Luc Besson’s Valerian announced, new Mad Max title, Ed Zwick in talks for Reacher 2 and first Maze Runner 2 trailer

The latest work of BAFTA nominated French filmaker Luc Besson has been announced. The director of The Big Blue, Nikita, Leon, The Fifth Element and Lucy will helm sci-fi comic book adaptation Valerian. The film will reportedly star Dane DeHaan (Chronicle, Lawless) and Cara Delevingne (Anna Karenina, Paper Towns) and is heading for a summer 2017 release.

Action thriller and adaptation of the Lee Child novels Jack Reacher may have been a mild disappointment to some but was a decent box-office hit with $220 million from a $60 million budget. Director Christopher McQuarrie is now preoccupied with Mission: Impossible but a new director is in line for the sequel. Oscar winner Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond, Legends of the Fall, The Last Samurai, Glory) is reportedly in talks for Never Go Back which has Tom Cruise (Minority Report, A Few Good Men, Jerry Maguire, Edge of Tomorrow) confirmed to reprise his role.

With respectable box office numbers and critical acclaim, action reboot Mad Max: Fury Road is the most talked about film of the moment. Director George Miller (who also helmed the original trilogy has revealed that his plans for Mad Max 5 are going ahead. He’s also announced the current title, Mad Max: The Wasteland. We can expect Tom Hardy (Bronson, Inception, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Warrior, Lawless, Locke, The Dark Knight Rises) to reprise his role as Max Rockatansky.

Finally, we have our hands on the first poster and trailer for the sequel to smash hit The Maze Runner. It’s slightly understated in comparison to larger young adult franchises such as The Hunger Games but it easily outgrossed the likes of Divergent with $340 million from a small $35 million. The Scorch Trials is directed by Wes Ball and stars Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf), Kaya Scodelario (Moon), Thomas Brodie Sangster (Wolf Hall), Nathalie Emmanuel (Furious 7), Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones), Giancarlo Esposito (The Usual Suspects), Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) and Patricia Clarkson (Shutter Island).

Maze Runner: Scorch Trials – September 18th

Valerian and the City of A Thousand Planets – July 21st 2017

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back – 2017?

Mad Max: The Wasteland – 2018?

Fault in Our Stars wins at MTVs, Rebecca Hall joins BFG and Stallone in first still from Creed

BIrdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Birdman, Guardians of the Galaxy and Boyhood were among the most celebrated films of the previous awards season but the MTV Awards have a history of selecting mainstream flicks. Previous films to have been crowned include Terminator 2, A Few Good Men, Scream, There’s Something About Mary, The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, Napoleon Dynamite, Wedding Crashers, Transformers, Twilight, The Avengers and The Hunger Games: Caching Fire. Last night’s results are in on the 2015 awards (novelty awards included).

Best Movie:

The Fault in Our Stars
American Sniper
Boyhood
Gone Girl
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Selma
Whiplash

Best Male Performance:

Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy
Channing Tatum – Foxcatcher
Miles Teller – Whiplash

Best Female Performance:

Shailene Woodley – The Fault in Our Stars
Scarlett Johansson – Lucy
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Emma Stone – Birdman
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Best Breakthrough Performance:

Dylan O’Brien – The Maze Runner
Ellar Coltrane – Boyhood
Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars
David Oyelowo – Selma
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl

Best Scared Performance:

Jennifer Lopez – The Boy Next Door
Zack Gildford – The Purge: Anarchy
Dylan O’Brien – The Maze Runner
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Annabelle Wallis – Annabelle

Best On Screen Duo:

Zac Efron & Dave Franco – Bad Neighbours
Bradley Cooper & Vin Diesel – Guardians of the Galaxy
James Franco & Seth Rogen – The Interview
Channing Tatum & Jonah Hill – 22 Jump Street
Shailene Woodley & Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars

Best Shirtless Performance:

Zac Efron – Bad Neighbours
Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy
Channing Tatum – Foxcatcher
Kate Upton – The Other Woman

Best Fight:

Dylan O’Brien vs Will Poulter – The Maze Runner
Chris Evans vs Sebastian Stan – Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Jonah Hill vs Jillian Bell – 22 Jump Street
Edward Norton vs Michael Keaton – Birdman
Seth Rogen vs Zac Efron – Bad Neighbours

