40%
20th Century Fox (14) 654.3 11.10%
Paramount (8) 332.3 5.60%
Sony (8) 220.1 3.70%
Lionsgate (8) 213.2 3.60%
Weinstein Co. (12) 193.1 3.30%
Fox Searchlight (6) 90.8 1.50%
Relativity (6) 71.7 1.20%
Focus (7) 67.6 1.10%
Sony Classics (13) 43.9 0.75%
Open Road (5) 37.5 0.65%
A24 (5) 36.7 0.60%
CBS (1) 34.1 0.60%
Other * (200) 161.6 2.80%
5902 100%
* none greater than 0.4%
Top Global Grossers (January 1 – July 9, 2015)
Title Distributor Box Office
Furious 7 Uni 1,514,002,197
Jurrasic World Uni 1,426,827,712
Avengers: Age of Ultron BV 1,382,785,927
Fifty Shades of Grey Uni 569,872,143
American Sniper WB 549,569,608
Cinderella BV 541,312,278
San Andreas WB 460,951,287
Kingsman: The Secret Service Fox 405,741,564
Inside Out BV 393,508,998
Home Fox; DmWks 381,626,543
Mad Max: Fury Road WB 364,202,046
Taken 3 Fox; Europa 328,171,749
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies * WB 324,095,379
SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water Par 314,647,753
Big Hero 6 * BV 307,976,246
Insurgent Lionsgate 292,611,041
Pitch Perfect 2 Uni 279,481,846
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb * Fox 227,154,859
Spy Fox 213,343,664
Tomorrowland BV 205,348,997
Jupiter Ascending WB 184,240,533
Minions Uni 177,549,975
The Imitation Game * Weinstein; CAA 177,547,088
Paddington * Weinstein; Studio Canal 165,403,291
From Vegas to Macau Mega-vision 165,381,086
* does not inlude 2014 box office
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One Response to “The Weekend Report”

  1. Doug Pratt says:

    Putting the Minions trailer on Jurassic World had the kind of slingshot effect marketers dream about

Leonard Klady's Friday Estimates
Friday Screens % Chg Cume
Title Gross Thtr % Chgn Cume
Venom 33 4250 NEW 33
A Star is Born 15.7 3686 NEW 15.7
Smallfoot 3.5 4131 -46% 31.3
Night School 3.5 3019 -63% 37.9
The House Wirh a Clock in its Walls 1.8 3463 -43% 49.5
A Simple Favor 1 2408 -50% 46.6
The Nun 0.75 2264 -52% 111.5
Hell Fest 0.6 2297 -70% 7.4
Crazy Rich Asians 0.6 1466 -51% 167.6
The Predator 0.25 1643 -77% 49.3
Also Debuting
The Hate U Give 0.17 36
Shine 85,600 609
Exes Baggage 75,900 62
NOTA 71,300 138
96 61,600 62
Andhadhun 55,000 54
Afsar 45,400 33
Project Gutenberg 36,000 17
Love Yatri 22,300 41
Hello, Mrs. Money 22,200 37
Studio 54 5,300 1
Loving Pablo 4,200 15
3-Day Estimates Weekend % Chg Cume
No Good Dead 24.4 (11,230) NEW 24.4
Dolphin Tale 2 16.6 (4,540) NEW 16.6
Guardians of the Galaxy 7.9 (2,550) -23% 305.8
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4.8 (1,630) -26% 181.1
The Drop 4.4 (5,480) NEW 4.4
Let's Be Cops 4.3 (1,570) -22% 73
If I Stay 4.0 (1,320) -28% 44.9
The November Man 2.8 (1,030) -36% 22.5
The Giver 2.5 (1,120) -26% 41.2
The Hundred-Foot Journey 2.5 (1,270) -21% 49.4