Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction treated the weekend box office derby like the film’s robots treated some of the Earth’s biggest cities as it obliterated the opposition and posted 2014’s first $100 million opening. With the second place film 22 Jump Street earning just $15.4 million, it is clear that the fourth Transformers film sucked all the oxygen out of the marketplace. How weak were this weekend’s leftovers? In spite of the Transformers’ boffo North American debut, the domestic box office was down nearly 8% from the same weekend last year when Monsters University ruled for a second straight weekend with $45.6 million. Like the rest of 2014’s blockbusters Transformers 4 is doing even better overseas where it has already earned $201.3 million for a global opening weekend of $301.3 million. Transformers 4 opened with $90 million in China, a new record for a foreign film the Chinese market, which should come as no surprise since the producers of the film courted the Chinese audience just like Marvel Studios did with Iron Man 3. The Transformers 4 finale is set in China and Chinese actor Bingbing Li has a supporting role in the film.
Transformers 4 played to an audience that was largely male (64%) and older (57% over 35). Amazingly only 27% of the opening weekend crowd for the fourth film in a franchise based on kids’ toys that transform from cars and trucks into robot fighting machines was under 18. And the disconnect between critics, who gave Transformers 4 just a 17% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences, who gave the film a solid "A-" CinemaScore could hardly be more evident than in their respective reactions to this film.
Will Transformers 4 become the highest-grossing film of 2014? It will face a dearth of big budget competition over the next few weeks, so a domestic total over $300 million remains a possibility, though the film did exhibit a certain "softness" after earning $41.6 million on its opening day. The Fourth of July week will be crucial if Transformers 4 is to distinguish itself from its predecessors (none of the previous Transformers films has ever opened on a Friday for a conventional 3-day weekend, so comparisons are difficult).
The “R” rated comedy 22 Jump Street dropped just 44% in its third weekend as it added $15.4 million and brought its domestic total to $139.8 million. By this time next week it should have surpassed its predecessor and surpassing Seth Rogen’s Neighbors ($147.2 million) to become the #1 "R" rated film of the summer would appear to be inevitable, though next week 22 Jump Street will face direct competition when the Melissa McCarthy vehicle Tammy opens.
| Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): June 27-29, 2014 | ||||||
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| Film | Weekend Gross | Screens | Avg./ Screen | Total Gross | Wk# |
| 1 | Transformers: Age of Extinction | $100,000,000 | 4,233 | $23,624 | $100,000,000 | 1 |
| 2 | 22 Jump Street | $15,400,000 | 3,426 | $4,495 | $139,837,000 | 3 |
| 3 | How to Train Your Dragon 2 | $13,100,000 | 3,750 | $3,493 | $121,815,000 | 3 |
| 4 | Think Like a Man Too | $10,400,000 | 2,225 | $4,674 | $48,168,000 | 2 |
| 5 | Maleficent | $8,237,000 | 3,073 | $2,680 | $201,871,000 | 5 |
| 6 | Jersey Boys | $7,610,000 | 2,905 | $2,620 | $27,342,000 | 2 |
| 7 | Edge of Tomorrow | $5,210,000 | 2,535 | $2,055 | $84,155,000 | 4 |
| 8 | The Fault in our Stars | $4,800,000 | 2,845 | $1,687 | $109,545,000 | 4 |
| 9 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | $3,300,000 | 2,014 | $1,639 | $223,393,000 | 6 |
| 10 | Chef | $1,654,000 | 801 | $2,065 | $19,410,000 | 8 |
Dreamworks How to Train Your Dragon 2 dropped 47% in its third frame as it earned $13.1 million, bringing its domestic cumulative to $121.8 million. With a delayed overseas rollout, this $145 million production still has a chance, but faces a struggle to earn its cost back theatrically.
Last week’s top film Think Like a Man Too dropped 65%, a precipitous fall for a comedy, but the $24 million production is already close to profitability with a domestic total of $48.2 million.
Disney’s Maleficent, which stars Angelina Jolie, has now earned $201 million domestically and $383 million overseas for a global total of $585 million.
Meanwhile Clint Eastwood’s musical Jersey Boys slipped to #6 in its second frame, earning just $7.6 million. With a domestic total of just $27.3 million, this $40 million production has dug itself a big hole.
The Tom Cruise sci-fi saga Edge of Tomorrow has now earned $84.1 million here in North America. Fortunately for Warner Bros., that represents just 26.4% of the film’s global earnings.
Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past fell to #9 in its sixth weekend of release. It has earned $233.4 million here, which is only the third best total domestically (behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier at $257.2 million and the LEGO Movie at $256.8), but globally DOFP is now the highest-grossing film of 2014 with a total of $712.7 million (to Cap’s $711.2).
Outside the top ten, Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 finally made it past the $200 million mark domestically, though ASM2 is also doing much better overseas--with a global total of $703 million, it is the third highest-grossing film of the year so far.
Melissa McCarthy has been a key performer in Bridesmaids (2012) and The Heat (2013), the two top "R" rated comedies of the past summer seasons, so check back next week to see if she can carry a film on her own to the same heights as Tammy debuts.
