So far this year, not one film has managed the coveted spot of $100 million in its US box-office opening weekend or gone onto $1 billion worldwide (although only 18 films ever have), Maleficent and 22 Jump Street managed about $60 million on their debuts while X-Men 7, Captain America 2, Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Godzilla edged towards $90 million. Despite the fact that all but one of them have been terrible, Michael Bay’s fourth robot adventure Transformers: Age of Extinction is set to roar in its opening weekend. Last week, we predicted that the film would go top but, for the sake of cinema, we sincerely hope it doesn’t.
US:
Transformers: Age of Extinction – Director:Michael Bay – $100 million
22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – $15.4 million
How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – $13.1 million
Think Like a Man Too – Tim Story – $10.4 million
Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – $8.2 million
UK:
Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie – Ben Kellett – £4.3 million
The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone – £1.7 million
22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – £1.2 million
Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – £0.8 million
Chef – Jon Favreau – £0.6 million
Well my attempts to boycott Transformers have drastically failed but at least it’s taken less than its franchise predecessors. I’d be greatly surprised if it doesn’t go on to surpass $800 million at least. Animation, fantasy sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2 underperformed on its debut but it is recovering with its financial long livety while Maleficent continues its impressive run by storming past the $600 million mark. In the UK, the critically shunned, Irish TV adaptation Mrs Brown’s Boys has topped the box-office, mainly due to its massive success in Ireland while teen weepie, which dropped down to fifth in its second week in the US, has slipped up only one place this time round. This week I’ve scored a disappointing 3/10.
US:
Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay
Deliver Us From Evil – Scott Derickson
22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Tammy – Ben Falcone
How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois
UK:
Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie – Ben Kellett
22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone
Maleficent – Robert Stromberg
Tammy – Ben Falcone
Peter Cullen in Transformers: Age of Extinction, this week’s US number one.
Brendan O’Carroll in Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie, this week’s UK number one
Looking at any annual film schedule, its evident that the first half of the year can never quite live up to the second and 2014 is no exception. This year really did get off to a rotten start with 47 Ronin, The Legend of Hercules and I Frankenstein dragging their heals at the box-office but this did pave a way for others; The Wolf of Wall Street and Ride Along both enjoyed three consecutive weeks at the top of the UK and US box-office respectively. Following that came some genuine surprises. Wes Anderson’s ensemble comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel reached 1st and 3rd in the UK and US against all odds and The Lego Movie, one of the most poorly marketed films in recent years, was an unexpected treat and certainly and future cult classic.
The biblical format seemed to increase in popularity around Easter with the low-key Christian dramas Heaven is For Real, Son of God and God’s Not Dead taking nearly thirty times their micro-budgets but these religious flicks aren’t proving successful outside of America, besides Aronofsky’s star-driven epic Noah. The “Katniss-effect” of The Hunger Games has evidently given studios the faith to put stronger female characters into the fray of action and adventure with Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent and Shailene Woodley’s Divergent winning out over Johnny Depp’s Transcendence or Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Sabotage financially. Edge of Tomorrow even managed it to the extent of Tom Cruise needing saving from Emily Blunt’s ultimate warrior.
In the last six months, certain individuals are lighting up the box-office left, right and centre. Former comedian Kevin Hart has lead a trio of success, Ride Along, About Last Night and Think Like a Man Too, while the Jump Street quartet (director Phil Lord and Chris Miller/stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill) have a cinematic Midas-touch. It’s evident that Lego’s Chris Pratt can do no wrong and, with Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy coming soon, he’s well on his way to man-of-the-year status. The biggest winners of the year have to be Marvel. Even though their heroes are divided across Sony, Fox and Disney, Stan Lee’s creations of Spider-Man, Captain America (kind-of) and the X-Men are currently the three biggest films of the year so far and they’ll only continue to grow bigger.
