Two champions divided the spoils over the weekend as How to Train Your Dragon 2 and 22 Jump Street managed to hit their respective target demographics with aplomb, and avoided stepping on each others tails. Both films did exceptionally well given their budgets and ambition but with its $60 million domestic haul 22 Jump Street was, in the end, the stronger contender. This dazzling performance makes directors’ Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s sequel the second most successful weekend opening ever for an R-rated comedy after The Hangover Part II’s record $85.9 million debut in 2011. Jump Street played strongest with audiences aged 17-34, and 56% of viewers were under the age of 25. Channing Tatum as usual had no problem bringing in the girls and this bro-com had an impressively even 50/50 split between the two sexes. Reviews were positive across the board, and Jonah Hill and Tatum’s dynamic on-screen chemistry won over audiences as well as critics, earning the picture a solid A- Cinemascore. The Sony production made $6.9 million from 14 foreign markets over this frame and now sits with a $20.6 million international cumulative. It finished first in Great Britain for the second weekend in a row with $3.9 million in receipts, was number one in New Zealand with a $705 thousand take. Second place usually comes with a bit of disappointment, but after a $50 million opening How to Train Your Dragon 2 will wear this weekend’s silver medal with pride. The DreamWorks and sequel, voiced by Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, America Ferrera, Gerard Butler, and this weekend’s real winner, Jonah Hill, fit in well as counter-programming to the World Cup. Overseas, where excitement for the tournament is considerably higher than in the US, the picture racked up a tidy $24.8 million from 25 markets. In Russia, which was the first installment’s second biggest territory, the film came in first with a $12.8 million return. It finished first in each of its 24 other markets and had notable successes in Malaysia ($2.26 million), Singapore (1.75 million), the Philippines, ($1.92 million) and India ($1.23 million.) The film opens in Central and South America next week, where it will face stiffer competition from soccer madness in countries like Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Chile. At any rate, with no other children’s movies in theaters until Disney’s Planes sequel drops in late July, Dragon 2 has a clear path to become a major global hit.
As well as this pair of new arrivals did, an old challenger reemerged to take the throne in the international box office race. Godzilla opened to a massive $36 million in China. 61 other territories contributed a combined $2 million to give this old monster a $38 million international haul for this frame. It finished seventh in the US with $3.15 million coming from 2,088 locations. Warner Bros’ big summer hit still has one more chance to pad its pockets when Godzilla heads home to Japan, where the film will be released on July 25 through Toho Company.
Back in the States, Maleficent had another successful weekend showing. It finished at number three, with $19 million coming from 3,623 locations. Now in its third week, the live-action fairy tale scared up an additional $37.2 million from 53 foreign territories. $1.8 of these millions came from Thailand, where the Angelina Jolie vehicle opened in first place despite a strictly enforced curfew keeping film-goers at home in many parts of the troubled Asian nation.
Tom Cruise’s Edge of Tomorrow performed slightly above expectations to finish fourth with $16.7 million at home. A foreign total of $181 million and a global cumulative of $237.7 million means Warner Bros’ domestic bomb is slowly making up for its poor showing in North America. Less of a surprise was The Fault in Our Stars weekend drop. It dipped 67%, ending up in fifth with $18.7 million as its highly mobilized fans failed to do enough proselytizing to expand appeal beyond the tapped out young adult demographic. Still, with its $12 million budget and a global cumulative of $120.5 million the compelling teenage drama will almost certainly finish with the summer’s best profit margin for a major release.
Next week will see domestic release of Clint Eastwood’s adaptation of Jersey Boys as well as Think Like a Man Too, starring Kevin Hart and Michael Early.
Lorenzo Soria