There was an interesting mix hitting theaters over the weekend. A few big budget original films up against a sequel to a 20 year old hit. “Dumb and Dumber To” was the narrow winner slightly ahead of “Big Hero 6” which took a 38% drop. “Interstellar” faired a little bit worse, down 40% to $28 million.
The original “Dumb and Dumber” was actually one of the top movies of 1994 and made over $200 million worldwide, the sequel is on track to make around $100 million. Jim Carrey should be happy as this is his biggest film since “Bruce Almighty.” His joy may not last as the next “Hunger Games” will definitely be knocking it from the top spot and “Horrible Bosses 2” will be cutting into the genre’s cut of the box office.
“Gone Girl” has remained in the top five and only dropped 26%, it has now made over $150 million. “Birdman” moved into a few more theaters and had it’s biggest weekend yet at $2.45 million, while “Rosewater” made $1.2 million during its first weekend. You can read our review of those films here: Rosewater Birdman
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross | % Change | Total Gross | Week # | ||||||
| 1 | Dumb and Dumber To | $36,111,775 | – | $36,111,775 | 1 | ||||||
| 2 | Big Hero 6 | $34,662,707 | -38.3% | $110,306,598 | 2 | ||||||
| 3 | Interstellar | $28,307,626 | -40.4% | $96,927,481 | 2 | ||||||
| 4 | Beyond the Lights | $6,200,284 | – | $6,200,284 | 1 | ||||||
| 5 | Gone Girl | $4,561,432 | -26.5% | $152,635,317 | 7 | ||||||
A quick note on budgets and dollar figures:
Films making back their budgets is a good sign, but that is just the money to film. It doesn’t include distribution and marketing. Marketing can cost as much as a film. That big Superbowl spot is spendy. So take that into account when judging a films success. Hitting $100 million isn’t the same as it once was.
All dollar amounts in the top 5 come from estimates based on ticket sales unless noted otherwise. Occasionally this article will be published when actual results come out, which is usually late Monday afternoon. For more about this and other ins and outs of movie tracking click here.