Best Kiss:

Ansel Elgort & Shailene Woodley – The Fault in Our Stars
Rose Byrne & Halston Sage – Bad Neighbours
James Franco & Seth Rogen – The Interview
Andrew Garfield & Emma Stone – The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Scarlett Johansson & Chris Evans – Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Best WTF Moment:

Seth Rogen & Rose Byrne – Bad Neighbours
Rosario Dawson & Anders Holm – Top Five
Jonah Hill – 22 Jump Street
Jason Sudeikis & Charlie Day – Horrible Bosses 2
Miles Teller – Whpilash

Best Villain:

Meryl Streep – Into the Woods
Jillian Bell – 22 Jump Street
Peter Dinklage – X-Men: Days of Future Past
(Spoilers) – Gone Girl
JK Simmons – Whiplash

Best Musical Moment:

Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Bill Hader & Kristen Wiig – The Skeleton Twins
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy
Seth Rogen & Zac Efron – Bad Neighbours
Miles Teller – Whiplash

Best Comedic Performance:

Channing Tatum – 22 Jump Street
Rose Byrne – Bad Neighbours
Kevin Hart – The Wedding Ringer
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy
Chris Rock – Top Five

Best On Screen Transformation:

Elizabeth Banks – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Steve Carell – Foxcacher
Ellar Coltrane – Boyhood
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
Zoe Saldana – Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Hero:

Dylan O’Brien – The Maze Runner
Shailene Woodley – Insurgent
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Martin Freeman – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy

Trailblazer Award:

Shailene Woodley (The Descendants, Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars, The Spectacular Now)

Comedic Genius Award:

Kevin Hart (Get Hard, Ride Along, Think Like a Man, The Wedding Ringer)

Generation Award:

Robert Downey Jr (The Avengers, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Sherlock Holmes, Zodiac)

Here’s the winners’ leaderboard:

Bad Neighbours, The Fault in Our Stars, The Maze Runner – 3
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – 2
22 Jump Street, American Sniper, The Boy Next Door, Into the Woods – 1

With various big names already attached to his fantasy adventure The BFG, famed director Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, Lincoln) has enlisted even more cast members for the project. Rebecca Hall, the Golden Globe and BAFTA nominated star of Iron Man 3, The Town, The Prestige and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, was the first major addition in an announcement that included Jemaine Clement (What We Do in the Shadows, Flight at the Conchords) and Penelope Wilton (Shaun of the Dead, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). The cast already includes Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall, Bridge of Spies), Bill Hader (Superbad, The Skeleton Twins) and Martin Freeman (Fargo, Sherlock, The Hobbit trilogy).

It’s so far unclear if the new film Creed will be an Oscar favourite or a limp reboot of the lagging Rocky franchise (one that began with a Best Picture win in 1976 steadily declined through four sequels in the 1980s and returned with the minor hit of 2006’s Rocky Balboa). The new addition of the franchise has Michael B Jordan (Chronicle, The Fantastic Four) reteaming with his Fruitvale Station (an acclaimed urban drama) director Ryan Coogler to play Creed’s grandson who recruits Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone – First Blood) as his new mentor to become a new boxing legend. The film’s first still has been revealed. Graham McTavish (The Hobbit, Outlander) and Tessa Thompson (Selma, Dear White People).

Creed – November 25th

The BFG – July 22nd 2016

Weekend box-office – 27th of September to 3rd October 2014 – will Neeson get lost in The Maze Runner or take A Walk Among the Tombstones?

The great American box-office dry spell ended last week as Idris Elba thriller No Good Deed took the top spot from Guardians of the Galaxy (the end of an era) although it was still a fairly mediocre debut. This week, three new major releases are competing: Liam Neeson’s dark thriller A Walk Among the Tombstones; Shawn Levy’s family drama This is Where I Leave You and young adult fantasy The Maze Runner. Two of these ought to be smash hits but the fact that they’re clashing may be their undoing. Last week, we tipped the box-office in favour of The Maze Runner but let’s find out what really went on.

