TAGGED AS: Box Office, comic, Comic Book
(Photo by New Line Cinema)
Warner Bros.’ Conjuring Universe film, The Curse of La Llorona, opened to a very respectable $26.5 million. Not terribly well received after its screening at the SXSW film festival this March, the studio then decided to forego press screenings altogether, and it is sitting on a 32% Tomatometer score. That’s the weakest rating for a wide release horror film since last November’s The Possession of Hannah Grace (20%). Even The Prodigy got a 45%. La Llorona’s opening is well ahead other April horror entries like 2008’s Prom Night ($20.8 million), Scream 4 ($18.69), and last year’s Truth or Dare ($18.66). Those three films finished between $38 million–44 million. It is also ahead of this month’s Pet Sematary, which began with $24.5 million and currently sits at $49.5 million, just ahead of the pace of White Noise, which finished with $56.38 million; less than Mary Lambert’s 1989 Pet Sematary ($57.46 million). But a potential $60 million finish domestically for La Llorona would be solid for the $15 million production. It is already over $56 million worldwide.
(Photo by @ Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
The DisneyNature films have done fairly well as far as documentaries go. Earth and Chimpanzee are the 6th and 7th highest-grossing docs of all-time, and Oceans, Bears, Monkey Kingdom, and African Cats are still all in the top 20. So they had to be hoping for better with the 90%-rated Penguins, given that March of the Penguins is the second-highest grossing documentary ever with $77.4 million. Disney’s film has managed just $3.2 million since opening on Wednesday. Even the weakest entry in the series, Born in China, made $5.6 million in its first five days.
(Photo by Marvel Studios)
Shazam! dropped to second this weekend, but only with a 29% fall as it joins 15 films to make between $120 million–122 million in 17 days, seven of which are animated. Its $17.3 million third weekend is the fifth-best amongst them behind just Hitch, Wreck-It Ralph, Coco, and Happy Feet. Those four films grossed between $179 million–210 million, while the 11 films Shazam! beat grossed between $139 million–192 million. DC’s latest could be headed for somewhere in the $160 million range, That is clearly nothing compared to Captain Marvel, which appears to be getting the Black Panther treatment now, as fans want to make sure they are completely caught up for Endgame. It has reached the $400 million domestic mark, and at $1.098 million, it is the 25th highest-grossing film of all-time. Its 5.7% increase from last week to $9.1 million this weekend is the eighth-best seventh weekend ever.
Another version of a superhero is on display in Breakthrough. Namely, The Almighty, as the power of prayer beats doctors in reviving a drowned boy. Over the weekend the 64%-rated film grossed $11.1 million, ranking it ahead of Soul Surfer and God’s Not Dead on the faith chart. That’s less than other pre-Easter releases like Heaven Is For Real ($22.5 million) and Miracles From Heaven ($14.8 million), each involving children, illness, and revival. Breakthrough has made $14.6 million since opening Wednesday.
Dumbo finally hit $100 million on its 24th day and likely finishes somewhere between $110 million–120 million. That means a worldwide total somewhere in the $300 million range, which may be just enough to be the second-biggest bomb of 2019, leaving the top title to Paramount’s Wonder Park. Annapurna’s United Artists Releasing did no favors for Missing Link, which crash-landed on opening (despite a 90% critical rating). Audiences may have caught on to the critics singing its praises because the film dropped just 26% this weekend — the second smallest drop of the year after The Upside — but it has still only grossed $12.9 million.
(Photo by @ Universal)
Last week’s releases fell further down the chart. Little dropped 45 percent from second to fifth and has made $29 million to date. Lionsgate’s Hellboy, though, is a domestic failure. It’s 67.8-percent drop is the third worst of 2019 for a wide release behind Replicas and The Beach Bum. Neil Marshall’s film has made less than Elektra did in its first 10 days; the 2005 film lost more than half its theaters in its third week. If that happens to Hellboy next week, then it may not even reach $25 million. Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy made $23.1 million in its opening weekend. Finally, Jordan Peele’s Us looks to be preparing for one more Top 10 stay next weekend. Currently on par in weekend five with X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Thor, it may settle in with a final gross between $179 million–181 million; ahead of Get Out’s $176 million.
(Photo by @ Paramount Pictures)
A Quiet Place reclaimed the top spot at the box office, edging out Rampage in its second weekend by less than $900,000. I Feel Pretty ($16 millon) also took third place by less than $900,000 over challenger Super Troopers 2, which made nearly half of its total money this weekend. The Paula Patton thriller, Traffik, opened all the way back in ninth with just $3.94 million. The top 10 films grossed $106.60 million and averaged 60% on the Tomatometer. This week’s top 10 grossed an estimated $96.65 million and averaged 61% with critics.
(Photo by @ Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, @ Marvel)
The summer movie season once again begins in April and no one wants to get in the way of Avengers: Endgame. Eleven years in the making. Who lives? Who dies? All questions the fans want answered, but Disney is looking at others. Will Endgame best Infinity War’s all-time opening weekend of $257.6 million? (Likely.) Could it actually climb to $300 million by the end of Sunday? (Quite possibly.) Does it best Black Panther’s $700 million to become the highest-grossing Marvel film ever? (Could be.) Are the numbers of Avatar and Star Wars in any danger? (We’ll see.) But we will track its progress week-to-week right here.
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]
