"San Andreas" grossed an estimated $53.2 million this weekend despite unpleasant reviews from critics who said the public has seen enough disaster movies already. It is believed that Dwayne Johnson a.k.a. "The Rock" is largely responsible for this success.
The Wall Street Journal reported "San Andreas" was only expected to earn around $40 million in the box office. Production cost $110 million, said the same report.
"San Andreas" is about a massive earthquake that hits Los Angeles and San Francisco. Dwayne Johnson plays a rescue helicopter pilot whose ex-wife (Carla Gugino) and daughter (Alexandra Daddario) are put to grave danger by the quake. Archie Panjabi is also in the film as an investigative journalist.
"I think that this movie was very challenging in a lot of ways and I was put in situations that I hadn't been put in, and I had to do a lot of things that I had not done before," Daddario told Latin Post in an interview.
Critics at Rotten Tomatoes gave "San Andreas" a rating of only 48% while it got an audience score of 64% from almost 30 thousand user ratings. On IMDB, audience review of the film has so far reached a rating of 6.7.
"San Andreas" was directed by Brad Peyton. It was collaboratively written by Allan Loeb, Carlton Cuse, Carey Hayes and Chad Hayes. Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore delivered the original script.
Meanwhile, Dwayne Johnson's other movie, "Furious 7," continues to gain more ticket sales. Reports are saying it is Johnson's celebrity status that pulled in moviegoers despite the old disaster formula of "San Andreas." However, other reports are pointing out that seeing California and Los Angeles in a massive disaster scene is an interesting enough idea for many of the moviegoers.