(Photo by ©Marvel/©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
(Photo by Hopper Stone/ © Warner Bros.)
The films that Melissa McCarthy has made with Paul Feig represent four of her top five openings ever (Identity Thief is the outlier). Coming in sixth and seventh on her box office chart are the films she has made with her husband, Ben Falcone. The Boss and Tammy opened to $23.5 and $21.5 million, respectively. Tammy, which opened on a Wednesday before the July 4 holiday, had already grossed $17.9 million before the weekend arrive. Which brings us to Life of the Party, another McCarthy/Falcone collaboration, which was number two this weekend but is the eighth highest opening for McCarthy.
Its $18.5 million start is better than 2015’s counter-programmer to Age of Ultron, Hot Pursuit, which opened to $13.9 million, but is less than last year’s Mother’s Day weekend entry, Snatched, which grabbed $19.5 million. Neither film had a particularly strong multiple in the end (2.48 and 2.38), nor were they embraced by critics (7% and 36% on the Tomatometer). This is about the only area where Life of the Party can brag, besting both of those films as well as Tammy’s 24% and The Boss’ 22% with a current score of 41%.
(Photo by Paul Sarkis/ © Universal)
Gabrielle Union made her film debut in 1999’s She’s All That, but has not had much in the way of starring roles since, except as one half of a leading couple in films like Deliver Us from Eva, Breakin’ All the Rules, and Daddy’s Little Girls. Breaking In, in which she headlines as a resourceful mom-in-peril, opened this weekend to a respectable $16.5 million. Sure, it’s not the $25.8 or $24.2 million that Sony’s comparable The Perfect Guy and No Good Deed earned on opening weekend, but Universal should be very pleased with the result for the thriller with a $6 million budget. They will be less thrilled with its 27% on the Tomatometer, one of the lowest scores amongst wide releases so far this summer. Meanwhile, Neon’s Revenge is brandishing a 91% on the Tomatometer, and can be seen in limited release as well as on VOD. It made $46,023 in 36 theaters. Magnolia’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg doc, RBG, added 146 theaters and made it into the top 10, bringing its total to $2 million. It’s currently Certified Fresh at 93% on the Tomatometer.
(Photo by Nicole Rivelli /© Sony Pictures Classics /Courtesy Everett Collection)
(Photo by ©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 enjoyed its final week at number 1 with $65 million, bringing its 10-day total to $248 million. Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn led newcomers in Snatched with $19.5 million over Mother’s Day weekend, holding off Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. That big-budget epic opened in third place with just $15.3 million, and a Tomatometer of 30%, on its way to being crowned 2017’s most expensive flop.
(Photo by © 20th Century Fox Film Corp.)
Infinity War’s first challenger of the season comes in the form of Deadpool 2. The original film earned $132 million over Valentine’s Day weekend in 2016 and all signs point to the sequel outperforming it. We’re thinking the $150 million tracking figure is lowballing it. It’s interesting to note that only one film that has opened with $152 million or more has gone on to gross less than $370 million domestically. (That was Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which finished with $330.3 million.) Why is that $370 million figure significant? Because that was the final gross of Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, which is still the highest-grossing R-rated release in history. Until Deadpool 2 passes it that is. (We predict!) Paramount is counter-programming with the ensemble Book Club, and Global Road (formerly Open Road) will try for the family audience with Show Dogs.
Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on WGN Radio with Nick Digilio as well as on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast.
[box office figures via Box Office Mojo]
