Universal Pictures’ Straight Outta Compton easily remained in first place last weekend (Aug. 21-23) with $26.36 million. The modestly budgeted F. Gary Gray directed N.W.A biopic was down 56 percent from its opening weekend, but in the bigger picture continues impress. Straight Outta Compton surpassed the $100 million domestic mark last weekend and has grossed a very strong $111.09 million in 10 days. With not much expected out of this coming weekend’s new wide releases, Straight Outta Compton is highly likely to remain in first place.

Straight Outta Compton beat out new releases last weekend to stay on top. (Photo: Jaimie Trueblood/Universal Pictures)

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation held steady in second place with $11.45 million. The fifth installment of the Tom Cruise led blockbuster franchise from Paramount Pictures held up very well, as it was down just 33 percent. Rogue Nation continues to be aided by its strong word of mouth and strong critical reviews. The 24-day total for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation stands at $157.51 million. The film is currently running 38 percent ahead of the $114.27 million 24-day take of 2006’s Mission: Impossible III.

Focus Features’ Sinister 2 debuted in third place with $10.54 million. While the low-budget horror sequel from Gramercy and Blumhouse Productions was the weekend’s top new release, the film was still off to a softer than expected start. Sinister 2 appears to have been hurt by its poor reviews, the break-out performance of Straight Outta Compton and by the overall marketplace slowing as the summer box office season nears its end.

Twentieth Century Fox’s Hitman: Agent 47 opened in fourth with $8.33 million. The video game based action film opened on the very low end of modest expectations. Like Sinister 2, Hitman: Agent 47 was likely also hurt by poor reviews and by the tough competition from Straight Outta Compton. Hitman: Agent 47 debuted 37 percent below the $13.16 million three-day start of 2007’s Hitman, which opened on a Wednesday.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. rounded out the weekend’s top five with $7.32 million. While the Guy Ritchie directed spy comedy from Warner Bros. Pictures was down 45.5 percent from its previous weekend’s debut, the film is still significantly under-performing with a 10-day start of just $26.53 million.

Lionsgate Entertainment’s American Ultra arrived softly with a sixth place start of $5.45 million. The action comedy starring Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg opened below modest expectations. While American Ultra had an interesting advertising campaign, that ultimately wasn’t effective enough to get moviegoers to see the film last weekend.

Minions Debuts at Number One

Minions delivered last weekend with a $115.72 million debut. The highly anticipated 3D computer animated spin-off from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment opened on the high end of already lofty expectations. Without adjusting for inflation, Minions scored the second largest opening weekend take ever for an animated film; behind only the $121.63 million start of 2007’s Shrek the Third. Minions opened just ahead of the $110.31 million debut of 2010’s Toy Story 3. Minions was an impressive 28.5 percent stronger than the $90.03 million three-day start of 2013’s Despicable Me 2, although it should be noted that Despicable Me 2 opened on a Wednesday. Minions was clearly helped out by goodwill from both Despicable Me films and by a very high-profile marketing campaign that was seemingly everywhere. Potential sequel fatigue for the film may have also been turned into a non-factor in this case thanks in part to the film’s nature as a spin-off.

Minions debuted at Number One in the box office over the weekend. (Photo: Universal Pictures)

Going forward the film should also be helped out by the lack of high-profile animated films on the remainder of this summer’s schedule. Minions marks yet another blockbuster level performer for Universal in 2015, as it joins the likes of Jurassic World, Furious 7, Pitch Perfect 2 and Fifty Shades of Grey.

Universal also claimed second place last weekend as Jurassic World took in $18.15 million. The 3D sci-fi adventure blockbuster sequel was down a 38 percent from its previous weekend performance, which had been deflated a bit by Independence Day falling on Saturday. Without adjusting for inflation, Jurassic World registered the seventh largest fifth weekend performance of all-time. Jurassic World has grossed $590.69 million through 31 days of release, which leaves it just $9.31 million away from becoming the fourth film ever to reach the $600 million domestic milestone.

Inside Out followed closely behind in third with $17.67 million. The 3D computer animated blockbuster from Disney and Pixar was down 41 percent from the previous weekend. That represented a solid hold, especially when considering the new direct competition it faced from Minions last weekend. Inside Out continues to outpace expectations with a 24-day take of $284.20 million. That leaves the film just $15.80 million away from reaching the $300 million domestic milestone. Inside Out is running 19.5 percent ahead of the $237.77 million 24-day gross of 2013’s Monsters University and 16 percent behind the $339.24 million 24-day take of 2010’s Toy Story 3.

Paramount Pictures’ Terminator Genisys placed in fourth with $13.83 million. The pricey Arnold Schwarzenegger led 3D sci-fi action sequel fell 49 percent from the previous weekend. Terminator Genisys has grossed $68.85 million in 12 days. The film continues to perform below scaled back expectations and is running 26 percent behind the $92.66 million 12-day gross of 2009’s Terminator Salvation. At this rate Terminator Genisys is likely to fall short of reaching the $100 million domestic mark; especially with Disney’s Ant-Man, Sony Pictures’ Pixels and fellow Paramount release Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation all entering the marketplace throughout the rest of July.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ The Gallows opened in fifth place with $9.81 million. The low-budget horror film from New Line and Blumhouse Productions opened on the lower end of modest expectations. The Gallows had generated high levels of online activity in the days leading up to its release, but that ultimately didn’t help at the box office last weekend.

