Weekend Box Office Report: July 18-20, 2014

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

The Apes still rule!

The advanced primates continued their reign at theaters this weekend as DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES again claimed #1 at the box office with an estimated $36 million!

The sequel dropped 50% from its opening, but it was still enough to fend off three new challengers to the simian kingdom. In addition to $101 million now gathered from international customers, DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES has a ten-day domestic total of $138.9 million and seems likely to climb over RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES' domestic finish of $176.7 million.

Opening in second was the thriller sequel THE PURGE: ANARCHY with $28.3 million, coming up short of THE PURGE's surprise $34 million opening last summer (it ended with $89.3 million worldwide). The follow-up expanded the lawless-day concept beyond the confined home invasion of the first movie, and ended up scoring higher with critics (52% on Rotten Tomatoes compared to the orignal's 38%), while crowds gave it a 'B' CinemaScore.

With a thrifty $9 million budget, THE PURGE: ANARCHY is already in the black (interestingly, the cheapest of the three new releases also performed the best), so we can probably expect a new entry in THE PURGE series to become an annual tradition at theaters.

In third place was Disney's new sequel PLANES: FIRE AND RESCUE with $18 million. That's lower than the first PLANES — last year's spinoff of Pixar's CARS took off with $22.2 million, but also ended up grossing $219 million worldwide. Not bad for a kids movie originally intended as a straight-to-video release, which is why another one got quickly rolled onto the runway. The family-friendly sequel received a straight 'A' CinemaScore, but critics grounded it with 44% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Opening in fourth was the R-rated comedy SEX TAPE with $15 million — not even half of what Cameron Diaz and director Jake Kasdan pulled in with their last bawdy collaboration BAD TEACHER ($31.6 million opening and an eventual $216.2 million worldwide). Critics and paying audiences didn't seem to be laughing at Diaz and co-star Jason Segel's unclothed antics, judging by the response (20% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 'C+' CinemaScore), so it may struggle just to recoup its $40 million price tag.

Thumping from second down to fifth place was TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION with $10 million, and a $227.1 million domestic total after four weekends. Michael Bay's clamorous robo-brawl is easily 2014's biggest release as it reaches $886.3 million globally and targets the $1.1 billion worldwide total of TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON.

Melissa McCarthy's TAMMY is still swinging in sixth with $7.6 million (and now up to $71.2 million on a reported $20 million cost), followed by 22 JUMP STREET with $4.7 million as it hits $268.8 million worldwide. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, MALEFICENT (now two months in the Top 10) and EARTH TO ECHO close out the list.

Outside the chart, the romance BEGIN AGAIN slips away with JERSEY BOYS and DELIVER US FROM EVIL (after just two weeks). In limited release, Zach Braff's Kickstarter-supported melodrama WISH I WAS HERE opened on 68 screens for $495k, while the Christian-themed thriller PERSECUTED obviously hoped to draw the GOD'S NOT DEAD crowd but couldn't crack $1 million at 736 locations (and with a lower per-screen average than THE FAULT IN OUR STARS in its seventh weekend). And Richard Linklater's acclaimed BOYHOOD moved onto 33 screens for a handsome $36k per-screen and a $1.8 million total.

Next weekend presents the legend of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in director Brett Ratner's action-fantasy HERCULES, Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton try a little romance in Rob Reiner's AND SO IT GOES, and Luc Besson transforms Scarlett Johansson into a drug-fueled superhuman in LUCY, while comedian Gabriel Iglesias' stand-up act THE FLUFFY MOVIE hits limited release.

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