Despite it being one of the final frames of summer, no films are bringing the heat to the domestic B.O. this weekend, allowing Lionsgate’s “The Expendables 2” to hold first in its soph sesh and making room for incendiary docu “2016: Obama’s America”
Though it won’t win the frame, “2016” is certainly the dark horse in this week’s race. A politically conservative adaptation of the book with the same title, “2016” just expanded to 1,071 locations and is drawing eyes from across the aisle for bipartisan B.O. bonuses. Pic earned $2.2 million Friday, putting it on par with Focus’ “ParaNorman” in third, and repping a higher per screen average than “Expendables” and Universal’s second-placer “The Bourne Legacy” combined. While the film is performing alright in major cities, its strongest markets are in Louisiana, Kansas and Colorado.
“Expendables” earned $3.9 million Friday and should only amount to a three-day total around $10 million, with the rest of the competition in the single digits including three newcomers that entered to upset its dominance.
Sony’s “Premium Rush,” which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a New York City bike courier, opened Friday to $2 million, on par with carryovers “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” from Disney and “The Dark Knight Rises” from Warner Bros. Elsewhere, Open Road unrolled laffer “Hit and Run” midweek and WB opened “The Apparition,” earning about $1.4 million and $1.2 million respectively Friday.
One insider attributed modest figures to the fact that we’ve finally reached “the dog days of summer. At this point in the cycle, audiences have had their fill of summer films.” Of note, the number of tickets sold this weekend will be about on par with the number sold this time last year, indicating a general trend instead of a specific slump.
