Pixels just blip for No. 1 Ant-Man

Pac Man tries to eat one of the “ghost” Mini Coopers in Columbia Pictures’ "Pixels." The film, which stars Adam Sandler, came in second at last weekend’s box office and made about $24 million.
Pac Man tries to eat one of the “ghost” Mini Coopers in Columbia Pictures’ "Pixels." The film, which stars Adam Sandler, came in second at last weekend’s box office and made about $24 million.

LOS ANGELES -- After receiving a Donkey Kong-style pounding from critics, Pixels, the '80s video-game comedy starring Adam Sandler, was edged out at the box office on its opening weekend, failing to take the No. 1 spot from Ant-Man, which added about $25 million to its take.

Pixels, released by Columbia, took the No. 2 spot with approximately $24 million domestically, which was in line with industry estimates. The animated Minions continued to perform strongly, coming in third with about $23 million. The boxing drama Southpaw came in fifth on its opening weekend with about $17 million, although the R-rated movie was playing in fewer theaters.

In its two weekends of release, Ant-Man has earned an estimated $106.2 million at the domestic box office and $226.5 million worldwide. The Marvel super-hero movie, released by Disney, stars Paul Rudd as the insect-size protagonist.

Pixels cost about $90 million to make, according to the studio. The movie, directed by Chris Columbus, fared better with young moviegoers than critics, receiving a Cinemascore of A from people under 18. The movie took in about $25 million overseas over the weekend.

Sandler has had a tough go at the box office in recent years, with critically slammed titles like That's My Boy and Jack and Jill underperforming. The less-than-enthusiastic reception for Pixels doesn't appear to have reversed that trend.

Overall, the domestic box office saw an estimated $148 million in ticket sales for the weekend, down about 4 percent from the same weekend last year, according to Rentrak.

Amy Schumer's Trainwreck took the No. 4 spot with about $17.3 million in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total to $61.5 million.

Southpaw, starring a muscle-bound Jake Gyllenhaal, cost the Weinstein Co. around $25 million to make, factoring in tax credits from its shoot in Pennsylvania.

The Oscar hopeful movie received mixed reviews from critics but an A Cinemascore from audiences. Rap-star Eminem, who wrote songs for the movie, gave the release a shot of publicity through social media.

"He helped expose the movie to a whole other audience," said Erik Lomas, president of theatrical distribution and home entertainment at the Weinstein Co. "He said the movie looks to have long theatrical legs based on strong word of mouth.

"I think we're going for the rest of the summer and into the fall," he said.

Paper Towns, 20th Century Fox's young adult romance starring British model-turned-actress Cara Delevingne, took the No. 6 spot with about $13 million for its opening weekend. The movie fell short of last year's The Fault in Our Stars, which was also an adaptation of a John Green novel and debuted at No. 1.

A survey from Rentrak showed that 71 percent of the audience for the film was female.

Inside Out, the Pixar animated movie, took in $7.4 million over the weekend while Jurassic World grossed $7.2 million to take the Nos. 7 and 8 spots, respectively.

Mr. Holmes continued to do strongly, rising to the No. 9 spot with about $2.9 million. The Roadside Attractions and Miramax release, which stars Ian McKellen as the famous British detective, has expanded its modest theatrical footprint since opening last week in the United States to positive reviews.

Terminator: Genisys brought in $2.4 million for the weekend, lifting its domestic haul to $85.7 million. The Paramount release, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, has been viewed by many as an underperformer in the U.S. while seeing stronger results overseas.

Terminator has yet to open in China, where it is expected to do well based on Schwarzenegger's continued appeal in Asian markets.

Among limited releases, Woody Allen's Irrational Man expanded to 28 theaters in its second weekend, from five a week ago. The existential comedy-drama, from Sony Pictures Classics and starring Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone, took in $260,902 for an impressive per-screen average of $9,318.

The French movie Samba brought in $24,000 on just two screens for a per-screen take of $12,000. The movie is from the makers of the breakout hit Les Intouchables and stars Omar Sy as an immigrant worker in Paris who falls for a case worker, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Amy, the well-reviewed documentary about the late singer Amy Winehouse, broke past $5 million domestically in its fourth weekend in release.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, 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:

1. Ant-Man, Disney, $24,909,332, 3,868 locations, $6,440 average, $106,219,861, two weeks.

2. Pixels, Columbia, $24,011,616, 3,723 locations, $6,450 average, $24,011,616, one week.

3. Minions, Universal, $22,933,960, 4,066 locations, $5,640 average, $262,454,370, three weeks.

4. Trainwreck, Universal, $17,281,950, 3,171 locations, $5,450 average, $61,526,975, two weeks.

5. Southpaw, The Weinstein Co., $16,701,294, 2,772 locations, $6,025 average, $16,701,294, one week.

6. Paper Towns, 20th Century Fox, $12,650,140, 3,031 locations, $4,174 average, $12,650,140, one week.

7. Inside Out, Disney, $7,414,528, 2,717 locations, $2,729 average, $320,393,339, six weeks.

8. Jurassic World, Universal, $7,181,175, 2,645 locations, $2,715 average, $624,083,950, seven weeks.

9. Mr. Holmes, Roadside Attractions, $2,868,335, 686 locations, $4,181 average, $6,451,225, two weeks.

10. Terminator Genisys, Paramount, $2,417,910, 1,702 locations, $1,421 average, $85,683,524, four weeks.

11. Magic Mike XXL, Warner Bros., $1,877,169, 1,440 locations, $1,304 average, $63,144,247, four weeks.

12. The Gallows, Warner Bros., $1,181,120, 1,202 locations, $983 average, $21,355,856, three weeks.

13. Ted 2, Universal, $970,920, 696 locations, $1,395 average, $79,627,410, five weeks.

14. The Vatican Tapes, Lionsgate, $832,271, 427 locations, $1,949 average, $832,271, one week.

15. Max, Warner Bros., $771,151, 665 locations, $1,160 average, $39,779,691, five weeks.

16. Spy, 20th Century Fox, $767,938, 539 locations, $1,425 average, $108,107,713, eight weeks.

17. Amy, A24 Films, $726,680, 370 locations, $1,964 average, $5,543,072, four weeks.

18. Mad Max: Fury Road, Warner Bros., $418,192, 345 locations, $1,212 average, $151,622,298, 11 weeks.

19. Baahubali (Telugu), BlueSky Cinemas, $346,724, 125 locations, $2,774 average, $6,680,280, three weeks.

20. San Andreas, Warner Bros., $333,701, 266 locations, $1,255 average, $151,885,432, nine weeks.

MovieStyle on 07/31/2015

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