Weekend box-office – 20th to 26th of June 2015 – Is it a walk in the (Jurassic) park for Chris Pratt?

Starring Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Richard Attenborough, Steven Spielberg’s 1993 sci-fi smash hit Jurassic Park had everything: critical and fan adoration and box-office phenomenon status with over $1 billion in ticket sales. The sequels however didn’t hit the mark with Spielberg’s 1997 follow up The Lost World taking $618 million and Joe Johnston’s 2001 effort Jurassic Park III receiving $368 million, despite additions such as Pete Postlethwaite and Julianne Moore. Jurassic World has taken an unorthodox approach by ditching the original cast for new blood such as underdog actors Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), Bryce Dallas Howard (The Help), Jake Johnson (TV’s New Girl) and Vincent D’Onofrio (Netflix’s Daredevil) as well as indie director Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed). Last week we predicted it’d be number one but it hardly seems like to team to bring a record breaking smash hit.

US:

1. Jurassic World – Director: Colin Trevorrow – $208.8 million
2. Spy – Paul Feig – $15.6 million
3. San Andreas – Brad Peyton – $10.8 million
4. Insidious Chapter 3 – Leigh Whannell – $7.3 million
5. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks – $6.4 million

UK:

1. Jurassic World – Colin Trevorrow – £19.4 million
2. Spy – Paul Feig – £1.5 million
3. San Andreas – Brad Peyton – £0.8 million
4. Insidious Chapter 3 – Leigh Whannell – £0.7 million
5. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks – £0.4 million

While we had expected Jurassic World to be successful, we didn’t anticipate it stealing box-office records from Avengers Assemble and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. At the beginning of the year, we predicted that Age of Ultron, Spectre and Star Wars: The Force Awakens would be the big hitters with Jurassic World, Ant-Man, Terminator 5, Mission Impossible 5 and others lagging behind but this is just one in a series of upsets including the flops of Tomorrowland and Jupiter Ascending and the successes of Furious 7, Mad Max: Fury Road and Fifty Shades of Grey. This week I’ve scored 8/10.

US:

1. Jurassic World – Colin Trevorrow
2. Inside Out – Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen
3. Dope – Rick Famuyiwa
4. Spy – Paul Feig
5. San Andreas – Brad Peyton

UK:

1. Jurassic World – Colin Trevorrow
2. Mr Holmes – Bill Condon
3. Spy – Paul Feig
4. The Longest Ride – George Tillman Jr
5. Entourage – Doug Ellin

Chris Pratt in Jurassic World, This week’s US and UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 13th to 19th of June 2015 – Entourage vs espionage: will Spy debut well?

Actress Melissa McCarthy and director Paul Feig began their winning partnership with 2011’s unexpected smash hit rom-com Bridesmaids ($288 million) – also starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Chris O’Dowd and Jon Hamm – and they returned in Sandra Bullock-starring cop comedy The Heat ($229 million). They’re even behind next year’s Ghostbusters reboot but for now we have action caper Spy, whose cast of McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne and Jude Law have whipped up critical acclaim. The competition: horror sequel Insidious Chapter 3 and spin-off of HBO comedy show Entourage. Last week, we predicted Spy would top the box office.

US:

1. Spy – Director: Paul Feig – $29.1 million
2. San Andreas – Brad Peyton – $25.8 million
3. Insidious Chapter 3 – Leigh Whannell – $22.7 million
4. Entourage – Doug Ellin – $10.3 million
5. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – $7.8 million

UK:

1. Spy – Paul Feig – £2.6 million
2. San Andreas – Brad Peyton – £2 million
3. Insidious Chapter 3 – Leigh Whannell – £1.4 million
4. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – £0.8 million
5. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks – £0.7 million

Spy has had a fine entry at $30 million where as Insidious pales in comparison to its more star-studded predecessors. Entourage has disappointed but that might be a reflection of HBO’s outrage-provoking risks now working in cinemas (their Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra – with Michael Douglas, Matt Damon and Rob Lowe – got a UK audience but was pulled off US screens). This might put a damper on those Game of Thrones movie rumours.

The UK release to watch out for is Secret Cinema’s screening of The Empire Strikes Back in an immersive experience recreating Hoth Echo Base. The company’s previous screenings include The Third Man, The Shawshank Redemption, Brazil and a Back to the Future themed recreation of Hill Valley. It took £300,000 from just one site. This week I’ve scored 5/10.

US:

1. Jurassic World – Colin Trevorrow
2. Spy – Paul Feig
3. San Andreas – Brad Peyton
4. Insidious Chapter 3 – Leigh Whannell
5. Entourage – Doug Ellin

UK:

1. Jurassic World – Colin Trevorrow
2. Spy – Paul Feig
3. San Andreas – Brad Peyton
4. Insidious Chapter 3 – Leigh Whannell
5. London Road – Rufus Norris

Melissa McCarthy in Spy, this week’s US and UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 6th to 12th of June – is it a fault-less start for San Andreas?

Dwayne Johnson (AKA The Rock) is widely respected as one of the biggest action stars of his time. Despite mixed success – Doom ($55 million), Southland Tales ($0.3 million), Race to Witch Mountain ($106 million), Tooth Fairy ($112 million), Pain & Gain ($96) – he hit his biggest stride in the past couple of years with Hercules ($243 million), Journey 2: The Mysterious Island ($325 million) and the Fast and Furious franchise ($2.9 billion in three films). His latest work is the disaster action San Andreas and its challenger is Aloha, the new romantic drama from Jerry Maguire’s Cameron Crowe and starring Bradley Cooper (American Sniper, The Hangover), Emma Stone (Easy A, Birdman) and Rachel McAdams (About Time, The Notebook).

US:

1. San Andreas – Director: Brad Peyton – $54.6 million
2. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks – $14.8 million
3. Tomorrowland – Brad Bird – $14.3 million
4. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – $14.2 million
5. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – $11.4 million

UK:

1. San Andreas – Brad Peyton – £4.6 million
2. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Bannks – £1.9 million
3. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – £1.7 million
4. Tomorrowland – Brad Bird – £1 million
5. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – £0.9 million

San Andreas is a clear victor with an impressive $50 million debut but Aloha has been a major disappointment in a poor sixth place with a dismal $9 million. Last week’s sci-fi mystery Tomorrowland slips to third while musical sequel Pitch Perfect 2 and action reboot Mad Max: Fury Road continue to perform well.

US:

1. Spy – Paul Feig
2. Insidious: Chapter 3 – Leigh Whannell
3. San Andreas – Brad Peyton
4. Entourage – Doug Ellin
5. Tomorrowland – Brad Bird

UK:

1. Spy – Paul Feig
2. San Andreas – Brad Peyton
3. Insidious: Chapter 3 – Leigh Whannell
4. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks
5. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller

Dwayne Johnson in San Andreas, this week’s US and UK number one.