Fellow Warner Bros. release Magic Mike XXL held up well with a sixth place take of $9.58 million. That was down just 25.5 percent from the previous weekend’s holiday deflated performance. The modestly budgeted Channing Tatum led sequel has displayed strong holding power over the past week, but in the bigger picture the film is still performing significantly below expectations with a 12-day take of $48.30 million. Magic Mike XXL is currently running a lackluster 38 percent behind the $77.86 million 12-day gross of 2012’s Magic Mike.

Meanwhile, Self/Less debuted in eighth place with $5.40 million. The Ryan Reynolds led sci-fi film from Focus and Gramercy opened to disappointing results and had been widely expected to do so heading into the weekend.

In one of the most stunning and remarkable box office performances in memory, Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ Jurassic World demolished expectations over the weekend with a $208.81 million debut. In the process, it set a new all-time opening weekend record, as it topped the $207.44 million debut of 2012’s Marvel’s The Avengers by $1.37 million. Jurassic World marks only the second film to ever open with at least $200 million.

Jurassic World starring Chris Pratt set an all-time opening weekend record. (Photo: Chuck Zlotnick/Universal Pictures)

In addition to setting a new all-time record, Jurassic World shattered the previous opening weekend record for June, which had been held by 2013’s Man of Steel. Jurassic World opened 79 percent stronger than the $116.62 million opening weekend of Man of Steel and did so without having the advantage of opening over Father’s Day weekend that Man of Steel had. Jurassic World also easily topped the $147.19 million debut of Furious 7 earlier this year to become the largest opener ever for Universal. The Jurassic Park franchise has a history of record breaking performances, as both 1993’s Jurassic Park and 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park also broke the all-time opening weekend record at the time of their releases.

A number of factors helped contribute to the Jurassic World’s breakout performance over the weekend. Thanks in part to the 14-year gap between the film and 2001’s Jurassic Park III, Jurassic World was able to build off of the legacy and nostalgia of Jurassic Park without being weighed down by the less enthusiastic reactions to The Lost World and Jurassic Park III. The film was also helped by being the first Jurassic Park film to be aided by higher priced 3D and IMAX admissions — an estimated 48 percent of the film’s grosses were from 3D screening, by the presence of Chris Pratt fresh off his success with last year’s Guardians of the Galaxy, by a very strong marketing campaign and by being the only new action-adventure film for audiences in June. Jurassic World will be aided going forward by the Father’s Day holiday this coming weekend and by the lack of direct competition for action fans until Paramount Pictures’ Terminator Genisys opens July 1.

In other box office news, 20th Century Fox’s Spy placed in a distant second with $15.61 million. The Melissa McCarthy led comedy was down one spot and 46 percent from its opening weekend. The softer than anticipated performance of Spy thus far is due at least in part to the break-out performance of Jurassic World. Spy has grossed $56.55 million through 10 days of release.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ San Andreas claimed third place with $10.81 million. The Dwayne Johnson led 3D disaster film was down 58 percent as the film took a direct hit from Jurassic World. Despite last weekend’s hold, San Andreas continues to significantly outpace expectations with a 17-day take of $119.12 million. With the launch of Jurassic World now out of the way, San Andreas could stabilize going forward, especially with the aid of Father’s Day next weekend.

Focus’ Insidious: Chapter 3 finished in fourth with $7.31 million. The third installment of the low-budget horror franchise from Gramercy and Blumhouse Productions was down one spot and 68 percent from the previous weekend. The film’s second weekend decline was expected given the added presence of Jurassic World and that 2013’s Insidious: Chapter 2 fell 66 percent in its second weekend. Insidious: Chapter 3 continues to perform on the low end of expectations with a 10-day take of $37.38 million.

Universal’s Pitch Perfect 2 rounded out the weekend’s top five with $6.40 million. The successful musical comedy sequel starring Anna Kendrick was down 15.5 percent from the previous weekend. Pitch Perfect 2 easily had the weekend’s strongest percentage hold among wide releases and was aided from playing as a double feature with Jurassic World at many drive-in locations. Pitch Perfect 2 has grossed $171.11 million in 31 days.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ Entourage followed in sixth place with $4.19 million. The theatrical version of the HBO comedy series continues to display significant front-loading as it was down 59 percent from the previous weekend. Entourage has grossed a lackluster $25.72 million through 12 days of release.

As expected, 20th Century Fox’s Spy debuted in first place last weekend with $29.09 million. However, the Melissa McCarthy led comedy opened below expectations, which ranged from $35 million-$40 million. Despite strong critical reviews, Spy wasn’t able to open as strong as some of McCarthy’s previous efforts, opening 26 percent below the $39.12 million start of 2013’s The Heat and 16 percent below the $34.55 million debut of 2013’s Identity Thief. The potential for Spy appears to have been limited by the stronger than expected performance of Warner Bros. Pictures’ San Andreas so far and by audiences who are waiting for Universal Pictures’ Jurassic World this coming weekend. Spy will likely hold up well going forward, as McCarthy’s films have a history of strong holding power. However, competition will be fierce throughout June with the arrival of Jurassic World, Disney’s Inside Out and Universal’s Ted 2.

