Opening to mild results in fifth place was When the Game Stands Tall, starring Jim Caviezel. With a $9 million debut, the film took in less in its opening weekend than other sports disappointments this year, Draft Day ($9.8 million) and Million Dollar Arm ($10.5 million). Based on a true story, the low-budget, faith-friendly drama boasts an A- CinemaScore and took it a lot of business on Saturday, which means it could have small drops over the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, far down in eighth place was Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. Earning a paltry $6.5 million in its opening three days, the film debuted 78% lower than the 2005 original, which came out in the midst of an empty spring marketplace instead of in the dog days of summer. However, with higher ticket prices (and 3D), the long-awaited sequel only sold about one in six tickets, when compared to its predecessor. This marks it as one of the biggest flops of the year, even earning less than half of the opening weekend of last August’s disappointing Kick-Ass 2 ($13.3 million).
Even though Sin City is a beloved film, there are many factors that contributed to its poor debut. Primarily, the nine-year wait between films was simply too long. Since 2005, the unique comic-book style has been replicated in films like 300, and there was no creative hook that ensured audiences would come in for these new chapters. Meanwhile, competition from the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Expendables was more formidable than The Weinstein Company expected. Furthermore, poor reviews and mixed online buzz did not reassure those who were on the fence about seeing it.
Among limited releases, acclaimed Sundance fave Love is Strange had a solid debut, taking in more than $125,000 from only five theaters. The John Lithgow-Alfred Molina drama should expand for a nice run over the next month. The audacious romantic comedy The One I Love was less than a simple prop to occupy audiences’ time, only earning around $55,000 from eight cinemas.
Here are the box office estimates for the Top 10 films at the North American box office, the weekend of August 22 through 24, 2014:
1. Guardians of the Galaxy – $17.6 million ($251.9 million total)
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – $16.8 million ($145.6 million total)
3. If I Stay – $16.4 million (NEW)
4. Let’s Be Cops – $11 million ($45.2 million total)
5. When the Game Stands Tall – $9 million (NEW)
6. The Giver – $6.7 million ($24.1 million total)
7. The Expendables 3 – $6.6 million ($27.5 million total)
8. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For – $6.5 million (NEW)
9. The Hundred-Foot Journey – $5.6 million ($32.8 million total)
10. Into the Storm – $3.8 million ($38.3 million total)
NOTE: These numbers are weekend estimates based on Friday and Saturday’s estimated takes. Actual numbers for the three-day weekend are reported on Monday afternoon.