US:

1. The Maze Runner – Director: Wes Ball – $32.5 million
2. A Walk Among the Tombstones – Scott Frank – $12.8 million
3. This is Where I Leave You – Shawn Levy – $11.6 million
4. No Good Deed – Sam Miller – $9.8 million
5. Dolphin Tale 2 – Charles Martin Smith – $8.9 million

UK:

1. The Boxtrolls – Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi – £1.3 million
2. A Walk Among the Tombstones – Scott Frank – £1.3 milion
3. Pride – Matthew Warchus – £0.6 million
4. Lucy – Luc Besson – £0.6 million
5. The Riot Club – Lone Scherfig – £0.5 million

The Maze Runner’s victory has been lessened by this packed week of releases. As franchise starters go, this is an overall success. This is less than the blockbusting likes of The Hunger Games, Twilight or Divergent although far greater than the car crashes like The Mortal Instruments. A $30 million debut has secured a sequel so we ought to be seeing a lot of the series over the next few years. Liam Neeson’s resurgence as an action star began with Taken and The Grey and has since found greater financial takings with the increasingly generic likes of Taken 2 and Non-Stop. His attempt at darker material has only gained muted responses from both UK and America.

In the UK, The Boxtrolls’ British appeal is extending its run although I wouldn’t be surprised if this success eludes it in America. Pride in continuing to prove popular but ruling class drama The Riot Club seems to have slumped, despite the popularity of its younger stars. This week I’ve scored 3/10.

US:

1. The Equalizer – Antoine Fuqua
2. The Boxtrolls – Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi
3. The Maze Runner – Wes Ball
4. Say When – Lynn Shelton
5. A Walk Among the Tombstones – Scott Frank

UK:

1. The Equalizer – Antione Fuqua
2. The Boxtrolls – Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi
3. What We Did on Our Holiday – Andy Hamilton, Guy Jenkin
4. A Walk Among the Tombstones – Scott Frank
5. Pride – Matthew Warchus

Dylan O’Brien in The Maze Runner, this week’s US number one.

Isaac Hempstead Wright in The Boxtrolls, this week’s UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 21st to 26th of September 2014 – will Guardians find No Good Deed?

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy have become the undisputed kings of the summer, as oppose to last year’s equally brilliant The Kings of Summer. This week its reign may come to an end as its faces thriller No Good Deed and family sequel Dolphin Tale 2, the first real competition for the top spot since last month’s action comedy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Meanwhile in the UK, miners strike drama Pride and animated fantasy The Boxtrolls are going head to head. Last week, we predicted that the aquatic drama would triumph but lets find out what really went down.

US:

1. No Good Deed – Director: Tim Miller – $24.5 million
2. Dolphin Tale 2 – Charles Martin Smith – $16.5 million
3. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – $8 million
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonathan Liebesman – $4.8 million
5. Let’s Be Cops – Luke Greenfield – $4.3 million

UK:

1. The Boxtrolls – Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi – £2 million
2. Lucy – Luc Besson – £0.8 million
3. Pride – Matthew Warchus – £0.7 million
4. Sex Tape – Jake Kasdan – £0.7 million
5. A Most Wanted Man – Anton Corbijn – £0.6 million

Idris Elba’s thriller vehicle No Good Deed has overcome a generally negative critical response for a decent box office debut. Dolphin Tale has regressed from the first films takings although its hardly a flop. Guardians of the Galaxy has of course slipped up from its place atop the box office but it was certainly fun while it lasted. The Boxtrolls has made a sizeable stab at success in the UK although it’ll be hoping for better in the US. Pride hasn’t won any great financial gains but it is delighting its audiences. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it creep back around by next year’s (UK based) awards season. The late great Philip Seymour Hoffman’s final lead performance in spy drama A Most Wanted Man rounds off the top 5. This week I’ve scored 4/10.

US:

1. The Maze Runner – Wes Ball
2. A Walk Among the Tombstones – Scott Frank
3. No Good Deed – Tim Miller
4. Dolphin Tale 2 – Charles Martin Smith
5. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn

UK:

1. The Boxtrolls – Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi
2. The Riot Club – Lone Scherfig
3. A Walk Among the Tombstones – Scott Frank
4. Magic in the Moonlight – Woody Allen
5. Pride – Matthew Warchus

Idris Elba in No Good Deed, this week’s US number one.

