In late summer slump, 'Expendables 2' leads with $13 million

This week was bad for new wide releases. The three new releases finished seventh, tenth, and twelfth. Those are dismal debuts across the board.

Many expected Premium Rush would have a chance at beating The Expendables 2, but instead the action hero picture topped the box office with a $13.5 million weekend, a 52% drop
from opening, on par with the percentage drop of the original. In seventh, Premium Rush earned just $6.3 million. I guess bike chases just don't have the same allure as mechanical smash-ups. Along with Lance Armstrong's decision to not fight against allegations of doping anymore, it was a bad weekend for bike enthusiasts.

Cracking tenth place, Hit & Run's $4.6 million made it a huge hit for indie standards, but some had predicted the well-reviewed picture could have soared even higher. Still, this low-budget movie is already in the green and because it stars TV favorites Dax
Shepard and Kristen Bell, it should do well in the home entertainment environment.

In twelfth, horror offering The Apparition reeled in $2.9 million. With a wisely limited release of 800 theatre, the per-screen average of $3,600 was actually higher than all but two of the movies that placed above it. That means distribution costs weren't too high and people had the benefit of seeing the movie in a packed theatre, where screams can be contagious.

The surprise hit of the weekend was the conservative documentary 2016: Obama's America, which expanded on the eve of the Republican National Convention. Many estimated the movie would earn in the $2-3 million range, on par with other right-leaning docs, but instead it pulled in $6.2 million with a strong per-screen average of $5,700. The weekend tripled its total gross to date, which stands at $9 million. That makes it the highest-grossing conservative doc ever. Ads on talk radio helped support the political picture, which also benefits from heightened interest thanks to the upcoming election.

New Specialty releases fared much better than wide ones. Sleepwalk with Me, which had Ira Glass and the "This American Life" audience in its corner, debuted to $65,000 per-screen. Glass hosted a midnight screening of the movie in Manhattan this weekend, which was one reason the movie earned the title of "best per-screen average opening ever from a first-time filmmaker." Mike Birbiglia writes, directs, and stars in the autobiographical work, which will expand into twenty markets next week.

Samsara, a meditative travelogue, opened to $75,000 on two screens. Our filmmaker profile
reveals just how much work went into the non-fiction picture, which visits 100 locations in 25 countries on five continents. That sounds well-worth the price of admission.

This Friday may kick off a three-day weekend, but it's one of the few holiday periods where Hollywood suffers. With many people trying to get one last weekend outdoors in, the time period is a dead zone. On Wednesday, the violent Prohibition-set picture Lawless will get a head start on the weekend. On Friday, The Possession will open wide and try to pull in horror fiends.

'Premium Rush' will try to coast ahead of 'Expendables 2'

In an end-of-the-summer sprint, Premium Rush (2,255 theatres) will try to grab the last of the hot weather box office. The Manhattan-set actioner about a bike messenger trying to outwit a dirty cop should earn in the teen millions this weekend, but lackluster marketing support could see it
debut to less than $10 million. If that's the case, the number won't be enough to beat the second weekend of The Expendables 2. Critics are generally warm on the movie, giving it a 71% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I white-knuckled some of the chase scenes, but had a harder time buying into the motivation behind the constant and sometimes unnecessary racing and evading. But most action-driven plots don't have that much depth, so in that context, Premium Rush is quite good. It's unclear whether smash-'em-up audiences will want to trade in car chases for bike ones, but this is one premise that's actually original.

Hit & Run (2,870 theatres) is a car chase movie, but it's also a low-budget indie and a bit of a comedy and romance. It opened on Wednesday to $625,000, and it's expected to settle at $7-8 million through the weekend. That's not a ton, but the production and marketing cost just $2
million, so there's definitely a profit in store. Engaged couple Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell star in the feature, which was written and co-directed by Shepard. David Noh praises the chemistry between the two stars, explaining that "you are almost fully willing to revel in whatever caper
befalls this eminently likeable and fun couple, so pleasurable is
their company." The "laugh riot" is also "seriously romantic" and " has something for the girls as well as the boys."

The anti-Obama documentary 2016: Obama's America will expand into 1,090 theatres, timed to the Republican National Convention. The politically charged picture has already earned $2.6 million, mainly in Texas. The conservative movie is topping Fandango's advance sales chart.

Sweltering audiences in need of a chiller can check out The Apparition (810 theatres), which
stars Twilight's Ashley Greene but doesn't have much else going for it. In fact, advance reviews are giving it a 0% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Ouch. Without much marketing traction or a thumbs-up, it's set to earn in the $2 million range.

On the specialty front, Mike Birbiglia expands his one-man show into a movie in Sleepwalk with Me (1 theatre), a "supremely self-deprecating delight," according to Noh.

On Monday, we'll see if Premium Rush outraced The Expendables 2 and Hit & Run. With the Republican National Convention in danger of being washed out by a hurricane, maybe 2016: Obama's America will pick up the slack.