‘Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2’ Takes Top Box Office Spot, ‘Prisoners’, ‘Rush’ Follow
The box office weekend was all about family as viewers flocked to see the sequel Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2, leaving behind the dark drama Prisoners and Ron Howard’s Rush.
It was not a surprise, although it was somewhat surprising that Rush did so poorly. Cloudy 2 brought in $35 million, while Prisoners ended up in second place with $11.2 million and Rush rounded up the top three with only $10.3 million.
What does this tell us about moviegoers? Maybe that they were ready to see a clean family animated movie after Prisoners ruled last weekend and that Americans don’t care too much about Formula One racing.
The Sony animated flick did better than the original in 2009 which brought in $30.3 million.
It has to be somewhat disheartening for Ron Howard, who has been excitedly pitching his film on Twitter that it really didn’t resonate with the audience, despite a relatively aggressive ad campaign.
Not even handsome Aussie Chris Hemsworth, who portrays playboy Brit James Hunt, in one of his post Thor main roles could convince the American public to go see this very worth while film. Daniel Bruhl has even been mentioned as possible Oscar contender for his portrayal of racing legend Niki Lauda.
The fact is that, this is not only a story about Formula One racing, but it’s about perseverance and coming back to the top of one of the most demanding and dangerous sports against all odds. Surviving one of the worst fiery crashes in the history of motor sports is no small feat.
The film is banking on foreign markets where Formula One is extremely popular such as Europe and South America, well, anywhere but the US really.
Despite it being out for the second week in a row the Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal drama Prisoners managed to take second place and this is also not surprising, an excellent cast and script make for a gripping tale of desperation in this thriller that will leave you grabbing onto your seat.
But the clear winner was the lighthearted, animated comedy Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2, which has no leading man, only good ‘ol family fun.