Isaac Hempstead Wright in The Boxtrolls, this week’s UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 13th to 19th of September 2014 – can Guardians continue box-office reign?

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy completely conquered the fairly barren month of August and is now continuing its run into the early autumn. This week the sci-fi phenomenon is competing for its fourth week on top of the box office and once more there’s very little competition. To its credit it’s capitalising on a surprising financial slump. Meanwhile in the UK, comedic box-office disappointment Sex Tape makes its debut, hoping for a much needed recovery. Find last week’s predictions here.

US:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy – Director: James Gunn – $10.2 million
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonathan Liebesman – $6.5 million
3. If I Stay – RJ Cutler – $5.7 million
4. Let’s Be Cops – Luke Greenfield – $5.4 million
5. The November Man – Roger Donaldson – $4.2 million

UK:

1. Sex Tape – Jake Kasdan – £1.4 million
2. Lucy – Luc Besson – £1.2 million
3. Before I Go to Sleep – Rowan Joffe – £0.8 million
4. The Hundred Foot Journey – Lasse Halstrom – £0.7 million
5. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – £0.7 million

The Guardians have done what no film this year has done: four weeks at the number one spot at the US box office, defying the worry that it’d be Marvel’s undoing. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is continuing impressive form while Let’s Be Cops is proving to be a sleeper hit. Pierce Brosnan’s spy thriller The November Man was intended to be a franchise starter but these numbers go against its favour. The UK saw three new entries, of which Sex Tape is number one. The film’ll be pleased with these statistics but it’ll hardly lift the spirits of a dismal box-office run. Star studded drama thriller Before I Go to Sleep has received a fairly mediocre reception also. This week I’ve scored a disappointing 3/10.

US:

1. Dolphin Tale 2 – Charles Martin Smith
2. No Good Deed – Sam Miller
3. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonathan Liebesman
5. If I Stay – RJ Cutler

UK:

1. The Boxtrolls – Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi
2. Pride – Matthew Warchus
3. Sex Tape – Jake Kasdan
4. Lucy – Luc Besson
5. A Most Wanted Man – Anton Corbijn

Zoe Saldana and Benicio Del Toro in Guardians of the Galaxy, this week’s US number one.

Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel in Sex Tape, this week’s UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 6th to 12th of September 2014 – will the Guardians rescue end of summer showdown?

It’s no secret that this summer’s American box office takings have been sub par. The pre-summer period was booming with X-Men: Days of Future Past, Godzilla, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Maleficent raking in the cash. Edge of Tomorrow had initial difficulty but eventually made back its budget. However, one or two of the summer’s surefire (The Hobbit 3, The Good Dinosaur) hits were delayed leaving a summer period with only one opening north of $100 million, Transformers: Age of Extinction. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Lucy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and How to Train Your Dragon 2 attempted to capitalise but weren’t quite as successful as Bay’s explosion-fest. Despite this, the year’s riskiest film is storming ahead in the charts and has becoming the highest grossing domestic release of the year so far. As predicted, Guardians of the Galaxy is wrapping up the summer in style.

US:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy – Director: James Gunn – $17.1 million
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonathan Liebesman – $11.9 million
3. If I Stay – RJ Cutler – $9.3 million
4. As Above So Below – John Erick Dowdle – $8.6 million
5. Let’s Be Cops – Luke Greenfield – $8.3 million

UK:

1. Lucy – Luc Besson – £2 million
2. Let’s Be Cops – Luke Greenfield – £1.7 million
3. The Inbetweeners 2 – Damon Beesley, Iain Morris – £1.3 million
4. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For – Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller – £1.1 million
5. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – £1 million

$17 million may not seem particularly impressive, and on most weeks it wouldn’t be, but Guardians has retained its top position for the third time on this, its fifth, week of release. It’s fallen less that 1% from last week. Paris-set horror As Above So Below has made a fairly hefty debut for its kind while Pierce Brosnan spy thriller The November Man hasn’t scratched the top five, landing in sixth. In the UK, sci-fi thriller Lucy has only dropped a third rather than the predict 50%. Crime comedy Let’s Be Cops has made a surprisingly decent entry, despite Jake Johnson’s lack of star appeal this side of the Atlantic. Sin City’s sequel A Dame to Kill For has faired remarkably better here than in the States but it’ll still have to go down as a huge flop. This week I’ve scored a rather embarrassing 1/10.

US:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonathan Liebesman
3. Forrest Gump (20th Anniversary re-release) – Robert Zemeckis
4. If I Stay – RJ Cutler
5. Let’s Be Cops – Luke Greenfield

UK:

1. Before I Go To Sleep – Rowan Joffe
2. Lucy – Luc Besson
3. Let’s Be Cops – Luke Greenfield
4. The Inbetweeners 2 – Damon Beesley Iain Morris
5. Sex Tape – Jake Kasdan

Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana and Vin Diesel in Guardians of the Galaxy, this week’s US number one.

Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, this week’s UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 30th of August to 5th of September 2014 – will Jessica Alba redeem Sin City?

Released in 2005, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City not only became a cult hit, praised for its unique comic book styling, but raked in box office goods with $160 million from a $40 million budget. Nine years on, Miller and Rodriguez are back with Sin City’s sequel A Dame to Kill For with the first film’s ensemble of Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Powers Boothe and Bruce Willis as well as the huge additions of Joseph Gordon Levitt, Eva Green, Ray Liotta and Josh Brolin. The production cost has been upped to $70 million this time around so big things are expected for this film to lift the spirits of a relatively deadbeat summer. It ought to succeed seeing as the only heavyweights have been kicking around for nearly a month. Last week we predicted that it’d enter the chart in second but let’s find out where it did finish. 

US:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy – Director: James Gunn – $17.2 million
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonathan Liebesman – $16.7 million
3. If I Stay – RJ Cutler – $15.7 million
4. Let’s Be Cops – Luke Greenfield – $10.8 million
5. When the Game Stands Tall – Thomas Carter – $8.4 million

UK:

1. Lucy – Luc Besson – £3.1 million
2. The Inbetweeners 2 – Damon Beesley, Iain Morris – £2.4 million
3. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – £1.3 million
4. Into the Storm – Steven Quale – £1.2 million
5. Deliver Us From Evil – Scott Derickson – £0.6 million

That’s right, Sin City 2 didn’t scratch the top 5 and in fact landed in eighth and will have to go down as perhaps the year’s biggest mainstream flop. It was beaten into submission by teen weepie If I Stay and sports drama When the Game Stands Tall. It’s R/18 rating may have been its undoing. Marvel’s space opera Guardians of the Galaxy is back on top of the box office in its fourth week of release, a new property overtaking behemoth sequel Transformers: Age of Extinction to become the biggest domestic hit of the summer. Sci-fi thriller Lucy has made a solid entry in a packed week in the UK. Disaster thriller Into the Storm and horror Deliver Us From Evil both made mediocre debuts while Daniel Radcliffe rom com What If failed to chart. This week’s shocks meant I scored a dismal 3/10.

US:

1. The November Man – Roger Donaldson
2. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn
3. As Above So Below – John Erick Dowdle
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonthan Liebesman
5. If I Stay – RJ Cutler

UK:

1. Lucy – Luc Besson
2. The Inbetweeners 2 – Damon Beesley, Iain Morris
3. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For – Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez
4. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn
5. Let’s Be Cops – Luke Greenfield

Zoe Saldana and Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy, this week’s US number one.

Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, this week’s UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 16th to 29th of August 2014 – will TMNT deem Stallone and co Expendable?

As you may know, we’ve been away a little while so for this week’s box-office scoop we’ll have to cover the past two weeks of ticket sales.

The beginning of the summer season of film produced hit after hit: Captain America 2, Spider-Man 2, Maleficent, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Godzilla and X-Men 7 all greatly impressed. The second half of it has had the odd exception such as Guardians of the Galaxy or Dawn of the Planet of the Apes but has generally underperformed. This week’s attempt at ending a disappointing summer is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, dim in prospect but the fans of the cartoon are in legion. Last week we predicted it’d top the chart but let’s find out how it really did.

