A pair of sequels — Sony/MGM’s 22 Jump Street and DreamWorks Animation/Fox’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 — are proving a potent combination at the domestic box office.
In a major victory for stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, 22 Jump Street is winning the Father’s Day weekend race. The movie topped Friday’s chart with $25 million for a projected $60 million-plus weekend — the second-best showing of all time for an R-rated comedy after The Hangover: Part II, which debuted to $85.9 million in late May 2011.
22 Jump Street, earning stellar reviews, nabbed an A- CinemaScore from moviegoers, compared to a B for the first 21 Jump Street, which opened to $36.3 million in summer 2012 on its way to grossing $201.6 million globally.
In this installment, Hill and Tatum, playing two bumbling undercover cops, are assigned to infiltrate a local college.
Last weekend, the new Jump Street launched to an eye-popping $8.1 million in the U.K., compared to $2.5 million for 21 Jump Street, which was released in March 2012. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie) directed both the original and the sequel. Moviegoers, both male and female, between the ages of 17 and 34 are the most ardent fans of Jump Street.
Dragon 2 easily came in No. 2 Friday with $18.5 million, putting the summer’s first animated family film on course for a $53 million debut, a needed shot-in-the-arm for Jeffrey Katzenberg’s DWA, which has suffered a string of box-office misfires, including its most recent film, Mr. Peabody & Sherman.
The critically acclaimed movie — earning a pleasing A CinemaScore to boot — is opening ahead well ahead of the $43.7 million debut of the first Dragon in March 2010 (that title earned $495 million worldwide) and will mark DWA’s best opening in two years.
Dean DeBlois returned to direct Dragon 2, which follows the heroic Viking Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his faithful dragon as they try to save the world from the power-hungry Drago. The voice cast also features Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera and Hill.
Overseas, Dragon 2 is opening in 20 international markets this weekend, including Russia. The family film hopes to benefit by providing counterprogramming to the World Cup, which got underway in Brazil on Thursday.
Elsewhere at the North American box office, Fox’s YA adaptation The Fault in Our Stars placed No. 3 Friday with $6.4 million. The wrenching romantic drama is expected to tumble 65 percent in its second weekend to $17 million for a domestic total of $82.9 million. The movie’s drop underscores how fan-fueled the property is (younger females make up the vast majority of the audience).
Fault will likely switch places with Disney’s Maleficent for the weekend and come in No. 4. Starring Angelina Jolie, Maleficent remains a powerhouse in its third weekend with a projected gross of $19 million, putting its domestic total at roughly $163 million.
Tom Cruise’s troubled sc-fi epic Edge of Tomorrow isn’t finding much relief in its second weekend. The Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow title fell to No. 5 with $4.6 million for a North American cume of $45 million. Edge is expected to earn in the $15 million range for the weekend for a total of roughly $56 million, a problematic number considering the movie’s $178 million budget.
Furthering Fox’s winning streak, X-Men: Days of Future Past will cross the $200 million mark this weekend , eclipsing Godzilla and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which will finish the frame with estimated domestic totals of $191 million and $198 million, respectively.
Here are the top 10 estimates for Friday, June 13, at the domestic box office:
Title, Weeks in Release/Theater Count, Studio, Friday Total, Cume
1. 22 Jump Street, 1/3,306, Sony/MGM, $25 million.
2. How to Train Your Dragon 2, 1/4,253, Fox/DWA, $18.5 million.
3. The Fault in Our Stars, 2/3,273, Fox, $6.4 million, $72.3
4. Maleficent, 3/3,623, Disney, $5.8 million, $150.4 million.
5. Edge of Tomorrow, 2/3,505, Warner Bros./Village Roadshow, $4.6 million, $45 million.
6. X-Men: Days of Future Past, 4/3,042, Fox, $2.6 million, $199.1 million.
7. A Million Ways to Die in the West, 3/2,413, Universal/MRC, $917K million, $34.8 million.
8. Godzilla, 5/2,088, Warner Bros./Legendary, $870K million, $189 million.
9. Neighbors, 6/1,896, Universal, $796K million, $141.5 million.
10. Chef, 6/1,102, Open Road Films, $605K, $12.4 million.
