Vin Diesel Runs Over "Paul Blart" at Weekend Box Office

[JamesG]

Weekend Report: Furious 7 Beats Blart, Passes $1.1 Billion Worldwide
by Ray Subers
April 19, 2015


Furious 7 fended off solid newcomers Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 and Unfriended to top the domestic box office for the third weekend in a row.

More importantly, the movie had another stunning weekend overseas. Specifically, it continued to do massive business in China, where its earned over $250 million through its first eight days.



Furious 7 has now grossed $1.15 billion worldwide, which ranks seventh all-time. Even if it falls off quickly from here, it still has a real chance of making it past $1.4 billion by the end of its run.

Domestically, Furious 7 fell 51 percent to an estimated $29.1 million. In comparison, the last two Fast movies dropped 44 percent and 37 percent at the same point.



To date, Furious 7 has earned $294.4 million; it could still reach $350 million, but would need to hold up well against Avengers: Age of Ultron in two weeks.







Playing at 3,633 locations, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 opened to an estimated $24 million this weekend. That's the second-biggest solo debut ever for Kevin James behind the original Paul Blart, which took in $31.8 million in its opening back in January 2009.

Of course, the original Paul Blart wound up earning $146.3 million total, which was over four-and-a-half times its opening weekend. It's hard to imagine that the sequel performs similarly: it has a rare zero percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, weak word-of-mouth ("B-" CinemaScore), and a more competitive upcoming schedule (specifically, Avengers).

A final tally around $70 million seems likely. That's a fine result considering the movie's modest budget, though earning less than half as much as its predecessor is nothing to do cartwheels over.







In third place, microbudget horror movie Unfriended opened to an estimated $16 million from 2,739 locations.

Excluding Ouija — which is based on existing intellectual property — this is the biggest debut for an original horror movie since The Conjuring in July 2013. Considering how little Universal seemed to spend on a very targeted marketing effort, this initial result is definitely a win.



Still, the movie could fall off quickly in the coming weeks. While it has a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, word-of-mouth is poor ("C" CinemaScore), and the movie's younger audience (74 percent under 25) can be unreliable after opening weekend.

Look for this to ultimately crawl to $40 million.







DreamWorks Animation's Home fell 44 percent to an estimated $10.3 million.

The movie has so far earned $142.6 million, which is basically identical to The Croods through the same point (though its now earning less than The Croods on a weekly basis).







The Longest Ride rounded out the Top Five with an estimated $6.85 million. That's off 47 percent from opening weekend; in comparison, last year's The Best of Me dropped 54 percent in its second weekend.

To date, The Longest Ride has earned $23.5 million.







Disneynature documentary Monkey Kingdom opened to an estimated $4.72 million this weekend. Despite having the widest release yet for a Disneynature movie, it wound up with the lowest debut behind last year's Bears ($4.78 million).

Earth Day is on Wednesday, which could give it a bit of a boost; add in good reviews and word-of-mouth ("A-" CinemaScore) and there's a chance this eventually gets to $15 million.







Woman in Gold expanded to 2,011 locations and added $4.6 million (down just 16 percent).

With $15.9 million and counting, the Helen Mirren/Ryan Reynolds drama is turning in to a solid little hit for The Weinstein Company.







True Story debuted to $1.93 million from 831 theaters this weekend. That's not a particularly good start considering the star power here (James Franco and Jonah Hill), though the movie didn't have much of a marketing push behind it.

Ultimately, this should wind up in the $5 to $7 million range.







After three weeks in limited release, Noah Baumbach's While We're Young expanded nationwide to 713 locations and earned an estimated $1.58 million.

It's now grossed $4.15 million, and still has a slim chance of matching Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale ($7.4 million).







Fellow A24 release Ex Machina expanded to 39 locations, where it took in an estimated $814,000. That translates to a very strong $20,872 per-theater average.

The well-reviewed sci-fi movie is expected to expand nationwide next weekend.







Tom Hardy/Gary Oldman drama Child 44 opened to a terrible $600,000 from 510 theaters this weekend.

Expect this movie to disappear from theaters by the time Avengers opens on May 1.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4056&p=.htm









April 17-19, 2015 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Furious 7 $29,056,000 / $294,410,000
2. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 $24,000,000
3. Unfriended $16,023,000
4. Home $10,300,000 / $142,609,000
5. The Longest Ride $6,850,000 / $23,511,000
6. Get Hard $4,830,000 / $78,279,000
7. Monkey Kingdom $4,715,000
8. Woman in Gold $4,587,000 / $15,943,000
9. The Divergent Series: Insurgent $4,150,000 / $120,605,000
10. Cinderella $3,871,000 / $186,324,000

[Psychster]

Seven movies. All those cars zooming around.

And nobody managed to run over Vin Diesel???

[Tubehead]

I enjoy the fast & furious a lot I m not really a car guy buts their action packed . I enjoyed mall cop 2 more the fast & furious 7 both were good movie heres comes the Avengers: Age of Ultron its going to blow both of the movies out of the water.