Box Office

No 1. still in Transformers' grip

Melissa McCarthy plays the lead role in Warner Bros.’ comedy Tammy. It came in second at last weekend’s box office and made about $21.5 million.
Melissa McCarthy plays the lead role in Warner Bros.’ comedy Tammy. It came in second at last weekend’s box office and made about $21.5 million.

Transformers: Age of Extinction, Paramount Pictures' summer blockbuster, dominated domestic theaters for a second week, outselling three new films opening in wide release over a lackluster Independence Day weekend.

Age of Extinction, projected to be the top-grossing picture in U.S. and Canadian theaters this summer, collected $37 million from July 4 to Sunday, box-office tracker Rentrak Corp. said. Tammy, a comedy starring Melissa McCarthy, placed second, with $21.5 million for Warner Bros. Columbia's Deliver Us From Evil produced $9.7 million to place fourth, while Earth to Echo, from Relativity Media LLC, took in $8.3 million for sixth place.

Transformers: Age of Extinction is providing a boost to Viacom Inc.'s film division, which ranked last among the six major studios in domestic sales, at $422.1 million as of June 29, and has the fewest releases so far this year, according to researcher Box Office Mojo. The first film in a new trilogy, the picture has been a bigger hit in China than the U.S., a rare feat for Hollywood, generating $134.5 million there in its first five days, compared with a domestic tally of $121 million.

"What's happening with this movie is pretty fascinating," said Phil Contrino, editor at BoxOffice.com. "This is a truly global property. It's off to a great start around the world."

The movie provided a bright spot for the industry in an otherwise slow weekend at the box office. Weekend revenue for the top 10 films fell 48 percent, to $113.3 million from the year-earlier period, Rentrak said. The drop also hurt domestic box-office sales year to date, which at $5.4 billion is a decrease of 3.9 percent from the same period in 2013.

In domestic cinemas, Hollywood's summer lineup has so far failed to match 2013's, with sales down 16 percent from May 2 to July 2, compared with a year earlier, according to Rentrak.

"It wasn't the kind of slate to inspire a record-breaking box office," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak. "A silver lining is that we don't have any big flops this summer."

Transformers: Age of Extinction opened in large international markets in Europe and South America over the weekend, in a strategy designed to minimize competition for audiences with soccer's World Cup tournament.

Age of Extinction may garner total domestic sales of $265 million and $1 billion worldwide, BoxOffice.com estimates. It's one of Paramount's most important pictures of the year, alongside Hercules, scheduled to open later this month, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, set to open in August.

Age of Extinction collected $100 million in its domestic debut in the weekend of June 27-29, overtaking the $95 million April opening of Captain America: The Winter Soldier from Walt Disney Co., to set the high mark for 2014.

Transformers was estimated to produce $38.5 million in U.S. cinemas in its second weekend, according to BoxOffice.com.

The film, which stars Mark Wahlberg for the first time in the series, picks up the story of battling robots that convert into cars and trucks. It features Chinese actors as Paramount seeks to increase the international appeal of the series.

Tammy, an R-rated comedy from Warner Bros., collected $21.5 million over the three days of the Fourth of July holiday weekend. It has garnered $33 million in the five days since its release July 2, according to Rentrak.

McCarthy, star of the 2013 comedy Identity Thief, plays Tammy, who returns home after being fired from a fast-food restaurant to find her husband having an affair with the neighbor. She embarks on a road trip with her alcoholic and diabetic grandmother, played by Susan Sarandon.

The film failed to enchant critics, drawing only a 28 percent positive rating on Rottentomatoes.com, a review aggregator.

"There are some laughs and, at least on screen, more than a few tears. But it doesn't come together with the kind of satisfying punch a comedy should deliver," Betsy Sharkey wrote in the Los Angeles Times.

In Deliver Us From Evil, Eric Bana stars as New York police officer Ralph Sarchie, investigating a series of crimes. He joins forces with a priest to fight demonic possessions that are terrorizing their city.

The film, which received a 34 percent positive rating from critics at Rottentomatoes.com, had been projected to garner $12.5 million over three days, according to BoxOffice.com. It has generated more than $15 million since it opened July 2.

Earth to Echo, a family sci-fi feature, placed sixth with $8.3 million. In echoes of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, the 1982 Steven Spielberg movie, the new film follows a group of kids who embark on an adventure with an alien who needs their help.

The picture got a 51 percent positive rating from critics on Rottentomatoes.com and has generated $13.5 million since opening July 2.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday (Tammy, Deliver Us From Evil, Earth to Echo opened July 2), followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Rentrak, are:

  1. Transformers: Age of Extinction, Paramount, $37,050,185, 4,233 locations, $8,753 average, $175,395,954, two weeks.

  2. Tammy, Warner Bros., $21,577,049, 3,465 locations, $6,227 average, $33,306,589, one week.

  3. 22 Jump Street, Columbia, $9,803,332, 3,324 locations, $2,949 average, $159,269,625, four weeks.

  4. Deliver Us From Evil, Columbia, $9,740,471, 3,049 locations, $3,195 average, $15,252,323, one week.

  5. How to Train Your Dragon 2, 20th Century Fox, $8,961,088, 3,297 locations, $2,718 average, $140,215,452, four weeks.

  6. Earth to Echo, Relativity Media, $8,364,658, 3,230 locations, $2,590 average, $13,567,557, one week.

  7. Maleficent, Disney, $7,159,176, 2,389 locations, $2,997 average, $214,919,664, six weeks.

  8. Jersey Boys, Warner Bros., $5,155,145, 2,630 locations, $1,960 average, $36,690,940, three weeks.

  9. Think Like a Man Too, Columbia, $4,874,105, 1,729 locations, $2,819 average, $57,172,829, three weeks.

  10. Edge of Tomorrow, Warner Bros., $3,660,337, 1,538 locations, $2,380 average, $90,887,490, five weeks.

  11. America, Lionsgate, $2,743,753, 1,105 locations, $2,483 average, $4,062,721, two weeks.

  12. The Fault in Our Stars, 20th Century Fox, $2,515,113, 1,865 locations, $1,349 average, $115,918,642, five weeks.

  13. X-Men: Days of Future Past, 20th Century Fox, $1,893,127, 1,044 locations, $1,813 average, $227,113,129, seven weeks.

  14. Chef, Open Road, $1,695,678, 686 locations, $2,472 average, $22,057,431, nine weeks.

  15. Begin Again, The Weinstein Co., $1,256,583, 175 locations, $7,180 average, $1,794,832, two weeks.

  16. Snowpiercer, Radius-TWC, $1,007,926, 250 locations, $4,032 average, $1,509,445, two weeks.

  17. The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Columbia, $460,403, 289 locations, $1,593 average, $200,938,015, 10 weeks.

  18. Godzilla, Warner Bros., $419,108, 352 locations, $1,191 average, $197,902,722, eight weeks.

  19. Neighbors, Universal, $417,425, 315 locations, $1,325 average, $148,039,055, nine weeks.

  20. Obvious Child, A24 Films, $374,447, 202 locations, $1,854 average, $1,918,521, five weeks.

MovieStyle on 07/11/2014

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