Below you can find the international box-office top ten followed by our own personal picks of the year so far as well as the ten to look for in the rest of 2014:
International Box-office Top 10:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Director:Anthony and Joe Russo – Starring:Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones – Box-office:$710.8 million
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper – $703.3 million
X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till – $700 million
Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville – $531.8 million
Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche – $478.7 million
Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Bruno Mars, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Foxx, will.i.am – $469.4 million
The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders – $467.2 million
Noah – Darren Aronofsky – Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Anthony Hopkins – $356.2 million
300: Rise of an Empire – Noam Murro – Eva Green, Sullivan Stapleton, Lena Headey, Jack O’Connell, Rodrigo Santoro, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham – $331.1 million
Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong – $298.8 million
Tuorhoth’s Top 10:
X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till
Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche
The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones
Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong
The Two Faces of January – Hossein Amini – Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, Kirsten Dunst
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Justin Chadwick – Idris Elba, Naomi Harris
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – Kenneth Branagh – Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Costner, Nonso Anozie, Gemma Chan
RoboCop – Jose Padilha – Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Ehle, Jackie Earle Haley, Aimee Garcia, Michael K Williams, Samuel L Jackson
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper
Top 10 Anticipated:
Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – Matthew MacConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Topher Grace, Casey Affleck, David Oyelowo, John Lithgow, Matt Damon
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Aidan Turner, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee
Gone Girl – David Fincher – Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Rosamund Pike
Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong
Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, John C Reilly
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – Jason Clarke, Andy Serkis, James Franco, Judy Greer, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit McPhee
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Jena Malone, Sam Clafin, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Natalie Dormer, Philip Seymour, Hoffman
Fury – David Ayer – Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Jason Isaacs, Michael Pena, Shia LeBeouf
Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott – Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley
The Judge – David Dobkin – Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton, Vera Farmiga
It’s not usual for a box-office showdown to be contended by three comedy sequels but that exact battle is taking place in the US this weekend. First off is How to Train Your Dragon 2 which was left slightly deflated by its second place entry last week but was hoping for the legs that often tread with films aimed at younger audiences. Next up was 22 Jump Street whose combination of modern wit and knowing with supreme ’80s silliness is proving massively popular for the 15+ male audience. Finally, brushing off its critical thrashing and hoping the US can look past that is Think Like A Man Too which could thrive off the largely empty weekend and Kevin Hart’s popularity. Last week we predicted that Dragon would creep up one place to the top but last find out what really went down.
US:
Think Like a Man Too – Director: Tim Story – $29.2 million
22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – $27.5 million
How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – $24.7 million
Jersey Boys – Clint Eastwood – $13.3 million
Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – $13 million
UK:
The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone – £3.4 million
22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – £1.5 million
Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – £1 million
X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – £0.6 million
Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – £0.5 million
Think Like a Man has inexplicably defeated a pair of rare critically lauded comedy sequels but any further success will be shunted down by next week’s big release. Lord and Miller meanwhile are on fine form with the two biggest comedy hits of the year (Jump Street and Lego Movie) but we’ll have to wait and see if Dreamworks’ Dragon sequel can make a worldwide impact. Clint Eastwood’s musical flick Jersey Boys made a flat entry but in the UK teen drama Fault in Our Stars has has proved to be a modest success. This week I scored a disappointing 2/10.
US:
Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay
How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois
22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Think Like a Man Too – Tim Story
Snowpiercer – Joon-ho Bong
UK:
The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone
22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Chef – Jon Favreau
Maleficent – Robert Stromberg
X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer
Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley in The Fault in Our Stars, this week’s UK number one.
Kevin Hart in Think Like a Man Too, this week’s US number one.
Two huge but very different comedy sequels are going head to head in this week’s box-office in the biggest clash of the year so far. We’re experiencing a showdown between the follow up to the modern classic buddy cop infiltration 21 Jump Street and sequel to the massively successful fantasy animation How to Train Your Dragon. Meanwhile in the UK, the lack of major openings could allow Jump Street to extend its run and lo-fi horror Oculus to break the top 5. Last week, we predicted that the Dragons would rule but let’s find us what really went down.
US:
22 Jump Street – Directors: Phil Lord, Chris Miller – $60 million
How to Train Your Dragon – Dean DeBlois – $50 million
Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – $19 million
Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – $16.2 million
The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone – $15.7 million
UK:
22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – £2.3 million
Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – £1.6 million
X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – £0.9 million
Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – £0.7 million
Oculus – Mike Flanagan – £0.4 million
Much to our surprise, 22 Jump Street is proving hugely popular and has triumphed over How to Train Your Dragon. Lord/Miller/Tatum/Hill are proving to be the greatest comedy quartet of the decade. Dreamworks might be slightly disappointed with Dragon 2’s second place debut but its still taken a huge lump of money. Sci-fi thriller Edge of Tomorrow is holding up better than expected but teen romance The Fault in Our Stars has dropped remarkably far this week, putting serious doubt on its financial legs. Meanwhile in the UK, Oculus has fully capitalised on the empty weekend but it’ll be glad to come away with something. This week’s shocks have score me a dismal 2/10, taking my running total to 165/330.
US:
How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean Deblois
22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Jersey Boys – Clint Eastwood
Maleficent – Robert Stromberg
Think Like a Man Too – Tim Story
UK:
The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone
22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Jersey Boys – Clint Eastwood
Maleficent – Robert Stromberg
X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer
Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill in 22 Jump Street, this week’s US and UK number one.
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