Box Office Results: 'Oblivion' Makes $38.2 Million, Snags No. 1 Spot From '42'
Box office results showed that "Oblivion," the post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller starring Tom Cruise, brought in an outstanding $38.2 million this past weekend, wresting the no. 1 spot from Jackie Robinson film "42." Despite the successful weekend though, critics are not as impressed with the film, claiming they were underwhelmed by the slow-moving plot.
The box office reports were released by Rentrak, who recorded the movie's openings both last week internationally and this past weekend domestically.
"'Oblivion' is the No. 1 film worldwide for the 2nd week in a row with an estimated weekend gross of $71.9 million," Ron Giambra, President of Rentrak Theatrical Worldwide, said in a press release. "The worldwide cume now stands at $150.2 million."
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The film stands as Tom Cruise's biggest release since 2006's "Mission Impossible 3," and exceeded its production costs- reportedly $120 million, according to reports- by a significant amount. Coming in at second place was "42," the Jackie Robinson biopic, with $18 million this weekend and $54 million total. Third place was taken by animated prehistoric family movie "The Croods" with $9.5 million, and fourth and fifth place were rounded out by "Scary Movie 5" and "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" with $6.3 and $5.8 million, respectively.
"Oblivion" features Tom Cruise as Jack Harper, a 2077 drone repairman and one of the last humans on earth after a major war wiped out much of humanity. After years on earth, he and Victoria- Andrea Riseborough- are set to rejoin humanity. Still, the mysteries of the past haunt Harper. Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko also star in the sci-fi film.
Though "Oblivion" was successful financially, critics gave the movie mixed reviews. While reviewers nearly universally liked the soundtrack and futuristic special effects, they also complained of a lack of originality in the script and a laborious, sometimes confusing plot.
"A slow-moving behemoth of a film that has been art-directed into a coma," Andrea Chase wrote for
Killer Movie Reviews.
"Glossy, derivative, ambitious and fatally underpowered," Tom Charity agreed on CNN.com.
Critics for RottenTomatoes.com gave the film a 58 percent, but audiences rated it a little better, at nearly 70 percent. The target demographic- males 25 and up- didn't necessarily seem to mind that they recognized classic sci-fi movie tropes throughout the film.
"If a world where Star Wars, Independence Day, Total Recall, War of the Worlds, Predator, Moon, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Serenity, Tron, Blade Runner, Minority Report, Wall-E, and The Matrix didn't exist, Oblivion would be hands down the greatest sci-fi movie of all time," E.J. Boxler, a site reviewer, wrote on RottenTomatoes.
