We took last weekend off, but to briefly recap: despite tracking reports that suggested “Ted 2” was going to open to around $55 million, the Seth McFarlane comedy sequel disappointed, grossing almost 40% less than the original did on its debut weekend in 2012. Instead, “Jurassic World” took the #1 spot, and that trend continues for the fourth week in a row, though it was a tight race with Pixar’s “Inside Out,” which wasn’t far behind. The behemoth that is Universal’s dinosaur franchise isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. At $558 million in North America, “Jurassic World” is now the highest grossing film of the summer and the fourth highest domestic grossing film ever. The movie is potentially on track to surpass “The Avengers” ($623 million, though James Cameron’s records are safe).
READ MORE: Review: ‘Jurassic World’ Starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, And More
Globally, "Jurassic World" eclipsed “Avengers: Age of Ultron” this weekend — the movie is now at $1,385 billion, making it the fifth highest grossing movie of all time worldwide. Besting "Furious 7" and "The Avengers" for the number three position looks like a distinct possibility. It’s interesting how our box office narrative shifts and it really depends on what’s in theaters and how audiences respond to it. Last year looked pretty bleak at the summer box office, and the year previous wasn’t too hot either, but in 2015, there have already been three $100-million plus opening weekends, and possibly a fourth (which has never happened before) if “Minions” can pull off that feat (it’s already at $124 million overseas, where its opened up early).
The new entries weren’t able to make box office fireworks this holiday weekend. Both “Terminator: Genisys” and “Magic Mike XXL” failed to beat “Jurassic World” or “Inside Out,” which added another $30 million to its near $250 million domestic haul. The Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring franchise perhaps suffered the most. Taking in less than $30 million in its opening weekend, ‘Genisys’ had the lowest grossing opening in the series’ history; yes, even lower than the much-maligned “Terminator: Salvation” (though this is adjusted for inflation on the first film). This doesn’t bode very well for the future of the ‘Terminator’ franchise. That said, perhaps as expected, ‘Genisys’ performed much better overseas and took in $85.5 million internationally this weekend. So maybe there’s some hope internationally with territories like China and Japan still to come, but it’s not unreasonable to predict the film won’t hit $100 million at home.
READ MORE: Review: ‘Terminator: Genisys’ Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke, And More
The magic was mostly gone for Channing Tatum’s stripper road-trip movie. On 3,355 screens, "Magic Mike XXL" grossed a paltry $11.6 million, but at least the core demographic was pleased. The film earned itself a A- Cinemascore and 96% of the audience was female, marking one of the widest gaps in recorded box-office history. Still, spin that any way you like and ‘XXL’ is pretty much a flop compared to its predecessor, falling a massive 70.3% from the original’s opening weekend debut in 2012 (even its five day total of $27.1 million is far below the $39.1 million debut of the first picture).
READ MORE: Review: ‘Magic Mike XXL’ Starring Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, And More
In week two, "Ted 2" got most of its stuffing torn out, falling a whopping 67%. The picture will probably fall out of the top 10 in its fourth week and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of massive gap follows from the original, which grossed $549 million worldwide. Currently at $94 million globally, it’s possible the sequel might stall around $150 million.
Elsewhere at the box-office, "Spy" is about to crack the $100 million mark domestically, and "San Andreas" has quietly grossed $446 million worldwide, which demonstrates the global box office power of Dwayne Johnson. “Pitch Perfect 2” seems to have exhausted its possibilities, but at $278 million worldwide, it’s still a massive success; now Universal just needs the series to catch on internationally, which it really hasn’t thus far. In case you’re wondering about your friend Mad Max, ‘Fury Road‘ is currently at $358 million globally and it may be able to inch its way to $400 million after all is said and done. Lastly, it looks like “Tomorrowland” won’t crack $100 million stateside.
In its fourth weekend of release and its first wide releases weekend, Fox Searchlight’s “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” cracked the top ten, but with a low $2,802 per screen average, the film’s Sundance buzz (it won the top award there) doesn’t seem to have translated to regular audiences.
Sundance indie “Dope” has faired much better. While its opening weekend per screen average was about the same figure, in three weeks of release the movie has grossed $14 million. In limited release, A24‘s well-praised Amy Winehouse documentary, "Amy," scored an excellent $222,000 from six screens. That’s a $37,000 per screen average, the fourth highest indie per screen average of 2015 after "Ex Machina," "While We’re Young," and "It Follows."
1. Jurassic World — $30.9 million ($558 million)
2. Inside Out — $30.1 million ($246 million)
3. Terminator Genisys — $28.7 million ($44.2 million)
4. Magic Mike XXL — $12 million ($27 million)
5. Ted 2 —$11 million ($58.3 million)
6. Max — $7 million ($25.7 million)
7. Spy — $5.5 million ($97.8 million)
8. San Andreas — $3.9 million
9. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl — $1.3 million ($4 million)
10. Dope — $1.09 million ($14.1 million)