’22 Jump Street’ Wins Weekend Box Office
The off-the-wall buddy-cop comedy 22 Jump Street led the box office this past weekend, pulling in $60 million shortly after its premiere.
According to Moviefone, 22 Jump Street earned $10 million more than second place blockbuster How To Train Your Dragon 2, which opened with $50 million. Far behind the leading two movies was Maleficent with $19 million and Edge of Tomorrow with $16.2 million.
22 Jump Street is the sequel to the 2012 film 21Jump Street, which starred Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as two dim-witted police academy graduates who hated each other in high school but were forced to work together undercover. The R-rated follow-up 22 Jump Street has Tatum and Hill returning for another ridiculous undercover mission, this time looking to bust a drug dealer in the college setting.
According to Headline Planet, the film’s predecessor earned $138 million during its run through theaters back in 2012. 22 Jump Street is on course to blow that number out of the water. Audiences seem to have warmed up to the chemistry between Tatum and Hill, who usually star in very different films. 22 Jump Street brings together both action and comedy, a blend of the two genres the actors are respectively known for.
According to The Wrap, Rory Bruer, the distribution chief at Sony, released the following statement about the success of 22 Jump Street:
“Give big kudos to Jonah and Channing. Their chemistry is something special. They work hard and play hard and love what they’re doing; that shows, and audiences responded in a big way.”
The Wrap also reported that 22 Jump Street was expected to earn less in its opening weekend than How To Train Your Dragon 2, which was the summer’s first animated comedy. Not only did 22 Jump Street have a better opening, it also played in 900 fewer theaters than How To Train Your Dragon 2. Part of its success can be attributed to the even divide between male and female audience members, many of whom went to see the movie for weekend date nights.
22 Jump Street also had a better opening than The Fault In Our Stars, which was expected to be a smash hit but fell short of the $50 million mark.
The Tatum and Hill comedy isn’t just popular, critics have been generally praising 22 Jump Street. The Inquisitr reported on the success of the cop comedy despite many low expectations.
What do you think? Have you seen 22 Jump Street yet? Now that you’ve seen how successful it is, are you interested in going? Let us know in the comments.
