Movies
Box Office Recap: ‘Expendables’ Flops, ‘TMNT’ Rules
The Expendables 3 pulled in a mediocre $16.2 million this weekend, according to studio estimates. It was the lowest opening for the action franchise, landing in fourth place at the box office, in comparison to the previous installments.
In 2010, the first Expendables debuted with $34.8 million domestically, followed by $28.6 million for the sequel in 2012. Despite it’s poor turnout, the third Expendables, which features Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harrison Ford (to name a few), received a decent score from moviegoers.
“The good news is the A- CinemaScore. The folks that are getting to see it are really enjoying it. I think we’re in a good place as far as the older audience coming out over a period of time,” Fay said.
With the third blockbuster falling short, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles took first place at the box office once again, grossing $28.4 million in its second weekend. The domestic total from the Paramount Pictures’ reboot has reached over $117.6 million.
Marvel’s holdover Guardians of the Galaxy follows in second place with $24.7 million for the weekend, and a domestic total of $222.3 million. With its strong standing at the box office, the comic book adaptation is likely to overcome Transformers: Age of Extinction’s $243.3 million, and become the summer’s top grossing domestic release.
Additional new releases for the weekend include the R-rated comedy Let’s Be Cops (B CinemaScore) and The Giver (B plus CinemaScore). The former, starring Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr., finished the weekend in third place with $17.7 million, and gathered $26.1 million since debuting Wednesday. The latter, starring Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep and Brenton Thwaites, follows in fifth place with $12.8 million for the weekend.
See what films made the top 10 list at the box office this weekend by clicking the pages below!
10. Boyhood – $2.2 million
Film Synopsis
Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason’s parents and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as his sister Samantha, Boyhood charts the rocky terrain of childhood like no other film has before. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and familydinners to birthdays and graduations and all the moments in between become transcendent, set to a soundtrack spanning the years from Coldplay’s “Yellow” to Arcade Fire’s “Deep Blue.” Boyhood is both a nostalgic time capsule of the recent past and an ode to growing up and parenting. It’s impossible to watch Mason and his family without thinking about our own journey.
9. Step Up All In – $2.7 million
Film Synopsis
In the next exciting chapter of the international phenomenon Step Up, all-stars from previous installments come together in glittering Las Vegas, battling for a victory that could define their dreams and their careers.
8. Lucy – $5.3 million
Film Synopsis
From La Femme Nikita and The Professional to The Fifth Element, writer/director Luc Besson has created some of the toughest, most memorable female action heroes in cinematic history. Now, Besson directs Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, an action-thriller that tracks a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.
7. The Hundred-Foot Journey – $7.1 million
Film Synopsis
In The Hundred-Foot Journey, Hassan Kadam (Manish Dayal) is a culinary ingénue with the gastronomic equivalent of perfect pitch. Displaced from their native India, the Kadam family, led by Papa (Om Puri), settles in the quaint village of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val in the south of France. Filled with charm, it is both picturesque and elegant – the ideal place to settle down and open an Indian restaurant, the Maison Mumbai. That is, until the chilly chef proprietress of Le Saule Pleureur, a Michelin starred, classical French restaurant run by Madame Mallory (Academy Award (R)-winner Helen Mirren), gets wind of it. Her icy protests against the new Indian restaurant a hundred feet from her own, escalate to all out war between the two establishments – until Hassan’s passion for French haute cuisine and for Mme. Mallory’s enchanting sous chef, Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon), combine with his mysteriously delicious talent to weave magic between their two cultures and imbue Saint-Antonin with the flavors of life that even Mme. Mallory cannot ignore. At first Mme. Mallory’s culinary rival, she eventually recognizes Hassan’s gift as a chef and takes him under her wing.
6. Into the Storm – $7.7 million
Film Synopsis
In the span of a single day, the town of Silverton is ravaged by an unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes. The entire town is at the mercy of the erratic and deadly cyclones, even as storm trackers predict the worst is yet to come. Most people seek shelter, while others run towards the vortex, testing how far a storm chaser will go for that once-in-a-lifetime shot. Told through the eyes and lenses of professional storm chasers, thrill-seeking amateurs, and courageous townspeople, Into the Storm throws you directly into the eye of the storm to experience Mother Nature at her most extreme.
5. The Giver – $12.8 million
Film Synopsis
The haunting story of The Giver centers on Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), a young man who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Yet as he begins to spend time with The Giver (Jeff Bridges), who is the sole keeper of all the community’s memories, Jonas quickly begins to discover the dark and deadly truths of his community’s secret past. With this newfound power of knowledge, he realizes that the stakes are higher than imagined – a matter of life and death for himself and those he loves most. At extreme odds, Jonas knows that he must escape their world to protect them all – a challenge that no one has ever succeeded at before. The Giver is based on Lois Lowry’s beloved young adult novel of the same name, which was the winner the 1994 Newbery Medal and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.
4. The Expendables 3 – $16.2 million
Film Synopsis
In The Expendables 3, Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham) and the rest of the team come face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill… or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables — but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet.
3. Let’s Be Cops – $17.7 million
Film Synopsis
It’s the ultimate buddy cop movie except for one thing: they’re not cops. When two struggling pals dress as police officers for a costume party, they become neighborhood sensations. But when these newly-minted “heroes” get tangled in a real life web of mobsters and dirty detectives, they must put their fake badges on the line.
2. Guardians of the Galaxy – $24.7 million
Film Synopsis
From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team-the Guardians of the Galaxy. An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits-Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand-with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – $28.4 million
Film Synopsis
The city needs heroes. Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles must work with fearless reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox) and her wise-cracking cameraman Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett) to save the city and unravel Shredder’s diabolical plan.