“Sex Tape” failed to perform. “Planes: Fire & Rescue” flew a bit low. And the third major newcomer at North American movie theaters, “The Purge: Anarchy,” had a smaller body count than its grisly franchise predecessor. That left the weekend box office down 25 percent compared with the same three days last summer, as the No. 1 movie in the United States and Canada was a hold-over: “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (20th Century Fox), which took in an estimated $36 million, for a two-week domestic total of about $140 million.
A horror film about legalized killing, “The Purge: Anarchy” (Universal) was second; it sold about $28.4 million in tickets, or 17 percent less than the opening-weekend total for “The Purge” last summer, according to Rentrak, which compiles box-office data. The decline on this one matters little: “Anarchy” only cost $9 million to make. The animated “Planes: Fire & Rescue” (Disney) was third, with estimated ticket sales of $18 million, or 19 percent lower than the opening-weekend total for “Planes” last summer. Again, no big deal: “Fire & Rescue” cost a relatively inexpensive $50 million to make and comes with a huge toy business.
The audience rejection of “Sex Tape” is more troubling. Sony spent about $40 million to make this R-rated comedy and backed it with an aggressive marketing campaign estimated to cost another $40 million. But “Sex Tape,” co-starring Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel, limped into the marketplace in fourth place, taking in about $15 million, or roughly 50 percent less than Sony had hoped. The goal was a replication of “Bad Teacher,” a raunchy comedy from 2011 that paired the same stars and arrived to $32 million in sales.
Why did “Sex Tape” peter out? Box-office analysts pointed to negative reviews; competition; a sharply thinner Mr. Segel, making him hard to recognize; and a culture already overstocked with celebrity sex tapes.