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San Andreas soars to S$71.8 million opening in US

LOS ANGELES — Dwayne Johnson’s San Andreas has delivered a dominating US$53.2 million (S$71.8 million) opening weekend at 3,777 US locations, soaring past recent forecasts of a US$40 million launch for the Warner Bros-New Line 3D disaster pic.

This photo provided by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Dwayne Johnson as Ray in a scene from the action thriller, San Andreas. Photo: AP

This photo provided by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Dwayne Johnson as Ray in a scene from the action thriller, San Andreas. Photo: AP

LOS ANGELES — Dwayne Johnson’s San Andreas has delivered a dominating US$53.2 million (S$71.8 million) opening weekend at 3,777 US locations, soaring past recent forecasts of a US$40 million launch for the Warner Bros-New Line 3D disaster pic.

San Andreas took in more than five times the US$10 million opening of Sony’s romantic comedy Aloha, which arrived at 2,815 sites amid extensive negative buzz — which overcame the star power of Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone and Rachel McAdams. Sony distribution chief Rory Bruer noted that Aloha, launched as a counterprogrammer to San Andreas, received a B+ CinemaScore among adults 25-34; the audience was 64 per cent female with 57 per cent of the audience over 30.

San Andreas underlines Johnson’s drawing power in the wake of being a key component of Universal’s Furious 7 and its US$1.5 billion worldwide gross. He’s been front and centre in the promotion for San Andreas, where he plays a heroic helicopter pilot seeking to rescue his daughter, played by Alexandra Daddario, amid the rubble of a mega-quake.

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak, noted that San Andreas gained momentum throughout the weekend due to the film delivering what he called “pure popcorn movie excitement”.

“Johnson is clearly one of the most bankable stars working today,” he added. “Johnson’s versatility, charisma, humour and his imposing physical presence on the big screen has made him the go-to guy for filmmakers looking to ratchet up the excitement level and drawing power of their films.”

San Andreas, which also stars Carla Gugino and Paul Giamatti, earned an impressive A- CinemaScore from audiences, with 70 per cent coming from the over-25 demo. Dan Fellman, Warner’s domestic distribution chief, said Johnson deserves much of the credit.

“He’s a four-quadrant, larger-than-life movie star,” Fellman said. “This is going to have great legs.”

Village Roadshow Pictures co-financed and co-produced San Andreas with Warners for US$110 million, with most of the film lensing in Australia to take advantage of government incentives. It’s produced by Beau Flynn and directed by Brad Peyton from a screenplay by Carlton Cuse from a story by Andre Fabrizio and Jerry Passmore.

Showings at 390 premium large-format outlets generated US$5.3 million in the US. Warner Bros. also reported that San Andreas grossed US$60 million internationally at 14,500 screens in 60 markets.

Universal’s third weekend of Pitch Perfect 2 led the rest of the pack in the US, finishing with US$14.8 million at 3,660 locations. The comedy sequel, which carries a modest US$29 million price tag, has outperformed expectations with a total of US$147.5 million in 17 days in the US with another US$80 million-plus internationally.

Disney’s second frame of George Clooney’s Tomorrowland finished at a close third with US$13.8 million for a US$63.2 million 10-day total. The high-priced fantasy, with a US$180 million budget, isn’t showing much traction with a 58 per cent decline from its opening weekend.

On the foreign front, Tomorrowland hasn’t dazzled either. It took in US$29.3 million from 75 markets, including US$13.8 million from its first six days in China, to lift international grosses to US$70 million.

Tomorrowland edged Warner’s third weekend of Mad Max: Fury Road, which motored to US$13.6 million at 3,255 sites. The Tom Hardy-Charlize Theron tentpole declined 45 per cent and has totaled US$115.9 million in the US in 17 days.

Disney-Marvel’s fifth weekend of Avengers: Age of Ultron finished fifth, ahead of Aloha, with US$10.9 million at 3,228 sites, declining 50 per cent. The tentpole has hit US$427.1 million — passing The Hunger Games: Catching Fire for the 10th spot on the all-time list of top domestic grossers.

Ultron took in us$17.6 million overseas to push its international total to us$894 million and its worldwide take to us$1.32 billion, the sixth highest total of all time.

Despite San Andreas, the overall weekend was down around 20 per cent compared with last year’s post-Memorial weekend when Disney’s Maleficent opened with us$69.4 million and Fox’s X-Men: Days of Future Past took US$32.6 million in its second frame. VARIETY.COM/REUTERS

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