In a slow weekend at the U.S. box office top honors went to Neill Blomkamp’s dystopian romp Chappie, which took an unspectacular $13.5 million in its North American debut. After disappointing with 2013’s poorly received Elysium, the District 9 director would have hoped to regain some clout with his latest offering. Sadly his efforts once again missed the mark. Just like the film’s antagonist Dr. Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman), U.S. audiences and critics alike were uncomfortable with the picture’s lead automaton and ultimately decided that life could go on perfectly well without Blomkamp’s ill-fated mechanical beat cop. Its fortunes were slightly better in Asia, where the film picked up $13.7 million in eight markets exclusive of heavyweights China, Japan, and South Korea. Its best showing in the Far East was a $1.1 million opening in Malaysia, followed by an $814 thousand showing in Taiwan and a $757 thousand frame in Thailand. Europe’s reaction was closer to the U.S.’s. Chappie’s top accolade came in Russia where it finished second with $2.1 million, while it managed $1.7 million in France and just $1.5 million in the UK.
Also coming onto the scene with a whisper was Unfinished Business, starring Vince Vaughn and James Franco’s increasingly visible younger brother Dave. Yet another rehashed guys-night-out comedy, this picture made just $4.8 million from its domestic launch. Coming on the back of 2013 flop The Delivery Man, its poor performance will serve as something of a wakeup call for Quebecoise director Ken Scott. With a budget of $35 million and the inclusion of Vince Vaughn, who until a few years ago was an ubiquitously appreciated figure in American comedy, 20th Century Fox would probably have expected more from this one. Foreign returns were perhaps even more of a letdown. From 15 markets only one, the UK, which put up $1.4 million, broke into seven figures. There were, however, several positives to take away from this early spring-quarter frame. British director John Madden’s The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opened this weekend in the U.S. to a well-earned $8.6 million. Audiences were keen to rejoin Dame Judi Dench, Maggie, Smith, Dev Patel and this time also Richard Gere for another quirky stay in Rajasthan, despite the film’s relationship to its predecessor which can be surmised by the title: second best. Its return frame in nine foreign territories generated $5.6 million and included repeat top finishes in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, where it has now amassed $13 million cumulative. Its worldwide now sits at $29.6 million and while this film won’t come near to the original’s breakout success, it has already shown itself to be a perfectly sound way to invest $10 million.
Still overseas, Lana and Larry Wachowski’s latest sci-fi epic Jupiter Ascending latched on to a powerful current in China where it opened to $23.2 million and found itself at the top of the pack overseas with a $25.3 foreign cume for this frame. Its international numbers are still greatly outpacing domestic. The overseas total now sits at $107 million versus just $45 million in its home market. Overall, this $150 million picture still has a lot of ground to make up.
Thanks to another round of Middle Kingdom adulation, Disney’s Big Hero 6 found itself once again near the top of the overseas chart with a $19.6 million weekend. More importantly, it crossed the $600 million mark and after just four months in theaters is now Disney’s third most successful animated feature of all time behind 2013’s Frozen ($1.27 billion) and 1994 classic The Lion King ($987.5 million.)
Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper also continued to make. Sniper passed the $500 million mark after a $4.1 million showing at the domestic box office. Its North American cumulative is now an astonishing $345 million, and it has overtaken The Hunger Games: Mockingkay Part 1 as the top film of 2014 on both at home and overseas.
Next weekend’s focus will be on Disney’s live action remake of one of its most iconic films, Cinderella. Also debuting is action thriller Run All Night, starring Liam Neeson.
Lorenzo Soria