It was unclear who would finish on top at the box-office this past weekend with Pixels making its debut in theaters. However, it seems that we should have learned our lesson to not underestimate the tiniest hero in the Marvel cinematic universe. Ant-Man narrowly held on to first place for the second week, with an estimated $24.7 million dollars over the weekend. If the numbers hold up, it represents a 56% drop from its first week, a figure that was probably a little higher than Marvel was hoping. Regardless, it holds on to the top spot for another week before Vacation and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation are released next week.
Pixels made its debut in second place, surely disappointing Sony and Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison. It made an estimated $24 million dollars over the weekend and has been bombarded with negative reviews. It seems that the brand recognition of Pacman, Donkey Kong, and various other classic games, was the only draw for nostalgic audiences. This is an ominous sign for Sandler who is moving his live-action films to the small screen with Netflix next.
Minions made another estimated $22.1 million dollars in its third week of release. The smash-hit spin-off to the Despicable Me franchise continued its impressive run as it crossed the $260 million domestic dollar mark in only three weeks. Expect to see the little yellow guys both on the screen and on store shelves near you for years to come.
Trainwreck held on to its audience surprisingly well as it managed to make another $17 million dollars in its second week of release. The Judd Apatow comedy only lost 42% of its audience from last week, as adult comedy proves to have a firm niche in the movie market. This bodes well for the Wednesday release of Vacation .
Antoine Fuqua’s Southpaw had a surprisingly strong debut with an estimated $16.5 million dollars, which was made with a modest production budget around $30 million dollars. There aren’t many quality dramas in wide release and Jake Gyllenhaal has also been on a hot streak after Nightcrawler last year and his upcoming mountain climbing adventure Everest is expected to make noise as well. The relative success of Southpaw is also a sign that audiences are still eager to see a drama play out in the boxing ring, which is a good omen for upcoming films such as Creed.
Check out the complete box-office breakdown for the weekend of July 24th-26th, 2015.
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count / Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | 1 | Ant-Man | BV | $24,765,000 | -56.7% | 3,868 | +12 | $6,403 | $106,075,000 | $130 | 2 |
| 2 | N | Pixels | Sony | $24,000,000 | – | 3,723 | – | $6,446 | $24,000,000 | $88 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 | Minions | Uni. | $22,100,000 | -55.1% | 4,066 | -245 | $5,435 | $261,620,000 | $74 | 3 |
| 4 | 3 | Trainwreck | Uni. | $17,300,000 | -42.5% | 3,171 | +13 | $5,456 | $61,545,000 | $35 | 2 |
| 5 | N | Southpaw | Wein. | $16,500,000 | – | 2,772 | – | $5,952 | $16,500,000 | $30 | 1 |
| 6 | N | Paper Towns | Fox | $12,500,000 | – | 3,031 | – | $4,124 | $12,500,000 | $12 | 1 |
| 7 | 4 | Inside Out | BV | $7,356,000 | -36.3% | 2,717 | -546 | $2,707 | $320,335,000 | $175 | 6 |
| 8 | 5 | Jurassic World | Uni. | $6,900,000 | -39.8% | 2,645 | -472 | $2,609 | $623,803,000 | $150 | 7 |
| 9 | 11 | Mr. Holmes | RAtt. | $2,849,000 | +17.0% | 686 | +325 | $4,153 | $6,432,000 | – | 2 |
| 10 | 6 | Terminator: Genisys | Par. | $2,400,000 | -55.6% | 1,702 | -1,112 | $1,410 | $85,666,000 | $155 | 4 |
What did you catch over the weekend? Was it any good? Let us know on the comment boards, , , and !
Source: Box Office Mojo