Weekend Box Office (June 12 - 14, 2015)

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND Shattering all box office records for the largest global opening in movie history, the much-hyped dino-sequel Jurassic World seized control of multiplexes around the world grossing over half a billion dollars and hitting the number one spot everywhere. In North America, the Universal smash debuted to a stunning $208.8M, according to final studio figures, for the weekend with 66 international markets contributing another $315.6M since Wednesday making for a gargantuan $524.4M worldwide launch by end of business Sunday. Domestic, international, and global opening records were all broken in a dino-trifecta and the overall North American box office surged to its highest level in history.

This marks the largest domestic opening of all-time edging out 2012's The Avengers which did $207.4M. While Jurassic World was always expected to open huge, it was not expected to reach this stratosphere as the three-day tally was a good $70M or so above the most optimistic industry predictions. The massive launch began with a stellar $82M on Friday's opening day which included $18.5M from Thursday night pre-shows starting at 7pm. Saturday fell by 15%, a reasonable amount considering this is a tentpole sequel, and added $69.6M in sales. Universal projected a 25% dip on Sunday but it ended up smaller at 18% to $57.2M. The PG-13 smash averaged a giant $48,855 per location from 4,274 theaters.

Interestingly, the records for largest pre-shows and opening day were not broken. It was the Saturday and Sunday holds powered by family business and word-of-mouth which allowed World to break the opening weekend record.

Jurassic World was always looked at as being one of the top blockbusters of the summer. Moviegoer polls last December for what 2015 films people were most anticipating had the dinopic up there very high along with Avengers and Star Wars sequels. That was quite impressive given that the franchise has been dormant for 14 years. Audience love for nostalgia and the big scale summer escapism that Jurassic Park films promise were among the reasons why grosses swelled so high with a broad popcorn crowd. And the latest visual effects made those dinosaurs look more realistic than ever before.

In fact, Jurassic World opened better than all three previous Jurassic Park films - combined! And it made more in three days than the last installment, 2001's Jurassic Park III, did in its entire run. Much has changed over the decades. However, when estimating admissions, Jurassic World sold about 22 million tickets this weekend which was up a staggering 80% over the roughly 12 million tickets sold by Jurassic Park during its record setting opening this very weekend in 1993.

Reviews were not spectacular, but they were good enough to draw people in. On the other hand, paying audiences have been really loving the Chris Pratt-led flick as all audience metrics have been very high including a solid A grade from CinemaScore. With more and more schools starting summer vacations everyday, and no action competition next weekend, the road ahead looks bright for Jurassic World which will try to reach the $450-500M range from North America alone, if not more.

Studios knew this would be a juggernaut so they mostly avoided programming any big movies against the first two weekends of World. Pixar's Inside Out which is milder entertainment is the only other major title slotted into this two-week period. Studio data showed that the audience was 52% male, 61% 25 and older, and 54% white.

Overseas, Jurassic World amassed an estimated $315.6M which ranks as the largest in history passing the $312M of the final Harry Potter film. World's first weekend included China but not Japan, Potter's included Japan but not China which opened later. Both films featured 3D and IMAX. World's top overseas market by far was China with $100.1M over five days.

At the current pace, Jurassic World should end up being Hollywood's third $1.4 billion-plus grossing superhit in as many months following April's Furious 7 ($1.51B) and May's Avengers: Age of Ultron ($1.36B with more to come). These are sky high benchmarks that will be challenged this holiday season by Star Wars: The Force Awakens which will cap off what should be a record box office year.

Far back in second place, but holding up well in its sophomore frame, was the R-rated comedy Spy with $15.6M declining by just 46%. The Melissa McCarthy hit is playing well as an option for adults who do not want to be terrorized by genetically-modified dino-organisms. Fox has collected $56.6M to date and could be headed for the $100M mark. Next weekend again will have no major direct competition.

The disaster film San Andreas took a direct hit from Jurassic World and tumbled 58% this weekend to $10.8M. Budgeted at about $110M, the Warner Bros. pic has grossed $119.1M to date from North America on its way to about $140M. Global stands now at $373M. Horror threequel Insidious: Chapter 3 fell a steep 68% in its sophomore scare to $7.3M. The $10M thriller (expensive by micro-budgeted fright film standards) has taken in a solid $37.4M so far

The year's biggest comedy hit Pitch Perfect 2 dipped only 16% in its fifth frame to $6.4M. It was the lowest drop in the top ten, but was helped by drive-in double features with studio stablemate Jurassic World. Still, the Universal hit has grossed $171.1M domestically and a stellar $263.5M worldwide.

