Like its predecessor, “Planes: Fire & Rescue” opened in third place at the U.S. box office. The new film, however, grossed only $18 million, or 19% less than the opening of the first “Planes.”
In its second weekend, “How to Train your Dragon 2” eased 49% to an estimated $25.3 million. The drop was significantly greater than the 34% second-weekend decline of the original film in the series. Combined with the lower-than-expected opening weekend, the sequel is now all but guaranteed to finish below the original film’s $217.6 million domestic gross.
DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon 2” opened in second place this weekend with an estimated $50 million. The film trailed the $60 million debut of another sequel, the R-rated “22 Jump Street,” directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who also directed “The LEGO Movie,” which opened to $69 million earlier this year.
Last weekend at the U.S. box office, two films with strong animation ties opened in very different fashions. Disney’s “Maleficent,” a dark fantasy reimagining of the 1959 animated feature from the perspective of the villain, launched with $69.4 million.
Every time you want to stop writing about “Frozen,” it breaks another record. This weekend, the Disney smash hit remained in first place at the Japanese box office for an incomprehensible eleventh weekend in a row.
If you didn’t hear about last weekend’s opening of “Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return,” don’t worry because no one else in America did either. Opening in 2,575 theaters, the film eked out $3.7 million, which is the worst opening ever for an animated feature in saturated release (over 2,500 theaters). The previous animation record holder in this dubious category was the 2011 Weinstein Company release “Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil,” which grossed $4.1M from 2,505 theaters.
Blue Sky’s “Rio 2” failed to unseat “Captain America 2” at the box office last weekend and settled for a second-place opening of $39.3 million.
This weekend, Disney’s “Frozen” became the highest grossing animated film of all time. Its $1.072 billion worldwide gross has surpassed the $1.063 billion of “Toy Story 3,” which was the previous record-holder for biggest animated feature.
No new animated movies debuted in the United States this weekend, although Disney’s family-oriented “Muppets Most Wanted” opened. The film opened in second place with a disappointing $16.5 million (estimated), far below the $29.2M opening of the franchise reboot “The Muppets” in 2011. That earlier film plummeted at the box office, too, after its opening, suggesting that the Muppets franchise isn’t as relevant to kids today as it was with earlier generations.
The DreamWorks feature “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” moved from second to first place in its sophomore weekend with a modest gross of $21.2 million (estimated)
The DreamWorks feature “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” directed by Rob Minkoff, opened in the United States this weekend with an estimated $32.5 million. The film settled for second place behind “300: Rise of An Empire.”
It’s a special day for directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. Their film “Frozen” will win the Best Animated Feature Oscar on the day that it crosses $1 billion in global box office revenue. It becomes, along with “Toy Story 3,” only the second animated feature to achieve this distinction, and the 18th film overall.
The LEGO Movie crushed its live-action competition at the box office and remained in 1st place for the third weekend in a row with $31.5 …
Remember last year when the mainstream media started writing about the glut of animated features and questioning whether the industry was producing too much animation? As usual, they underestimated the animation medium and the connection that audiences have with the art form.
As anticipated, Warner Bros.’ The LEGO Movie, directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, destroyed the box office with a $69.1 million opening.
Boosted in part by a sing-along version that was released into theaters, Disney’s “Frozen” jumped back into second place this weekend, an amazing feat for a film now in its 10th weekend of wide release.
Surpassing even the most generous box office predictions, Disney’s “Frozen” continues to shatter records.
It was a great weekend for subpar family CG films starring animals. Peter Lepeniotis’ “The Nut Job,” the first animated film released by Open Road Films, a new distribution company launched by AMC Theatres and Regal Entertainment Group, opened in third place with a robust $20.6 million.
“Despicable Me 2”, retitled “Super Thief Nanny 2,” had the biggest opening for an animated feature in China since 2012.
Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee’s “Frozen” has accomplished the rarest of box office accomplishments: moving back into first place at the American box office after a month-and-a-half of wide release.
