Jump Street slays the Dragon!
There was a new release showdown at theaters this weekend, and the comedy sequel 22 JUMP STREET emerged victorious with an opening of $60 million!
The R-rated follow-up far exceeded the original 21 JUMP STREET's $36.3 million opening in 2012 (it went on to $201 million worldwide), and also marks the biggest opening for both stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill (not counting THE LEGO MOVIE, which featured their voices and was also directed by the JUMP STREET team of Phil Lord and Chris Miller).
Critics enjoyed the self-aware sequel (83% on Rotten Tomatoes, just below the first movie's 85% average), and audiences gave the college action an 'A-' CinemaScore.
Swooping into second place was the new family option HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 with an opening of $50 million. That's enough to beat the first movie's $43.7 million opening in 2010, but it seems a little soft considering the original was popular enough to justify a TV series and live-action arena tour.
The Dreamworks-animated sequel was a hit with critics (92% on Rotten Tomatoes) and crowds ('A' CinemaScore), but it has a long way to fly before it reaches the first movie's $494 million final global haul. But at least for family fare, it still has time to soar on its own before Disney's PLANES sequel takes to the air in mid-July.
Coming in third place was the existing family offering MALEFICENT with another $19 million in its third weekend in release. Disney's live-action villainess origin story is now up to $436 million worldwide.
Tom Cruise's latest seems to be cruising on positive word-of-mouth: the sci-fi war movie EDGE OF TOMORROW took fourth with $16.1 million, a decent -43% hold from its (admittedly humble) opening last week. But even as it shoots past $200 million worldwide (the 20th Cruise movie to do so), it can't bounce back in time and erase the fact that it cost over $175 million to make…
Last weekend's winner THE FAULT IN OUR STARS was in critical condition this week, plunging to fifth with $15.7 million. That's a drop of 67%, the sort of drastic change that only horror and action movies tend to experience in their second week.
Apparently almost everyone who wanted to check out the Shailene Woodley cancer romance (adapted from the bestselling novel) bought their tickets on opening weekend, and word-of-mouth business won't carry it very far. Still, a $120.5 million 10-day global total certainly makes its $12 million cost seem like a valid investment.
In sixth was X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST with $9.5 million as Marvel's mutants pass THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2's domestic total (Spidey still has the edge worldwide — $700 million to Wolvie and company's current $661 million total).
The rest of the chart was down in much smaller figures, as GODZILLA, A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST, NEIGHBORS (now six weeks in the Top 10) and CHEF close things out while BLENDED and MILLION DOLLAR ARM disappear from sight.
Next weekend brings the comedy sequel THINK LIKE A MAN TOO and the Clint Eastwood-directed musical JERSEY BOYS.
What is your favorite non-Disney/Pixar computer-animated movie? VOTE HERE!
| # | MOVIE TITLE | WKND $ | TOTAL $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 Jump Street | $60 M | NEW |
| 2 | How to Train Your Dragon 2 | $50 M | NEW |
| 3 | Maleficent | $19 M | $163.5 M |
| 4 | Edge of Tomorrow | $16.1 M | $56.6 M |
| 5 | The Fault in our Stars | $15.7 M | $81.7 M |
| 6 | Godzilla | $3.1 M | $191.3 M |
| 7 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | $9.5 M | $205.9 M |
| 8 | A Million Ways to Die in the West | $3 M | $38.9 M |
| 9 | Neighbors | $2.4 M | $143.1 M |
| 10 | Chef | $2.2 M | $14 M |