“Ant-Man” Battling “Pixels” At Weekend Box Office
“Southpaw“, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a boxer at the end of his bruising career, made its debut over the weekend, with a respectable $16.5 million box office take that put it in fifth place.
Marvel’s Ant-Man, which stars the ageless wonder we mere mortals call Paul Rudd, came in at number one at the box office for the second week.
Minions, however, isn’t far behind, and now stands at a probable $22.3 million for third place.
The Disney animated flick “Inside Out” slipped to seventh, netting $7.3 million its sixth week in North American theaters. Paper Towns, starring Cara Delevingne and the world’s greatest eyebrows, was expected to rake in around $20 million, but saw a massive 45-percent drop-off between its Friday and Saturday grosses, earning just $12.5 total this weekend.
“I’m really somewhat mystified”, said Chris Aronson, domestic distribution chief at Fox.
It was so close, but we’ve got a victor! The film’s star was front and center, doing interviews on everything from Fresh Air to Sports Center, while recounting the physical transformation he underwent to believably play a fighter.
In the case of “Pixels”, the Sony release cost $88 million to produce, a figure that is moderate by summer blockbuster standards, and the studio touted its overseas performance. Its cumulative gross is now $61.5 million. In the U.S., the opening weekend crowd was 62% under the age of 25 and 55% male.
Another leaked Sony beef was reportedly over how exhausted the studio was of making Sandler films – and how despite that, the star’s powerful pull at the box office necessitated continuing to do business with him. More recently, he has struggled mightily – headlining flops and duds like “Blended” and “That’s My Boy”. Its biggest film on tap is the new James Bond film “Spectre” due out in November.