Box Office Weekend: 22 Jump Street Wins Game of Sequels

It is strange that two big name releases should fail to give out their budget information, even though neither should be all that concerned; 22 Jump Street took the weekend box office by storm with an impressive $60 million estimate, more than the cost of the original 21 Jump Street movie, while How to Train Your Dragon 2 had a strong start of its own with an estimated $50 million. Both films are also getting rave reviews as well, which should spell good things for the weeks to come.

Maleficent still falls short of a domestic profit, its estimated $19 million leaving it $17 million shy of its $180 million production costs, but it is much smaller ground to make up than the much better reviewed Edge of Tomorrow, whose estimated $16.2 million weekend leaves it very far from its $178 million costs, with worldwide earnings not giving it much to be thankful for, either.

The next few spots belong to some mega-hits: though it would seem the major audience for The Fault in Our Stars went to it on its opening weekend, the $12 million romantic drama has more than earned its keep, its weekend estimate of $15.7 million enough to give it $81.7 million in domestic income. X-Men: Days of Future Past crossed the $200 million mark (and just earned a domestic profit at the same time) with an estimated $9.5 million, while Godzilla has nearly reached that mark, picking up an estimated $3.2 million on the weekend.

The bottom of the list is not doing too badly either, with one exception. A Million Ways to Die in the West, still possibly embarrassed by its returns, has not officially released its costs, but most likely has not made them back, and its weekend estimate of $3.1 million probably has not helped much. It looks especially paltry next to Neighbors (estimated $2.5 million), which is an entirely rousing success with $143.1 million made against an $18 million budget. And while it has not released its numbers, Chef could potentially be a successful venture, with the independent film grabbing an estimated $2.3 million and being a $14.1 million maker. However, considering the big name cast involved, its independent roots could be more expensive than the company is willing to let on.

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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."

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