Melissa McCarthy stars in Spy. (Photo: Larry Horricks/20th Century Fox)

On the heels of its break-out start, San Andreas experienced a respectable second weekend hold with a second place take of $25.84 million. The Dwayne Johnson led 3D disaster film fell 53 percent from the previous. San Andreas is on the brink of the $100 million domestic mark with a 10-day start of $98.47 million. San Andreas hopes to see its healthy word of mouth help withstand the direct hit it will take from Jurassic World this coming weekend.

Focus’ Insidious: Chapter 3 followed in third place with $22.69 million. The third chapter of the horror franchise from Gramercy and Blumhouse Productions debuted on the low end of pre-release expectations.Insidious: Chapter 3 opened 44 percent below the $40.27 million debut of 2013’s Insidious: Chapter 2; but had been expected to open softer than its predecessor due in part to its nature as a prequel. Going forward, Insidious: Chapter 3 hopes to hold up a bit better than its predecessor did.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros.’ Entourage was off to a soft fourth place start of just $10.28 million. The theatrical version of the HBO comedy series opened below expectations, which had been strengthened due in part to the film’s strong online pre-sales earlier in the week. Since its release on Wednesday, Entourage has grossed $17.67 million in its first five days. Entourage has been very front-loaded thus far, especially for a film of its size, which strongly indicates that the film is only appealing to the series’ pre-existing fanbase and isn’t a good sign going forward.

Fellow Warner Bros. release Mad Max: Fury Road rounded out the weekend’s top five with $7.83 million. The critically acclaimed action film starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron was down a respectable 45 percent from the previous weekend. Thanks in part to very solid holding power for its genre, Mad Max: Fury Road continues to perform on the very high end of expectations with a 24-day take of $130.67 million.

Universal’s Pitch Perfect 2 claimed sixth place with $7.57 million. The successful musical comedy sequel starring Anna Kendrick was down 49 percent from the prevous weekend. While it remains front-loaded, in the bigger picture Pitch Perfect 2 is still exceeding expectations in a big way with a 24-day gross of $160.85 million.

Disney’s Tomorrowland placed in seventh with $7.20 million. The pricy Brad Bird directed sci-fi film starring George Clooney was down a sharp 50 percent. Tomorrowland has grossed a softer than expected $76.41 million in 17 days and has clearly taken a hit from mixed word of mouth on the heels of what was already an underwhelming start over Memorial Day weekend.

Universal Pictures’ Furious 7 took in $17.82 million last weekend to lead the box office for a fourth consecutive week. In doing so, Furious 7 became the first film to lead the box office for four consecutive weekends since The Hunger Games back in 2012. The seventh installment of the blockbuster franchise featuring Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and the late Paul Walker was down 39 percent from the previous weekend. Furious 7 was aided a bit by moviegoers who wanted to catch the film before Disney’s highly anticipated Avengers: Age of Ultron debuts in theatres this Friday. Furious 7 has grossed $320.08 million in 24 days. That places the film 46 percent ahead of the $219.72 million 24-day take of 2013’s Fast & Furious 6.

Furious 7 with the late Paul Walker (left) and Vin Diesel remained on top at the box office for the fourth consecutive week. (Photo: Universal Pictures)

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 held steady in second place with $14.78 million. Sony Pictures’ modestly budgeted Kevin James led comedy sequel fell 38 percent from the previous weekend’s debut. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 has grossed $43.22 million through 10 days of release. The film continues to run in line with pre-release expectations. Despite poor reviews, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 will hope to hold up well going forward due in part to facing a relatively limited amount of new competition for family audiences.

Lionsgate Entertainment’s The Age of Adaline debuted in third place last weekend with $13.20 million. The romantic drama starring Blake Lively opened on the high end of expectations. That was an impressive feat given that The Age of Adaline wasn’t adapted from a pre-existing novel.

Home grossed $8.01 million to remain in fourth place. The successful 3D computer animated film from 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation was down 25 percent from the previous weekend. Home continues to exceed expectations with a 31-day take of $153.49 million.

Universal’s Unfriended rounded out the weekend’s top five with $6.16 million. The ultra low-budget horror film from Blumhouse Productions was down two spots and 61 percent from the previous weekend. Unfriended has grossed $25.08 million in 10 days. While Unfriended isn’t quite living up to its break-out potential, it is still performing well with its cost in mind.

A24’s Ex Machina expanded to 1,255 theaters in its first weekend of semi-wide release with a sixth place take of $5.35 million. The critically acclaimed Alex Garland directed sci-fi film delivered the largest weekend performance ever for an A24 release in its first weekend of major release. The young distributor’s previous high-water mark was the $4.86 million take of 2013’s Spring Breakers in its first weekend of semi-wide release. Ex Machina has grossed $6.83 million in 17 days. A24 will continue to expand the film into additional locations going forward.