Hollywood has a rare quiet weekend at the box office this week, since there are no big tentpoles opening. Universal’s dirt-cheap thriller The Purge and the Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn comedy The Internship are the only new wide releases this weekend.
The Purge features Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey. Universal only spent $3 million on it and have decided to go online to market the film, which is why there haven’t been many TV spots for it. Still, Entertainment Weekly notes that the studio is aiming for an opening in the mid-teens, which would already make the studio a profit. It’s earned some mixed reviews, but if audiences are looking for a summer scare, it could reach $25 million.
The Internship’s prospects don’t look as good as The Purge’s. The film is the first Vaughn/Wilson pairing since the 2003 hit Wedding Crashers, but both stars have been on a downward spiral as of late. Box Office Mojo notes that Vaughn’s last two films - The Dilemma and The Watch have underperformed. Wilson’s Hall Pass grossed just $45.1 million, while The big Year was a total flop. Wilson did score a hit with Midnight in Paris, but that might have been more because of Woody Allen.
The Internship finds the two stars trying to intern for Google and it’s rated PG-13. It’ll probably be lucky to hit $15 million.
Fast & Furious 6 is expected to fall to No. 2 to under $20 million, which would bring it to around $200 million domestically. Now You See Me impressed last week and should still be in the mix, while Will Smith’s After Earth flop is expected to make just over $10 million in its second weekend.
Man of Steel opens next week, with World War Z the week after. So, if you're looking to take a break from the movies, this might be the weekend to do so.
image: Universal/image.net