Following two weekends ruled by apes, writer/director Luc Besson’s Lucy took over the domestic box office with an estimated $44 million from 3,173 theaters. Starring Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman, the Universal Pictures action thriller averaged $13,875 per theater and cost about $40 million to make.
Coming in at second was director Brett Ratner’s new action-adventure Hercules, which actually opened in more theaters (3,595) than Lucy but earned $29 million its first weekend, an average of $8,067. Internationally, the film debuted with $28.7 million for a worldwide total of $57.7 million. The Paramount Pictures and MGM release, starring Dwayne Johnson, cost $100 million to make.
In its third weekend, 20th Century Fox’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes dropped to third place with $16.4 million for a domestic total of $172 million so far. Internationally, the Matt Reeves-directed sequel has earned $181.9 million for a worldwide total of $354 million. It cost $170 million to make.
Universal’s The Purge: Anarchy dropped two spots to fourth its second weekend, taking in $9.9 million for a sum of $51.3 million. Not bad for a film that cost just $9 million to make!
Walt Disney Pictures’ Planes: Fire & Rescue rounded out the top five with $9.3 million its second weekend and has brought in $35.1 million to date. It will be a struggle for the film to get back its $50 million budget, though it will likely be popular with its home release.
Columbia Pictures’ Sex Tape added just $5.98 million its second weekend in sixth place and has brought in just $26.9 million compared to its budget of $40 million.
Also, Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction continues to perform strong around the world. The movie added $4.6 million domestically for a $236.4 million total, while internationally it earned another $37.5 million for an overseas total of $730 million (of which $301 million is coming just from China!). That means the film is now up to $966.4 million worldwide and should cross the $1 billion mark soon.
