Chappie Tops Slow Box Office, Unfinished Business Bombs

In a weekend that saw the box office drop almost 40% in sales from the same weekend last year, Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie topped with just $13.3 million from 3,201 theaters domestically, for an average of $4,155 per theater. The R-rated Sony Pictures release, starring Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Sigourney Weaver and Hugh Jackman, was made for $49 million. The opening of Chappie is far below Blomkamp’s previous films. In 2009, the helmer’s District 9 debuted to $37.4 million and went on to grossing $210.8 million worldwide, while Elysium opened in 2013 to $29.8 million and earned a total of $286.1 million globally.

Dropping to second place was Warner Bros.’ Focus, starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie, with $10 million for a two-week total of $34.6 million. The R-rated film was produced for $50 million.

Fox Searchlight Pictures’ The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opened in third place with $8.6 million from 1,573 theaters, an average of $5,467 per site. Made for just $10 million, the follow-up stars Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Richard Gere, Bill Nighy, Penelope WIlton, Dev Patel, Tina Desai, Ronald Pickup, Diana Hardcastle and Tamsin Grieg. Released in 2012, the first film earned an impressive $136.8 million worldwide.

Down two spots from last weekend, Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service added $8.3 million in fourth place for a total of $98 million after four weeks. Made for $81 million, the 20th Century Fox release has grossed $249 million worldwide.

Rounding out the top five was Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies’ The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, which took in $7 million its fifth weekend and has reached $148.9 million domestically. Globally, the film has grossed $259.4 million.

Coming in at sixth place was Universal’s Fifty Shades of Grey adaptation with $5.6 million. Starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan, the $40 million movie has collected $156.4 million domestically and $373.1 million overseas for a worldwide total of $527.7 million.

Following close behind in seventh and eighth were McFarland, USA with $5.3 million and a $29.4 million total after three weeks, and The Lazarus Effect with $5.1 million and a total of $17.4 million after two weeks. The DUFF, meanwhile, earned $4.9 million its third weekend in ninth place and has grossed $26.1 million.

Which brings us to 20th Century Fox’s Unfinished Business, which is yet another bomb for Vince Vaughn following Delivery Man, The Internship and The Watch. The comedy, which also stars Tom Wilkinson and Dave Franco, opened in 2,777 theaters to just $4.8 million in tenth place, a weak average of $1,728 per theater. The film was made for $35 million.

In better news, Warner Bros. Pictures’ American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller, added $4.5 million domestically to push its total to $337.2 million. That means the Clint Eastwood-directed drama is now the top-grossing film of 2014 domestically, surpassing the $336.8 million of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. Worldwide, the film has brought in $500.2 million.

Also, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Big Hero 6 crossed the $600 million mark worldwide this weekend, including $221 million domestically and $384 million internationally for a global total of $605 million. It has surpassed Tangled to become the third-highest grossing Disney animated release of all time behind Frozen and The Lion King.