Weekend box office: Ride Along 2 beats out Star Wars: The Force Awakens
It’s a bit of good news and bad news for this weekend’s number one film, RIDE ALONG 2. On one hand, it took the top spot at the weekend box office and beat out STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS and THE REVENANT. But on the other hand, it grossed about $6 million less than its predecessor, which isn’t a good sign for a sequel. That tells me not many people were interested in revisiting the Ice Cube and Kevin Hart team up. Before this weekend, I thought they would keep making these movies indefinitely since they were easy, quick and cheap to produce, but now I’m not so sure. Still, I don’t think the franchise will die with the second and I’m sure Universal will wait until the third to call it over. The other new movie of the weekend was Michael Bay’s 13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI. Given the lack of star power and the timing of its release, $16 million isn’t bad for this kind of film. Michael Bay’s other non-blockbuster film, PAIN & GAIN had The Rock and Mark Wahlberg and it only managed a $20 million opening.
Next week should be an interesting weekend. First up we have DIRTY GRANDPA with Robert De Niro and Zac Efron and I’m not sure what to make of it. My gut tells me it won’t go far enough and probably won’t connect with audiences. Then we have THE 5TH WAVE, which is yet another attempt to turn a successful YA novel into a movie franchise. I think audiences are sick of so many bad YA adaptations that no matter how good a film we get, audiences just aren’t going to show up. So I’m going with RIDE ALONG 2 taking the box office again, but I’m not ruling out the possibility that STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS could swoop in and take an otherwise slow weekend. Note: the numbers below will be updated as they become final.
1. Ride Along 2 $34.1m
2. The Revenant $31.4m
3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens $26.2m
4. 13 Hours $16.8m
5. Daddy’s Home $8.9m
6. Norm of the North $6.4m
7. The Big Short $5.2m
8. The Forest $5.1m
9. Sisters $5m
10. The Hateful Eight $3.4m
(Deadline)
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