LOS ANGELES -- Who you gonna call? Probably not Ghostbusters.
Columbia's modern, big-budget remake of the 1984 film failed to take over the weekend box office. One of the most polarizing films of the summer movie season -- even before it premiered -- the picture took in about $46 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, coming in below some analyst projections of $50 million.
"We're very happy with our results," said Rory Bruer, Columbia distribution chief. "It's a terrific start for us. Everybody brought their A game, and it paid off."
Such a performance is OK but not outstanding, as the Paul Feig-directed comedy holds a $144 million price tag, after tax rebates, according to the studio.
Ghostbusters stars Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig and Leslie Jones as the team that must save New York from an onslaught of paranormal activity. Thor's Chris Hemsworth delivers a comedic turn as a hunky, dimwitted secretary.
The film faced misogynistic criticism online for its new twist with an all-female cast. Additionally, the first trailer, when released in March, was widely panned on YouTube, where it reportedly became the most disliked movie trailer in the site's history. People even flooded its International Movie Database page with poor ratings. "Whether that had a negative effect on the film's performance is too early to tell," Bruer said, opting for a long-game vision.
"What you have to see is where does it end up," he said. "I think certainly there were hurdles that we had to push through, and there was definitely challenges in regards to the naysayers of it all, but we always knew we were bringing it."
Audiences, 54 percent of which were female, and critics appear to like the movie, however -- once they've seen it. Moviegoers gave Ghostbusters a B-plus CinemaScore (those younger than 25 gave it an A-minus), while 73 percent of Rotten Tomatoes critics rated it favorably.
Still, the film will need to do strong business throughout the rest of the summer at home -- as many of Feig's films do -- and overseas to justify the large budget and generate a sequel. That looks to be tough, however, with reports that Ghostbusters may not be released in China because of the country's ban on pop culture that promotes cults or superstitious beliefs.
Bruer said that a China release is still a work in progress and that there is still a chance. "Showing in that country is very desirable and you want it," he said, "but you can't count on it."
The original Ghostbusters eventually generated more than $240 million in ticket sales in the United States and Canada and was nominated for two Oscars (visual effects and original song).
Maintaining the top spot at the box office was The Secret Life of Pets from Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures. The computer-animated adventure added about $51 million in its second week. The amount, added to the film's massive debut for a domestic gross, brings its total to $203.4 million.
Though the film waits to open in 57 more countries over the next three months, including in China on Aug. 2, it already has grossed $50.8 million internationally.
Coming in third was Warner Bros.' The Legend of Tarzan, with about $11.4 million in its third week. The live-action remake of the classic jungle tale has grossed about $103.4 million domestically.
After taking in $22 million last weekend internationally, the film has a $90.6 million foreign gross.
Disney-Pixar's Finding Dory continues to break records. After landing in fourth for the weekend, with about $11.3 million, the picture stands as the highest-grossing animated release domestically, with about $446 million.
20th Century Fox's Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, in fifth place, took home about $7.7 million in its second week. The R-rated comedy has grossed about $31.5 million domestically.
The week's only other new wide release, Broad Green Pictures' The Infiltrator, pulled in an estimated $5.3 million for an eighth-place finish. Such a performance is continued bad news for the studio after a weak performance of The Neon Demon.
The Infiltrator stars Bryan Cranston as an undercover federal agent attempting to infiltrate the trafficking network of a Colombian drug kingpin.
As for notable limited releases, Cafe Society, a partnership between Lionsgate and Amazon Studios, grossed $359,000 on five screens in New York and Los Angeles. That per-screen average of $71,858 is the biggest for an opening weekend among all films in 2016. The film is the latest from Woody Allen, about love in 1930s Hollywood and New York.
"We're really pleased about the initial weekend of Cafe Society," said Bob Berney, Amazon's head of marketing and distribution.
"Woody Allen's romantic trip to Hollywood and Manhattan of the '30s is a film that audiences obviously are adoring," Berney said.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Tuesday by comScore (The Infiltrator debuted on July 13.):
The Secret Life of Pets, Universal, $50,838,355, 4,381 locations, $11,604 average, $203,426,220, 2 weeks.
Ghostbusters, Columbia, $46,018,755, 3,963 locations, $11,612 average, $46,018,755, 1 week.
The Legend of Tarzan, Warner Bros., $11,441,337, 3,551 locations, $3,222 average, $103,371,594, 3 weeks.
Finding Dory, Disney, $11,281,179, 3,536 locations, $3,190 average, $445,745,629, 5 weeks.
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, 20th Century Fox, $7,657,918, 3,008 locations, $2,546 average, $31,481,634, 2 weeks.
The Purge: Election Year, Universal, $6,185,695, 2,671 locations, $2,316 average, $71,107,355, 3 weeks.
Central Intelligence, Warner Bros., $5,372,013, 2,381 locations, $2,256 average, $117,580,316, 5 weeks.
The Infiltrator, Broad Green Pictures, $5,303,775, 1,601 locations, $3,313 average, $6,766,623, 1 week.
The BFG, Disney, $3,789,434, 2,182 locations, $1,737 average, $47,379,045, 3 weeks.
Independence Day: Resurgence, 20th Century Fox, $3,521,282, 2,290 locations, $1,538 average, $98,587,725, 4 weeks.
The Shallows, Columbia, $3,005,293, 1,695 locations, $1,773 average, $51,400,382, 4 weeks.
Sultan, Yash Raj Films, $974,791, 273 locations, $3,571 average, $5,248,781, 2 weeks.
The Conjuring 2, Warner Bros., $851,350, 566 locations, $1,504 average, $101,103,011, 6 weeks.
Now You See Me 2, Lionsgate, $687,309, 523 locations, $1,314 average, $63,540,841, 6 weeks.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople, The Orchard, $567,110, 155 locations, $3,659 average, $1,468,755, 4 weeks.
The Jungle Book, Disney, $517,355, 276 locations, $1,874 average, $360,852,718, 14 weeks.
Free State of Jones, STX Entertainment, $482,543, 506 locations, $954 average, $20,389,967, 4 weeks.
Cafe Society, Lionsgate, $359,289, 5 locations, $71,858 average, $359,289, 1 week.
Our Kind of Traitor, Roadside Attractions, $300,690, 262 locations, $1,148 average, $2,787,256, 3 weeks.
Captain Fantastic, Bleecker Street, $288,888, 36 locations, $8,025 average, $417,708, 2 weeks.
MovieStyle on 07/22/2016