'Jurassic World' beats out 'Inside Out,' 'Ted 2'
The battle for the weekend's box office crown went right down to the wire with two blockbuster films, Universal's Jurassic World and Pixar's Inside Out, fighting it out.
In the end, Jurassic World emerged victorious in its third weekend of release with $54.2 million, crossing the $500 million mark in 17 days, faster than any film in North American box office history.
Inside Out earned $52.1 millionin its second weekend, bringing its total to $184.9 million.
"These two powerhouses really did duke it out," says Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Rentrak. "But Jurassic World is so strong that in its third weekend, it's making what most films would covet for an opening weekend. It's a blockbuster with amazing consistency, and continues to surge at the box office.
"Meanwhile, Inside Out is powering along. The film is so inventive that audiences are really enjoying the ride."
Inside Out, which takes place inside the mind of an 11-year-old girl, continues to have a stellar 98% critical rating and 92% positive audience rating on RottenTomatoes.com.
Seth MacFarlane's raunchy R-rated comedy Ted 2 pulled into third place with $32.9 million. It was a dramatically different story from the original Ted, about a foul-mouthed teddy bear and his best friend (Mark Wahlberg), which stormed to a box office win with $54.4 million.
"This is a big step backward from 2012," says Jeff Bock, box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. "The competition had a lot to do with that. But it tells you that (the filmmakers) didn't add enough to the sequel to make people want to see it. Usually, you see a big jump the other way with a comedy sequel."
Ted 2 was mauled by critics with a 46% critical rating on RottenTomatoes.com. Audiences graded it a B+ on CinemaScore.com.
Bock says that the film could hold strong over the upcoming holiday weekend and could play well overseas. "So we could still see that Ted three-quel," he says.
Max, the story of a Marine dog moving back to the USA after seeing war in Afghanistan, took fourth place with $12.2 million.
The tale was a dog with critics, scoring a 38% critical rating on RottenTomatoes.com. Audiences gave it an A at CinemaScore.
Melissa McCarthy's starring role in Spy rounded out the top five in its fourth weekend with $7.8 million, giving it nearly $90 million in box office total.
Final numbers are expected Monday.
