Chappie, an R-rated $50 million original science fiction drama, is Blomkamp’s third feature film. His first, District 9, which debuted to $37.3 million in 2009, remains the poster child for the “Comic-Con” effect, since its unprecedented success stemmed in part from a wildly successful preview in San Diego that helped drive the internet buzz that fueled the film’s surprisingly big opening. District 9 made more money here ($115 million) than overseas where it garnered just $95 million. Blomkamp’s second film, Elysium, which starred Matt Damon opened with $29 million in the late summer of 2013, and went on to make $93 million here and $179 million overseas. Chappie was hurt by a rather confusing ad campaign that made the movie look like another Robocop saga, and by poor reviews, which matter to the up-market sci-fi fans who helped make District 9 such an unexpected success. Chappie only received a mediocre “B” CinemaScore from audiences, so its prospects are murky at best, but it is a bit too early to be definitive. Early returns from overseas, where Elysium did well, are not very encouraging so far as the film opened in 53 markets and earned $13.7 million outside of North America.
The Will Smith caper/con movie Focus slipped just 46.4% from its less than auspicious opening last week as it earned $10 million and brought its domestic total to $50.1 million, insuring that it won’t rank below Smith’s worst efforts of recent years (After Earth, Seven Pounds).
Third place went to The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which earned $8.6 million from just 1,573 screens, giving it the best per venue average in the top ten $5,467 (vs. $4,155 for Chappie). This sequel targets older viewers who don’t generally rush out to catch opening weekend shows, so The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which enjoys a 65% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, should be around for quite some time.
Continuing its strong box office performance, the comic book-based, James Bond-esque Kingsman: The Secret Service dropped just 30.1% in its fourth weekend as it earned $8.3 million and brought its domestic total to $98 million. With an overseas total of $150.3 million giving it a worldwide gross of $248.3 million, this $81 million production is already solidly in the black.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water also demonstrated great “legs” with a drop of just 35.3% that added $7 million to its domestic total, which is now nearly $150 million, just $6 million behind that of 50 Shades of Grey, as audiences apparently discover that the SpongeBob movie is simply more “sponge-worthy.”
Vince Vaughn was badly in need of hit, but he didn’t get one with the R-Rated Unfinished Business, which debuted at #10 with an estimated $4.8 million from 2,777 locations for a weak $1,728 average. This is the worst opening ever for Vaughn in the lead role in a comedy, and the movie’s 13% positive rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes doesn’t provide much hope for a revival of fortunes. Hopefully Vaughn’s upcoming stint on the hit cable series True Detective will give his career the boost that it needs.
Be sure and check back here next week to see if better weather and Disney’s live-action Cinderella or Liam Neeson’s revenge-themed action film Run All Night can pull the box office out of its current slump.