A pair of very different Warner Bros. titles followed. Entourage dropped a sharp 59% in its second weekend to $4.2M for a $25.7M cume to date. Action hit Mad Max: Fury Road took in $4.1M, down 48%, giving the well-liked adventure $138.5M. It's now the highest grossing R-rated action-adventure in the eight years since 300 came out in 2007 beating films like Lucy, Wanted, and Prometheus. Worldwide is now a potent $334M.

Disney's summer kickoff film Avengers: Age of Ultron was off 42% against the dino competition and banked $3.7M for the weekend. Domestic rose to $444.8M while the worldwide tally now sits at $1.36 billion. The studio's big-budget misfire Tomorrowland dropped 52% to $3.5M giving the George Clooney pic only $83.7M.

The well-reviewed Beach Boys indie Love & Mercy popped into the nationwide top ten at number ten with $1.7M from 573 locations for a $2,919 average and $4.7M cume for Roadside Attractions.

After winning both the jury and audience awards at Sundance this year, the coming-of-age comedy Me and Earl, and the Dying Girl debuted in limited release this weekend bowing to $196,496 from 15 theaters for a $13,100 average. Earning good reviews, the PG-13 teen tale will expand to more markets each week and will be nationwide by July 1 aiming to be a specialty alternative to all the mindless popcorn fare studios fill multiplexes with during the summer.

The top ten films grossed a record high $266M which was up a sharp 50% from last year when 22 Jump Street opened at number one with $57.1M; and up 38% from 2013 when Man of Steel debuted in the top spot with a then-June-record of $116.6M.


Compared to projections, Jurassic World surged well ahead of my $120M forecast.

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Watch the trailer for The Good Dinosaur. For a review of Tomorrowland visit The Chief Report.

Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when Inside Out opens.

# Title Jun 12 - 14 Jun 5 - 7 % Chg. Theaters Weeks AVG Cumulative Distributor
1 Jurassic World $ 208,806,270 4,274 1 $ 48,855 $ 208,806,270 Universal
2 Spy 15,613,686 29,085,719 -46.3 3,715 2 4,203 56,550,930 Fox
3 San Andreas 10,812,387 25,839,225 -58.2 3,535 3 3,059 119,123,301 Warner Bros.
4 Insidious: Chapter 3 7,311,963 22,692,741 -67.8 3,014 2 2,426 37,382,544 Focus
5 Pitch Perfect 2 6,398,030 7,573,350 -15.5 2,677 5 2,390 171,113,715 Universal
6 Entourage 4,186,984 10,283,250 -59.3 3,108 2 1,347 25,717,456 Warner Bros.
7 Mad Max: Fury Road 4,065,967 7,831,453 -48.1 2,234 5 1,820 138,543,794 Warner Bros.
8 Avengers: Age of Ultron 3,675,057 6,339,663 -42.0 2,156 7 1,705 444,777,275 Disney
9 Tomorrowland 3,492,475 7,200,103 -51.5 2,540 4 1,375 83,682,888 Disney
10 Love & Mercy 1,672,325 2,122,177 -21.2 573 2 2,919 4,680,936 Roadside Attr.
11 Aloha 994,396 3,240,312 -69.3 1,423 3 699 18,994,519 Sony
12 I'll See You In My Dreams 809,391 550,000 47.2 246 5 3,290 2,956,000 Bleecker St.
13 Home 724,112 828,905 -12.6 584 12 1,240 173,252,399 Fox
14 Poltergeist 689,247 2,705,009 -74.5 1,069 4 645 46,118,192 Fox
15 Furious 7 605,115 436,315 38.7 357 11 1,695 350,827,635 Universal
16 Dil Dhadakne Do 560,027 1,326,267 -57.8 238 2 2,353 2,312,974 Eros
17 Far From the Madding Crowd 431,934 701,535 -38.4 366 7 1,180 10,749,612 Fox Searchlight
18 Cinderella 261,863 303,470 -13.7 270 14 970 199,280,075 Disney
19 Ex Machina 205,970 358,509 -42.5 194 10 1,062 24,698,885 A24
20 Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 203,336 333,179 -39.0 234 9 869 68,806,665 Sony
Top 5 $ 248,942,336 $ 95,732,388 160.0
Top 10 266,035,144 122,790,825 116.7
Top 20 271,520,535 130,169,554 108.6
Top 20 vs. 2014 271,520,535 183,358,720 48.1

Last Updated: June 16, 2015 at 4:45PM ET

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