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Posted July 13, 2015 by Seth Paul in News
 
 

Box Office Weekend: Minions Are Sidekicks to No One


Jurassic World appears to have seen the beginning of the end, taking in an estimated fifth week total of $18.1 million for second place. The winner was Minions, which stormed the box office with an estimated $115.2 million total. Granted, the top three are nothing if not successful, with Jurassic World the fourth most successful domestic film of all time with $590.6 million brought in so far, and MinionsPixar is seeing good things with Inside Out, an estimated $17.1 million leading to $283.6 million brought in so far.

Interestingly, not a single film in the top ten this week has officially released their budget numbers, which can only lead to guessing and speculation on the results. With that, Terminator: Genisys, with an estimated $13.7 million, is likely not fulfilling the dreams of the executives at Paramount, bringing in $68.7 million so far, while the poorly received The Gallows (estimated $10 million), likely exceeded its found-footage costs by leaps and bounds.

Of two films not doing as well as the previous entries, Magic Mike XXL, is not reigning in the success of Magic Mike, a weekend estimate of $9.6 million adding to a $48.4 million compared to the $100+ million brought in by the original. Still, if it only cost $14 million to make (double that of the first film), it is still doing very well, unlike Ted 2. Using the same formula, Ted 2 (estimated $5.6 million) would be an incredible dud if it cost much more to make than Ted, having only made $71.6 million in domestic ticket sales. Even so, it pales in comparison to its predecessor not only in earnings, but in critical praise as well.

Finally, the bottom of the list holds a few newcomers and one-third week dog (yes, pun a little intended). Self/Less, the critically panned sci-fi thriller starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Kingsley, opened to a lackluster estimated $5.4 million, while Max (estimated $3.4 million) has pulled in $33.7 million; while it may not be a flop (considering the subject matter and dearth of big name stars), it is nowhere near a runaway hit. However, in ninth comes a surprise entry in Baahubali: The Beginning (estimated $3.6 million). As the most expensive film ever made in India (reputed to cost $40 million U.S. dollars), it remains to be seen how much of that it can make back on these shores.

Weekend Box Office (July 10th – July 12th)

  1. Minions…$115.2 million
  2. Jurassic World…$18.1 million
  3. Inside Out…$17.1 million
  4. Terminator: Genesys…$13.7 million
  5. The Gallows…$10 million
  6. Magic Mike XXL…$9.6 million
  7. Ted 2…$5.6 million
  8. Self/Less…$5.4 million
  9. Baahubali: The Beginning…$3.6 million
  10. Max…$3.4 million
Seth Paul

Seth Paul

When not failing to write novels and screenplays, box-office guru Seth writes humorous comedy tracks for films under the name "The One Man Band" that can be found at Rifftrax.com. Although, he has recently succeeded in writing the novella "Jack Alan and the Case of the Not-Exactly Rocket Scientists," available as an eBook on Amazon. He is also the English voice of Zak in "Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space."