The box office is way, way down. Last year in weekend 29, the box office total was approximately $260 million for the top 10 movies. This weekend, for the top 10, it’s around $127 million.
No new big releases this weekend didn’t help. “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” finished at number 1 for a second week with around $36 million.
Last year, “The Conjuring” took in $61 million.
The new release this week was “The Purge: Anarchy.” Total was $28 million. Last year “Despicable Me 2” did almost $40 million.
So, it’s trouble at the OK Corral.
Some good news: Jon Favreau’s little “Chef” crossed the $26 million. John Carney’s “Begin Again” is at almost $10 million. Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” is almost at $2 million. People want to see good movies, if they can find them. It’s all about distribution.
This coming Friday brings two wide studio releases– Brett Ratner’s “Hercules” and Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman in “Lucy”– Woody Allen’s excellent “Magic in the Moonlight” in limited release.
