'Ant-Man' inches past 'Pixels' to No. 1
Despite leading the newcomers, Pac-Man couldn't devour the competition.
Video-game adaptation Pixels was nudged out by Ant-Man, which won the box office for a second weekend with $24.8 million, according to tracking firm Rentrak. Disney's latest superhero installment, which stars Paul Rudd as the miniature vigilante, has now crawled to $106.1 million — far below the two-week haul of last summer's Marvel Cinematic Universe addition, Guardians of the Galaxy ($176.5 million).
Coming in at No. 2, the Chris Columbus-directed Pixels netted $24 million, in line with expectations. The sci-fi adventure stars Adam Sandler, Josh Gad, Michelle Monaghan and Peter Dinklage as a ragtag crew tasked with saving the world from aliens disguised as '80s arcade-game characters, including Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Galaga.
Pixels was clobbered by critics, who slapped it with a paltry 19% approval rating on review aggregate site RottenTomatoes.com (audiences weren't much kinder, with only 58% approving). Still, it's a better opening than Sandler's misfire Blended with Drew Barrymore, which made its debut with a meager $14 million last May. It's also on par with his opening for Jack and Jill in November 2011 ($25 million).
With an estimated budget of $110 million, Pixels will "have to rely on that nostalgia factor for old-time video-game characters" and hope for a strong international take, says Rentrak senior analyst Paul Dergarabedian. As for Sandler, "the good news is that he has another $24 million to add to his box office. It's a fine opening for the film."
In third, Minions scurried to $22.1 million for a massive worldwide haul of $759.4 million, while Amy Schumer's Trainwreck held strong with $17.3 million in fourth, dropping just 43% its second weekend. The raunchy rom-com has now earned $61.5 million.
Rounding out the top five, boxing film Southpaw was a knockout with $16.5 million its first weekend. Starring a bulked-up Jake Gyllenhaal, the dramatic heavyweight took a beating from critics (58% liked it, according to Rotten Tomatoes), although it scored better with audiences — garnering 82% approval from moviegoers, 60% of which were men.
Landing in sixth, coming-of-age drama Paper Towns built a sturdy, if disappointing, $12.5 million. Based on John Green's young-adult novel, the teen romance comes in much lower than last June's The Fault In Our Stars. That film, which starred Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort as star-crossed cancer patients, opened to $48 million on its way to $124.9 million.
Paper stars model-turned-actress Cara Delevingne as an elusive girl who, after a night of misadventures with her smitten next-door neighbor (Nat Wolff), disappears. The film received OK reviews from critics (58% approval on Rotten Tomatoes), but was better received by young audiences (78% of moviegoers were under 25 and 71% were female). Paste BN's Brian Truitt awarded it three stars out of four, calling it a "satisfying look at young unrequited love, bromances, independence and letting go," benefited by "heaps of teenage charm."
With stronger reviews and a serious subject matter, Fault "crossed over to older audiences, and this was more of a lighthearted, mystery adventure," Dergarabedian says. "Sometimes you're the victim of your own success. John Green set the bar so high for himself with The Fault In Our Stars that expectations were overblown for this one." But with a modest budget of an estimated $12 million, "it will ultimately make money. It's still a good idea to be in the John Green business."
At the specialty box office, Ian McKellen's Sherlock Holmes vehicle Mr. Holmes added 325 theaters, sleuthing out another $2.8 million ($6.4 million total) and ninth place in its second week. Woody Allen's Irrational Man killed with an additional $261,000 in 28 theaters, while Amy Winehouse documentary Amy continued to sing with $700,000 in 370 locations.
Final numbers are expected Monday.