The reviews were mixed, but the lure of destructive spectacle and the sheer mountain of charisma that is Dwayne Johnson swayed American moviegoers this weekend as earthquake thriller San Andreas rumbled straight to the top of the charts with $53.2 million, according to studio estimates.
That represents a personal box office best for Johnson, who, while he was part of the bigger Fast & Furious 7 this year, is the star of this one alongside Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario and the crumbling skyscrapers of Los Angeles and San Francisco. With San Andreas taking in more than $113 million globally upon its launch, the disaster film would seem to be a proven genre again, one that Roland Emmerich has parlayed to success several times, though they don’t tend to lead to sequels, so this might be another one off. Still, it’s proof that original films can work if they have a clear hook (or a Rock).
Pitch Perfect 2 stayed strong in second, no doubt enjoying the continued counterprogramming effect against the giant FX blockbuster. The A capella sequel earned $14.3 million in its third weekend, dropping just 53%. Tomorrowland, which led the slow Memorial Day weekend last time, fell quickly, hurt by word of mouth and the spectacular new competition, earning $13.8 million.
Mad Max: Fury Road was fourth, down one place with $13.6 million, ahead of Avengers: Age Of Ultron, which still managed to take in $10.9 million despite five weeks’ residence in the charts. The superhero sequel has made $427 million in the US and $1.3 billion globally.
There was bad news for Cameron Crowe’s latest, Aloha. Already suffering under the weight of toxic buzz and a wealth of bad reviews, the romantic drama only managed $10 million for a sixth-place start. It’s another hard luck story for the director, who was probably hoping for something more along the lines of the decent returns from We Bought A Zoo and not another Elizabethtown. Seventh was horror remake Poltergeist, which earned $7.8 million, with Far From The Madding Crowd in eighth with $1.4 million. Hot Pursuit fell to ninth with $1.3 million, while DreamWorks Animation’s Home clung to 10th place for $1.1 million.
To see Dwayne Johnson punch an earthquake in the full chart listings, head to Box Office Mojo.
from Empire News
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