Box Office: 'Jackass: Bad Grandpa' Knocks 'Gravity' Out of No. 1 Spot
Credit: Paramount/MTV Films
Well, looks like audiences enjoy a dash of chaotic comedy in their movies. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa is the No. 1 movie in America.
After holding the top spot for three weeks, Gravity finally fell to No. 2 with $20.3 million, which was not enough to best Bad Grandpa, which brought in a surprising $32 million. Of course, the news isn't exactly bad for Gravity, as the 3D space spectacular is expected to cross the $200 million mark domestically, adding to a total that is in excess of $364 million worldwide.
As for Bad Grandpa, Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore took great pains to specify that the film is not a continuation of the gross-out antics in Jackass, but rather a spin-off mockumentary.
"The movie is executed ala Borat, where Knoxville's character is interacting with real people and doing crazy things," Moore said. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the film drew a much older audience than past films in the franchise, as only 37 percent of the moviegoers were under the age of 25. The movie also brought in a larger female audience than any previous Jackass film, bringing in an audience that was 44 percent female.
But the good news pretty much ends there for the new arrivals at this past weekend's box office. The Counselor, from Oscar-nominated director Ridley Scott and written by world-class novelist Cormac McCarthy, brought in only $8 million. It was enough to get the film to the No. 4 spot behind No. 3 finisher Captain Phillips, but considering the array of talent on display, including Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz, and Brad Pitt, this has to be considered a bomb. If there's a silver lining in this, it's that the film reportedly cost only $25 million to make, and the talent took a drastic pay cut in order to work with director Scott, so it's possible the film might turn a profit on home video or international markets.
"The movie had some big grosses in big city, core runs, where audiences are more likely to be looking for challenging, provocative filmmaking," said Fox domestic marketing president Chris Aronson. The film skewed towards older audiences, and it's conceivable that The Counselor's poor performance is the result of the high volume of adult-targeted films in the market this month, such as Gravity and Captain Phillips.
Another adult movie making the rounds in cinemas in major markets is Steve McQueen's Oscar frontrunner 12 Years A Slave. The film, from Fox Searchlight, expanded to a total of 123 theaters in its second weekend, which allowed the prestige picture to gross an extra $2.2. million. It finished in the top 10 this week, settling in at No. 8.
Yet 12 Years A Slave wasn't alone in generating buzz among adult audiences. Abdellatif Kechiche's French film Blue Is the Warmest Color opened in New York and Los Angeles to positive reviews, grossing $101,116 from four theaters for a location average of $25,279. The film is a provocative lesbian drama rated NC-17, but this doesn't necessarily mean kids under 17 will be barred from seeing it, as the IFC Center in New York is open to allowing teenagers to see the film on a case-by-case basis.
However, the drama surrounding the film is arguably as compelling as the film itself, as there has been an escalating war of words between director Kechiche and star Lea Seydoux, with the filmmaker calling her an "arrogant, spoiled child" who said "slanderous" things about him in a desperate bid for attention after the film won the Palme d’Or win at the Cannes Film Festival in May. "Thus after having been celebrated and glorified thanks to the Palme d’Or won by Blue Is the Warmest Color, she started to drag me through the mud with lies and exaggerations," the director claimed in an interview last week. Though the film didn't finish in this week's top 10, its limited release earnings seem promising, particularly for an NC-17 film.
Of course, not everything was skewed towards adult audiences. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 continued its impressive run, rounding out the top 5 with $6.1 million, which took the film north of the $100 million milestone in North America.
You can check out the full top 10 below:
1. Jackass: Bad Grandpa ($32.0 million)
2. Gravity (Weekend $20.3 million)
3. Captain Phillips ($11.8 million)
4. The Counselor ($8.0 million)
5. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 ($6.1 million)
6. Carrie ($5.9 million)
7. Escape Plan ($4.3 million)
8. 12 Years A Slave ($2.1 million)
9. Enough Said ($1.5 million)
10. Prisoners ($1.0 million)
Via: Deadline / The Hollywood Reporter