US:

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Director: Jonathan Liebesman – $65.6 million
2. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – $42.1 million
3. Into the Storm – Steven Quale – $17.3 million
4. The Hundred-Foot Journey – Lasse Halstrom – $11 million
5. Lucy – Luc Besson – $9.5 million

UK:

1. The Inbetweeners 2 – Damon Beesley, Iain Morris – £12.5 million
2. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – £3.3 million
3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – £1.7 million
4. Planes: Fire and Rescue – Roberts Gannaway – £1 million
5. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – £9 million

TMNT hasn’t quite been the smash to elevate this summer from its sunken spirits but it’s still a very impressive debut, similar to this year’s 22 Jump Street and Maleficent. However, it might not have the same legs internationally. Anything over $500 million worldwide may be unlikely. Marvel’s interstellar Guardians have decreased drastically but a half-a-billion gross appears to be on the cards. Disaster thriller Into the Storm has made a fairly modest $20 million while Lasse Halstrom’s latest, The Hundred-Foot Journey, has made a surprise entry in this week’s top 5. In the UK, fans of the hit comedy show The Inbetweeners will likely be thrilled to hear that the second feature spin off of the series now has the title of this year’s highest UK opening weekend, ahead of Transformers: Age of Extinction. This week I’ve scored 8/10.

US:

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonathan Liebesman
2. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn
3. The Expendables 3 – Patrick Hughes
4. Let’s Be Cops – Luke Greenfield
5. The Giver – Phillip Noyce

UK:

1. The Inbetweeners 2 – Damon Beesley, Iain Morris
2. The Expendables 3 – Patrick Hughes
3. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn
4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves
5. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois

For the next week of releases, we’re trying to place three new releases in the US box office, no mean task. The Expendables 3, a sequel to a pair of greatly high grossing films and starring one of the year’s biggest ensembles (Stallone, Snipes, Statham, Schwarzenegger, Gibson, Ford, Banderes, Grammer, Li, Crews, Lundgren, Couture), may be set to flop giving a fighting chance to comedy Let’s Be Cops or drama The Giver.

US:

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonathan Liebesman – $28.5 million
2. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – $25.1 million
3. Let’s Be Cops – Luke Greenfield – $17.8 million
4. The Expendables 3 – Patrick Hughes – $15.9 million
5. The Giver – Phillip Noyce – $12.3 million

UK:

1. The Inbetweeners 2 – Damon Beesley, Iain Morris – £4.3 million
2. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – £2.1 million
3. The Expendables 3 – Patrick Hughes – £1.7 million
4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – £1.1 million
5. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – £0.6 million

Considering that previous instalments have taken $300 million plus, The Expendables 3 will have to go down as a huge flop. Well publicised pirating may have been its downfall but I’d think the fact that none of the Expendables have had a non-franchise commercial hit in years. The new TMNT instalment has dropped greatly from its opening weekend but that’ll be no worry to an already impressive domestic tally. On both sides of the Atlantic, Marvel’s space opera Guardians of the Galaxy is continuing to impress. British comedy sequel The Inbetweeners 2 has decreased two thirds of its debut taking of £12 million so the first film’s total of £50 million bay be out of reach. This week I’ve scored 6/10.

US:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn
2. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For – Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonathan Liebesman
4. If I Stay – RJ Cutler
5. The Expendables 3 – Patrick Hughes

UK:

1. Lucy – Luc Besson
2. The Inbetweeners 2 – Damon Beesley, Iain Morris
3. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For – Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez
4. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn
5. What If – Michael Dowse

Megan Fox and Pete Ploszek in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this week’s US number one.

Joe Thomas, James Buckley, Blake Harrison and Simon Bird in The Inbetweeners 2, this week’s US number one

Weekend box-office – 9th to 15th of August 2014 – will Marvel’s Guardians secure the box-office?

Marvel Studios’ triumphant formula of Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and The Avengers has confidently swept away competition, even Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice cowered away from the release clash with Captain America 3. They’ve now taken the seemingly bizarre detour of cramming a huge budget into relatively unknown material that has almost no connection to the franchise so far. Financial doom seemed imminent but then, shockingly, everybody loved it. Last week, we predicted that Guardians of the Galaxy would top both the UK and US box office but this kind of margin was unpredictable.

US:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy – Director: James Gunn – $94 million
2. Lucy – Luc Besson – $18.3 million
3. Get on Up – Tate Taylor – $14 million
4. Hercules – Brett Ratner – $10.7 million
5. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – $8.7 million

UK:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – £6.4 million
2. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – £3 million
3. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – £1.1 million
4. Hercules – Brett Ratner – £0.9 million
5. The Purge: Anarchy – James DeMonaco – £0.8 million

Guardians has smashed the box office making nearly five times its nearest competitor. This debut his higher than other big hitters such as Godzilla ($93 million), X-Men: Days of Future Past ($91 million), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($92 million), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ($72 million), The Lego Movie ($69 million), Maleficent ($69 million) and 22 Jump Street ($57 million) although not quite at the heights of Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($95 million) or Transformers: Age of Extinction ($100 million). Depending on how long it grips its place at the top of the box office, we could expect an international gross north of $500 million.

Meanwhile, sci-fi thriller Lucy has dropped sharply but the biggest loser will be action epic Hercules with a fall of 66%, its easily of the year’s great financial disappointments. James Brown biopic Get on Up has made the fairly mediocre entry of $14 million. In the UK, Guardians has made an impressive but, in comparison to its US takings, slightly underwhelming debut while Dawn of the Apes his holding its place brilliantly. This week I’ve scored 8/10.

US:

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonathan Liebesman
2. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn
3. Into the Storm – Steven Quale
4. Lucy – Luc Besson
5. Get on Up – Tate Taylor

UK:

1. The Inbetweeners 2 – Damon Beesley, Iain Morris
2. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn
3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves
4. Planes: Fire and Rescue – Roberts Gannaway
5. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois

Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista and Zoe Saldana in Guardians of the Galaxy, this week’s US and UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 2nd to 8th of August 2014 – can Lucy outsmart Hercules’ brawn?

It’s hugely ironic that this week we face a battle between a film whose concept revolves around maximising brain power and the tale of the strongest man in mythology. Lucy is the new thriller from Leon’s Luc Besson and stars Scarlett Johansson and it faces off with Hercules, the latest mythical team up of Dwayne Johnson and Brett Ratner. While neither films garnered great critical praise, it’ll be an intriguing race this week between the premise of brains or brawn. Last week, we predicted that Hercules would be victorious but let’s find out what really went down.

US:

1. Lucy – Director: Luc Besson – $43.9 million
2. Hercules – Brett Ratner – $29.8 million
3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – $16.8 million
4. The Purge: Anarchy – James DeMonaco – $10.5 million
5. Planes: Fire and Rescue – Roberts Gannaway – $9.5 million

UK:

1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – £3.8 million
2. Hercules – Brett Ratner – £1.5 million
3. The Purge: Anarchy – James DeMonaco – £1.2 million
4. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – £1 million
5. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay – £0.8 million

Johansson’s sci-fi has shocked us all with its triumph and if it continues this form internationally it could be one of the summer’s surprise hits. Not only does this prove to Marvel that The Winter Soldier star could easily carry her own Black Widow spin off but renews the integrity of Luc Besson who hasn’t had a major hit since The Fifth Element nearly twenty years ago. Hercules’ takings meanwhile are thoroughly disappointing. We know they’re similar to Edge of Tomorrow which eventually covered its costs with $360 million worldwide but Doug Liman’s flick had the immense advantage of excellent word of mouth, a space which Guardians of the Galaxy will completely consume. The Rock’s labours faired no better in the UK getting a battering from the second week of release of Dawn of the Apes. This week I scored 5/10.

US:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn
2. Lucy – Luc Besson
3. Get On Up – Tate Taylor
4. Hercules – Brett Ratner
5. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves

UK:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn
2. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves
3. Hercules – Brett Ratner
4. The Nut Job – Peter Lepeniotis
5. The Purge: Anarchy – James DeMonaco

Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, this week’s US number one.

Toby Kebbell in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, this week’s UK number one.