This was supposed to be the week in which Spy faced off against Entourage: an action-comedy pic with Melissa McCarthy and Jude Law as two inept spies against Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Jeremy Piven and the boys of the successful HBO series now promoted to the big screen. But there was no competition. On the domestic market, Spy grossed $30 million. Overseas, where it had its Asian debut two weeks ago, and added $25 million, for a global total so far of $86.5 million. And, considering there are no comedies on the horizon for a while, there’s a strong possibility of it continuing doing well for a few more weeks.
 
Next in line after Spy, was San Andreas, still surprisingly strong. Starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the disaster epic was number two in North America with a haul of over $26 million and a total so far around $100 million. Outside the U.S., it added another cool $100 million, half of which came from China where it bowed this week. It was at the top in Korea, with $7.2 million and also in Colombia, Chile and Peru. It took an extra $6.6 million in Mexico, $3.2M in Brazil, $2.2M in Hong Kong.  
 
Back to the U.S., number three was Insidious: Chapter 3, with $23 million. Entourage was only fourth with a modest $10.4 million for the weekend and $17 million in five days. Overseas, it’s too early to tell, since it only debuted in six markets so far, but in Australia it opened in the top spot with $2.6 million. Speaking about Australia, George Miller’s post-apocalyptic fantasy Mad Max: Fury Road keeps barreling along, passing the $300 million mark worldwide this week and proving that it is still possible, after all, to make good action movies and also good money. Miller’s film, starring Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa and Tom Hardy as the titular Max, has earned so far $125 million in the U.S. and over $175 million overseas. And it keeps bringing audiences in, with China and Japan still to come. Another international success is Pitch Perfect 2, that went past $250 million this weekend. Domestically it stands at an impressive $160 million and Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and the Bellas keep attracting audiences. 
In Germany they reached $25 million. In Australia they are past $20 million, in Germany over $10M.
 
On the negative side, Cameron Crowe’s Aloha fell 66%, good for just slightly above $3 million. Not as bad but still disappointing was Tomorrowland, which had its bright spot in Japan where it started as number one although; it was good for just $2 million. The global total now stands at $170 million. And considering China already opened and brought just $18 million, there are not many paths forward to recover the $200 million spent to produce the sci-fi adventure starring George Clooney.
 
This week we also witnessed the opening, in limited release, of Brian Wilson’s biopic Love & Mercy, with producer Bill Pohlad for the first time at the helm. Paul Dano plays the musical genius behind the Beach Boys in the days when he created songs like “Good Vibrations” and “California Girls”; John Cusack is Wilson in his later years; Paul Giamatti the psychiatrist who over-medicated him and lost his license for having taken total control of his life and finances; Elizabeth Banks the woman who saved his life. The start is auspicious, with $2.2 million from less than 500 theaters and universally positive notices.
 
Next week will see the debut of Jurassic World. And there are few doubts that the unpredictable dinosaurs of Isla Nublar, once again, will dominate the box office.
Lorenzo Soria