"Dumb and Dumber To" raked in $14.2 million during its Friday opening, earning the top spot in the weekend box office rankings for the sequel to the Jim Carrey/Jeff Daniels' 1994 hit, reports Forbes. The $14.2 million also includes a $1.6 million performance for the Thursday sneak previews.
The comedy film cost $40 million to make, and Scott Mendelson of Forbes says he expects the movie to earn that back by the end of the weekend, at least.
"The film should end the frame with over/under $40m for the weekend (it would take a 2.8x weekend multiplier, which is possible if not overly plausible), although a more front-loaded $36m debut would be no defeat," says Mendelson.
Randy Lewis of the L.A. Times agrees, saying that movie audiences seem to be showing a lot of "enthusiasm" for the movie, despite poor reviews from critics.
"Dumb and Dumber To" garnered a rating of only 27 percent on aggregating website Rotten Tomatoes, and a 35 ranking (out of 100) on Metacritic.
"If there was any doubt that most things in society have been dumbed down in the last couple of decades, Dumb and Dumber To could be exhibit A," said Claudia Puig of USA Today, while the San Francisco Chronicle called it "anti-funny, where every attempt at a joke is like a little rock thrown at your face."
The original "Dumb and Dumber" movie earned a total of $127 million, after a $16.3 million opening back in 1994, and Dave Lewis of Hitfix says he also sees the sequel earning around $36 million over the weekend.
The science-fiction thriller "Interstellar" came in at second place on the strength of its $8.3 million showing for the second week of its release, according to Box Office Mojo. Meanwhile, Disney's "Big Hero 6" came in at third with earnings of $8 million on Friday. The animated film from Disney is also on its second week.