NORTH AMERICA: ‘Magic Mike XXL’ Bests Soft ‘Terminator Genisys’ On Opening Day; ‘Inside Out’ Climbs To $208M; ‘Jurassic World’ Cracks $520M; ‘Ted 2’ Takes $44M Six-Day Start

Warner Bros. reports Magic Mike XXL posted a healthy $9.31 million opening day in first place yesterday, which includes $2.4 million from early shows on Tuesday night. By comparison, that figure is 52 percent off its predecessor’s first day back in June 2012 (a Friday), but the modest $15 million production budget voids any cause for alarm at the (mostly expected) drop-off by the sequel. Magic Mike XXL‘s first day was also 73 percent ahead of Entourage‘s opening day, 50 percent stronger than fellow July 4 weekend release Tammy‘s last year, and 19 percent ahead of This Is the End (all three were Wednesday openers). While critics haven’t been as thrilled with the sequel (59 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), the film has a modest 75 percent Flixster score and received an encouraging “A-” CinemaScore, according to the studio.

Paramount reports that Terminator Genisys opened to $8.93 million in second place on Wednesday, including Tuesday night’s $2.3 million start. Unfortunately, this falls considerably short (more than 33 percent) of the previous film in the franchise, Terminator Salvation, which pulled a $13.4 million opening day on the Thursday before Memorial Day in 2009. Considering more schools are out of session for Genisys‘ debut, the reboot needed to pull a much stronger launch than this. The first-day take was also just 9 percent stronger than Public Enemies, which released on the same exact Wednesday in 2009 ahead of Independence Day. With critics’ reviews in the cellar (25 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and early word of mouth heading south very fast (a 70 percent Flixster score just one day after release is alarming), the reboot will have to rely on overseas markets going forward as the chances of reaching $100 million domestically by the end of its run appear very slim.

Moving down to third place (for now), Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out added $7.5 million yesterday, down just 20 percent from last Wednesday. With $208.34 million in the bank through 13 days of release, the strongly-received animated pic is pacing 37.5 percent ahead of Up and 17 percent behind Toy Story 3.

Jurassic World took in another $5.99 million on Wednesday for a 36.5 percent decline from last week. The mega-blockbuster’s domestic tally now stands at $520.36 million, putting it 10 percent ahead of whereMarvel’s The Avengers was at the same point in release.

Filling out the top five, Ted 2 grossed $3.03 million yesterday, giving it a six-day domestic haul of $44.06 million. The comedy sequel is pacing 45 percent behind its predecessor.

Meanwhile, Max added $1.5 million yesterday, giving it $17.08 million through six days of play. That’s a respectable 15 percent stronger performance than last summer’s Earth to Echo through the same point.

Please note: grosses for Faith of Our Fathers were not reported in time for publishing.