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'Ant-Man' inches past 'Pixels' to top of the box office heap
Despite leading the newcomers, Pac-Man couldn't devour the competition.
Video-game adaptation "Pixels" was nudged out by "Ant-Man," which won the box office for a second weekend with $24.8 million, according to tracking firm Rentrak. Disney's latest superhero installment, which stars Paul Rudd as the miniature vigilante, has now crawled to $106.1 million — far below the two-week haul of last summer's Marvel Cinematic Universe addition, "Guardians of the Galaxy" ($176.5 million).
Coming in at No. 2, the Chris Columbus-directed "Pixels" netted $24 million, in line with expectations. The sci-fi adventure stars Adam Sandler, Josh Gad, Michelle Monaghan and Peter Dinklage as a ragtag crew tasked with saving the world from aliens disguised as '80s arcade-game characters, including Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Galaga.
"Pixels" was clobbered by critics, who slapped it with a paltry 19 percent approval rating on review aggregate site RottenTomatoes.com. Audiences weren't much kinder, with only 58 percent approving. Still, it's a better opening than or at least on par with some of Sandler's other recent misfires.
With an estimated budget of $110 million, "Pixels" will "have to rely on that nostalgia factor for old-time video-game characters" and hope for a strong international take, Rentrak analyst Paul Dergarabedian said. As for Sandler, "I'd say the good news is that he has another $24 million to add to his box office. It's a fine opening for the film."
In third, "Minions" scurried to $22.1 million for a massive worldwide haul of $759.4 million, while Amy Schumer's "Trainwreck" held strong with $17.3 million in fourth, dropping just 43 percent its second weekend. The raunchy rom-com has now earned $61.5 million.
Rounding out the top five, boxing film "Southpaw" was a knockout with $16.5 million its first weekend. Starring a bulked-up Jake Gyllenhaal, the dramatic heavyweight took a beating from critics — 58 percent liked it, according to Rotten Tomatoes — although it scored better with audiences, garnering 82 percent approval from moviegoers, 60 percent of whom were men.
Landing in sixth, coming-of-age drama "Paper Towns" built a sturdy, if disappointing, $12.5 million. Based on John Green's young-adult novel, the teen romance comes in much lower than last June's "The Fault In Our Stars," which opened to $48 million on its way to $124.9 million.
"Paper" stars model-turned-actress Cara Delevingne as an elusive girl who, after a night of misadventures with her smitten next-door neighbor (Nat Wolff), disappears. The film received decent reviews from critics (58 percent approval on Rotten Tomatoes) but was better received by young audiences (78 percent of moviegoers were under 25, and 71 percent were female).
At the specialty box office, Ian McKellen's Sherlock Holmes vehicle "Mr. Holmes" added 325 theaters, sleuthing to $6.4 million and ninth place in its second week. Woody Allen's "Irrational Man" killed with an additional $291,000 in 28 theaters, while the Amy Winehouse documentary "Amy" continued to sing with $700,000 in 370 locations.
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