Universal Pictures’ Straight Outta Compton was strong straight out of the gate last weekend (Aug. 14-16) with a first place debut of $60.20 million. The modestly budgeted F. Gary Gray directed N.W.A biopic outpaced lofty expectations, which rose rapidly due in part to high levels of online buzz surrounding the film and strong early reviews. Without adjusting for inflation, Straight Outta Compton registered the fifth largest opening weekend performance ever in August. Making the film’s debut even more impressive was that it didn’t have higher priced 3D or IMAX admissions to boost its gross. The film also opened in a relatively modest 2,757 locations. While Straight Outta Compton was somewhat front-loaded, it has a good chance of stabilizing going forward thanks in part to strong reviews, early word of mouth and the relatively soft new competition the film faces as summer winds down. The movie is another very impressive performer for Universal this year, joining a list of box office successes that includes Jurassic World, Furious 7, Minions, Pitch Perfect 2, Fifty Shades of Grey and Trainwreck.

Straight Outta Compton, which opened at the top of the weekend box office, is the story of N.W.A., a gangsta rap group.
(Photo: Universal Pictures)

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation held up nicely over weekend with a second place take of $17.19 million. After leading the box office the past two weekends, the fifth installment of the Tom Cruise led blockbuster franchise from Paramount Pictures was down one spot and 40 percent. Thanks in part to the film’s holding power so far, Rogue Nation has grossed $138.32 million through 17 days of release. That places the film 34 percent ahead of the $103.54 million 17-day take of 2006’s Mission: Impossible III. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is likely to continue to hold up well throughout the remainder of the summer.

Warner Bros. Studios’ The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was off to a soft start with a third place take of $13.42 million. The Guy Ritchie directed spy comedy starring Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer opened below expectations and didn’t perform well with its price tag in mind. Opening against Straight Outta Compton and so soon after Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation clearly took a toll on the movie. While it wasn’t expected to do so, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was unable to duplicate the success of Kingsman: The Secret Service earlier this year, opening 63 percent below the $36.21 million debut of Kingsman.

The bad news continued for Fantastic Four as 20th Century Fox’s attempt to relaunch the superhero franchise was down two spots to place fourth with $8.17 million. Fantastic Four was down a massive 68 percent from its already disappointing start. The sharp second weekend decline for Fantastic Four didn’t come as a surprise given the film’s poor word of mouth, the competition it faced from Straight Outta Compton and the Fantastic Four franchise being naturally front-loaded to begin with. Fantastic Four has managed just $42.13 million in 10 days. The film is currently running 57 percent behind the $97.46 million 10-day gross of 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

STX Entertainment’s The Gift held up far better with a fifth place take of $6.51 million. The Joel Edgerton directed thriller starring Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall and Edgerton was down two spots and a 45 percent from the previous weekend. The Gift continues to exceed expectations with a 10-day take of $23.59 million and is performing nicely with its reported production budget of just $5 million in mind. The film is running nearly on par with the $23.80 million 10-day start of last year’s The Giver, which fell 48 percent in its second weekend to gross $6.43 million.

In a fairly close three-way race at the box office last weekend, Universal’s Despicable Me 2 was able to hold off both Sony’s Grown Ups 2 and Warner Brothers’ Pacific Rim to remain on top for a second week. The computer animated prequel from Illumination Entertainment grossed $43.89 million for the weekend. That represented a 47 percent decline from its opening weekend. It has grossed a massive $228.38 million through 12 days of release. The total is impressive considering that it was far less expensive than most other high profile computer animated films.

Despicable Me 2 remained at the top of the box office July 14-17. (Photo courtesy Universal Pictures)

While it couldn’t top Despicable Me 2, Grown Ups 2 was able to outpace Pacific Rim for second. The Adam Sandler led comedy sequel took in $41.51 million. Grown Ups 2 opened 2.5 percent ahead of the $40.51 million start of 2010’s Grown Ups. Pacific Rim had to settle for third place with $37.29 million. The expensive Guillermo del Toro directed sci-fi action film opened soft taking the film’s cost into account.

With Grown Ups 2 and Pacific Rim bringing in a combined $78.8 million, holdovers in general took noticeable hits last weekend. Fox’s The Heat took in $14.00 million to land in fourth. The R-rated comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy fell 43 percent from the previous weekend. The Heat surpassed the $100 million mark on Friday and has now grossed a strong $112.37 million in 17 days.

On the heels of its disappointing start, Disney’s The Lone Ranger tumbled 61 percent and three spots to finish in fifth last weekend with $11.51 million. Last weekend’s hold was especially disappointing given that the film is skewing quite heavily towards older moviegoers (who typically don’t rush out as fast as younger moviegoers). The expensive western starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer has grossed $71.47 million in 12 days, which is below expectations.

Fellow Disney release Monsters University followed in sixth with $10.6 3 million, while Paramount’s World War Z placed in seventh with $9.31 million. Monsters University fell 46 percent from last weekend and World War Z fell 49 percent. The respective 24-day takes for the pair of June blockbusters stand at $237.77 million for Monsters University and at $176.97 million for World War Z.

Universal Picture’s Despicable Me 2 led the box office over the holiday weekend with $83.5 million bringing the film’s five-day start to $143.1 million. The start for the highly anticipated sequel claimed the third largest ever unadjusted Independence Day weekend debut (behind only the 2011 take of $97.9 million of Transformers: Dark of the Moon and the $88.2 million gross of 2004’s Spider-Man 2. Making the film’s start even more impressive is that like 2010’s Despicable Me; Despicable Me 2 was far less expensive than the typical computer animated film.

Gru (voice of Steve Carrel) and Lucy (Kristin Wilde) from Despicable Me 2. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures)

The audience breakdown for Despicable Me 2 skewed 60 percent towards female moviegoers and towards 55 percent towards moviegoers under 25, which suggests that the film could be relatively stronger on weekdays going forward.

Disney’s The Lone Ranger finished a distant second place with $29.2 million. The western starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer grossed $48.7 million in its first five days. The film’s performance was very disappointing, given both pre-release expectations and the film’s enormous cost. The PG-13 rated Lone Ranger lost out to the PG-rated Despicable Me 2 with family audiences.

Holding up was Fox’s The Heat. The R-rated comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy fell just 36 percent to place third with $24.8 million. Last weekend’s hold was especially impressive given that the film faced competition. Both Bullock and McCarthy have strong recent histories when it comes to holding power at the box office and it appears that The Heat won’t be any different. The Heat grossed $86.3 million in 10 days, which is very strong given the film’s modest price tag for a high-profile summer release.

Disney’s Monsters University took a massive hit from Despicable Me 2 as it fell 57 percent to place fourth with $19.7 million. On the other hand, Paramount Studio’s World War Z fell 38 percent to round out last weekend’s top five with $18.4 million and likely benefited a bit from moviegoers who were looking for a live-action Independence Day alternative. To date, Monsters University grossed $216.2 million in 17 days, which is in line with the higher end of expectations. Meanwhile, World War Z continued to outpace expectations with a 17-day take of $159.0 million.

Last week’s other new entry, Lionsgate’s Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain was off to a strong start with an eighth place take of $10.0 million. Through five days of release, the comedy concert documentary grossed $17.4 million. The timing of Let Me Explain is perfect for Kevin Hart, as the comedian will be transitioning into a leading actor in the very near future with upcoming films such as Ride Along and About Last Night.