Box Office: “Ant-Man” and “Trainwreck” underperform, “Minions” fades

boxIt looked like a $60 million weekend for Marvel/Disney’s “Ant-Man.” Good reviews helped this B-team effort from Marvel to a healthy Midnight Thursday opening and beefy Friday.

But the air went out of the balloon a bit Saturday, and Fanboydom faded in terms of impact as it now looks like a $56-58 million or so opening. Not too shabby, but more in line with the top end of blockbuster expectations in mid to late July.  HALF of “Avengers,” or thereabouts, for a little perspective.

The actual numbers are tallied Monday afternoon.

“Trainwreck” has been promoted to death and earned rave reviews (mostly), but it won’t hit its $30 million benchmark, as maybe Amy Schumer isn’t every R-rated comedy fan’s fantasy. Funny enough, but $28 million is now the mark they’re hoping to clear. That will probably mean it has a chance of matching “Ted 2” in the long run (It’s at $77 million, which is where “Trainwreck” is destined), but no chance of catching Melissa McCarthy’s “Spy”, which has cleared $106 million.

The second weekend of the “Despicable Me” sequel has fallen off by almost 59%, pretty steep for a franchise that’s been this lucrative. It will not, in the long run, top Pixar’s “Inside/Out.”

“Gallows” is DOA.

“Mr. Holmes,” in limited release, opened at #11. An Indian film,  Bajrangdi Bhaijaan, opening in limited release, cracked the top ten.

“Self/less,” “Gallows” “Magic Mike” and “Terminator: Terminal” are fading fast.

About Roger Moore

Movie Critic, formerly with McClatchy-Tribune News Service, Orlando Sentinel, published in Spin Magazine, The World and now published here, Orlando Magazine, Autoweek Magazine
This entry was posted in Reviews. Bookmark the permalink.