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Posted July 14, 2014 by Seth Paul in News
 
 

Box Office Weekend: A Box Office Where Apes Evolved from Transformers


Though the trailers have leaned more towards the campy with a volley of apes on horseback carrying firearms, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has won over critics and audiences alike with overwhelming praise, and picking up an estimated $73 million at the box office. However, that praise has not approached the success of second-place finisher Transformers: Age of Extinction, which earned an estimated $16.5 million this weekend, but $752.5 million worldwide and the fifth highest earning movie of the year in domestic earnings.

Dawn of the Planet of the ApesTammy has defied its critics to become a success, nearly tripling its $20 million budget in gross earnings with the help of an estimated $12.9 million this weekend. 22 Jump Street has done better than triple its budget, an estimated $6.7 million adding to $172 million total take (and all but ensuring another film). How to Train Your Dragon 2 might be a tougher sell despite an estimated $5.9 million helping the film break even domestically, but the critical acclaim may be enough to ensure a third film in that series as well. But perhaps the biggest surprise of the list may be Earth to Echo, which released budget numbers showing that despite a poor opening weekend and only an estimated $5.5 million this week, it has made money; with only $13 million in production costs, it has managed $24.6 million in domestic ticket sales. And while it has not broken even, Deliver Us from Evil has also done surprisingly well despite its competition and critical pounding, making an estimated $4.7 million this weekend and potentially making back its $30 million costs before it leaves the top ten.

Finally, Maleficent once again proves its worth as the strongest film in the top ten, adding to a $222 million total with an estimated $4.2 million; Begin Again opened to wide release with an estimated $2.9 million, but finds itself in the Chef division of independent films that will not releases budgets; and Jersey Boys (estimated $2.5 million) just pushed past its production costs, making it not a success, but not a bomb either.

Weekend Box Office (July 11th – July 13th)

  1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes…$73 million
  2. Transformers: Age of Extinction…$16.5 million
  3. Tammy…$12.9 million
  4. 22 Jump Street…$6.7 million
  5. How to Train Your Dragon 2…$5.9 million
  6. Earth to Echo…$5.5 million
  7. Deliver Us from Evil…$4.7 million
  8. Maleficent…$4.2 million
  9. Begin Again…$2.9 million
  10. Jersey Boys…$2.5 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."