TAGGED AS: Box Office, Disney, Walt Disney Pictures
It would appear that everyone is saving their money for Toy Story 4 next week. Either that or nobody wanted to spend their hard-earned cash on two rebooted films about investigators that began their runs in 1998 and 2000. How bad did the two new sequels do this weekend? Combined they made just $4 million more than Dark Phoenix did last week. On top of it, Phoenix nearly set a new record low (or high) in its second weekend.
(Photo by Sony)
The title is a dubious distinction given that its opening weekend is less than 50% of any of the first three films. Men In Black: International does own the top spot at the box office with $28.5 million this weekend but if it continues along the lines of the sequels released the past two weeks its domestic future looks rather bleak. The rebooted franchise with Thor: Ragnarok co-stars Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth is scoring just slightly higher with critics (24% on the Tomatometer) than Dark Phoenix (23%) and opened with $4 million less.
At a reported cost of $110 million, MIB:I is Sony’s most expensive film since Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017. And unlike Passengers or Ghostbusters, Spidey was the only $100-plus million production from the studio since 2015’s SPECTRE to turn a profit. International is going to be relying on that very thing to get anywhere close.
(Photo by 20th Century Fox)
Did anyone know that a new Shaft was coming out? Well, it made $8.3 million this weekend. The previous Shaft (2000) opened to $21.7 million and finished with $70.3 million. Of the 13 direct sequels (big and small) released in 2019, Shaft and Men In Black: International are now the seventh and eighth ones to have their opening weekends drop 47% or more from the previous films.
There may have been some curiosity about just how bad Dark Phoenix was last week, but it now nearly strikes a new low in its second weekend with $9 million, after last week’s $32.9 million opening. Amongst films that have opened between $30 and $35 million, there were five previous titles to drop more than 70% in weekend two: They were The Devil Inside (-76.2%), The Purge (-75.6%), Bruno (-72.8%), 2010’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (-72.3%) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (-70.7%). Dark Phoenix joined the list this week by dropping 73%.
(Photo by Universal Pictures)
Illumination’s The Secret Life of Pets 2 made $23.8 million this weekend, for a current cume of $92m. Even if Pets 2 manages to squeak out $155 million domestically that is still nearly a 58% drop from the $365 million the first film made. Then again, with just an $80 million budget and an international haul that is up to $62 million, profit is still in the cards, though that will still feel like a disappointment.
Aladdin continues to do solid business with over $263 million domestic and $724 million worldwide. And the other musical released three weeks ago continues to do solid biz, too: Rocketman made another $8 million, for a $66 million total cume.
Amazon expanded its $12 million Sundance pickup, Late Night, into 2,220 theaters this weekend and the results were a bit lackluster: A $5.1 million weekend with just a $2,314 per-theater-average. Focus’ release of Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die posted a $3,834 PTA this weekend opening with $2.35 million in 613 theaters. That is already the fourth highest-grossing film that Jarmusch has ever made and needs less than a million to pass Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai for second, behind just Broken Flowers ($13.7 million).
And finally, Avengers: Endgame record watch: With around $9 million globally this weekend the film is still $45 million from Avatar’s total $2.742 billion.
(Photo by Disney)
Pixar’s Incredibles 2 broke the all-time animated opening weekend record with $182.6 million. That was good enough for the eighth highest all-time as well and yet only the third best of 2018 after Avengers: Infiinty War and Black Panther. The comedy, Tag, started in third with $14.9 million, the remake of Superfly was only sixth with $6.8 million. And John Travolta as Gotti did not even make the top 10 with $1.71 million in 503 theaters for 11th place. The top 10 films grossed a total of $258.48 million and averaged 71.9% on the Tomatometer. This year’s top 10 grossed an estimated $118.08 Million and averaged 55.2%.
(Photo by Disney)
Woody, Buzz, and the whole gang return in Toy Story 4, which is poised to be one of the biggest films of the summer and the year. Can it beat Incredibles 2’s opening record? Early reports suggest it could be headed for $200 million or higher and it currently holds a 100% on the Tomatometer. Another kid’s toy returns to theaters as well, though one with a choking hazard — intentionally. Mark Hamill voices Chucky in the Child’s Play remake. Meanwhile, Luc Besson is grooming yet another young female assassin with Anna. She is unlikely to be the next Lucy. Though maybe she’ll be the next Adèle Blanc-Sec, The Extraordinary Adventures of.
Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on WGN Radio with Nick Digilio as well as on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast.
[box office figures via Box Office Mojo]
