Despite a marketing CPR attempt to kick-start the franchise, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance couldn’t overtake last week’s movies at the box office this weekend.
Vengeance, a sequel to the critically panned 2007 hit, took third place, snatching up $22 million, according to studio estimates from Exhibitor Relations.
A hip ad campaign, which focused more on effects than star Nicolas Cage, prompted analysts to project at least $30 million. And preliminary tracking reports suggested the movie was higher on teens’ radar than the first movie, which did a surprising $116 million.
But this comic-book adaptation of a stunt motorcyclist who sells his soul to the devil will have to kick sales into overdrive if it hopes to match the original, which debuted to $45 million.
Vengeance managed a thumbs-up from just 17% of critics, according to amalgam site Rottentomatoes.com. Fans shrugged, giving the film a C-plus, according to Cinemascore.
The movie “benefited from an on-target marketing campaign” directed at young men, says Joshua Weinstein, box office analyst for industry site Thewrap.com. But the movie “is unlikely to recover from the C-plus” audiences gave it.
Tim Briody of Boxofficeprophets was blunter. He called Vengeance a “textbook example of Unwanted Sequel Syndrome.”
Holdovers, though, had little trouble keeping moviegoers interested. The Denzel Washington thriller Safe House took first place in its second weekend with $24 million, lifting its 10-day total to $78.2 million.
The love story The Vow took the second spot, claiming $23.6 million. The movie, starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, has grossed $85.5 million.
Dwayne Johnson’s family adventure Journey 2: The Mysterious Island took fourth with $20.1 million. Island has captured $53.2 million over two weekends.
The only other major release of the weekend, the Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy This Means War, took fifth with $17.6 million, meeting most of its expectations. Briody says that War couldn’t usurp enough business from The Vow. War, he says, “ran smack into Channing Tatum’s abs.”
Final figures are due Tuesday because of the President’s Day holiday.
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