海角大神

Adam Sandler and assorted video game characters couldn鈥檛 take down the newest Marvel superhero at the box office this weekend.

Sandler鈥檚 new movie 鈥淧ixels,鈥� which stars Sandler, Peter Dinklage, and Josh Gad as video game champions fighting real versions of classic video game personalities, opened at the box office this weekend but came in second to 鈥淎nt-Man,鈥� the new Marvel comic book movie starring Paul Rudd. It was a very close battle, however; 鈥淎nt-Man鈥� grossed $24.8 million over the weekend, while 鈥淧ixels鈥� debuted with $24 million.

The effects-heavy film was a change of pace for Sandler compared to such previous summer releases like 2013鈥檚 鈥淕rown Ups 2鈥� or 2012鈥檚 鈥淭hat鈥檚 My Boy,鈥� neither of which involved anything approaching the effects of the giant Donkey Kong or Pac-Man seen in 鈥淧ixels.鈥� This means that there鈥檚 more pressure for 鈥淧ixels鈥� to do well at the box office to make up its budget.聽

In addition, 鈥淧ixels鈥� was very poorly received by critics. One notable film that succeeded this summer despite negative reviews was 鈥淛urassic World,鈥� which recently became the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time. However, though it didn鈥檛 get overwhelmingly positive reviews, some critics noted that the movie had good points like the performance of actor Chris Pratt, while others wrote that it still has 鈥渙ld-fashioned Saturday matinee-like pleasures.鈥� By comparison, few critics could find much to praise for 鈥淧ixels.鈥� In addition, Sandler has had several recent misfires at the box office 鈥� the 2014 romantic comedy 鈥淏lended鈥� did not do well, nor did 2012鈥檚 鈥淭hat鈥檚 My Boy鈥� or 2011鈥檚 鈥淛ack and Jill,鈥� though his 2013 comedy 鈥淕rown Ups 2鈥� performed better.聽

As for the rest of the films this weekend, the animated 鈥淒espicable Me鈥� spin-off 鈥淢inions鈥� hung on in third place and Amy Schumer鈥檚 comedy 鈥淭rainwreck鈥� came in fourth place this weekend. Meanwhile, the new release 鈥淪outhpaw,鈥� which stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a boxer, came in fifth, grossing more than $16 million. The drama performed well against such summer tentpoles as 鈥淎nt-Man鈥� and 鈥淧ixels.鈥�

Meanwhile, the film 鈥淧aper Towns,鈥� which is based on the young adult novel of the same name by John Green, opened in sixth place with more than $12 million. The film 鈥淭he Fault in Our Stars,鈥� which debuted last summer and was also based on a book by Green, grossed far more in its opening weekend, taking in $48 million.聽

What accounts for the lower performance of 鈥淭owns鈥�? Some teenagers, the movie鈥檚 target audience, may have headed for 鈥淧ixels.鈥� When 鈥淔ault鈥� opened in 2014, it went up against the Tom Cruise action film 鈥淓dge of Tomorrow,鈥� which was obviously a much different film from the teen drama "Fault." By contrast, 62 percent of the audience for 鈥淧ixels鈥� was under the age of 25 this past weekend 鈥� it had some success drawing in younger moviegoers. 鈥淓dge鈥� only brought in 27 percent of moviegoers under 25 when it opened.