Moviefone Editorial

Tag: @3rdparty

  • Box Office: ‘Coco’ Comes Out on Top for Second Weekend in a Row

    By Erin Nyren

    LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Disney-Pixar’s “Coco” is set to win the first December weekend with an estimated $28 million in its second weekend at 3,987 domestic locations, a little under double the third frame of “Justice League‘s” take at $16 million.

    The third weekend of Lionsgate’s “Wonder” is on track to come in third, behind Warner Bros.’ latest DC installment, with $13 million. Disney-Marvel’s “Thor: Ragnarok” is doing well in its fifth weekend, taking in $9 million to slot into fourth place, and the fourth weekend of holiday film “Daddy’s Home 2” is heading towards about $7 million, making it fifth.

    The major studios are relying on holdover business this weekend and the next before the Dec. 15 launch of Disney-Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

    Three potential awards season contenders had their platform releases as Amazon opened Woody Allen’s “Wonder Wheel” in five locations; A24’s “The Disaster Artist,” starring and directed by James Franco, launched in 19 sites; and Fox Searchlight’s Guillermo del Toro fantasy “The Shape of Water” opened at two sites. Fox Searchlight’s “Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri” expanded to 1,430 venues from 614 in its fourth weekend, and rose from 10th place to seventh with $4.5 million.

    “Coco” posted the fourth-best Thanksgiving holiday opening ever, trailing three other Disney titles — “Frozen” with $93 million in 2013, “Moana” with $82 million in 2017, and “Toy Story 3” with $80 million in 2010. The film tells the story of Miguel, a young boy who is accidentally transported to the land of the dead, and sets out to find a legendary musician, who is also his great-great-grandfather. The film’s concept stems from the Mexican holiday Dia de Muertos. While the studio has not released a budget for the film, Pixar movies are normally budgeted between $175 to $200 million.

    “Justice League” is set to rise to about $195 million domestically after its second weekend. The movie teams up Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, the Flash, and Cyborg in the same manner as Disney-Marvel’s superheroes and is already the 11th highest-grossing title released in 2017. It’s been the lowest performer among the DC Extended Universe. “Wonder Woman” grossed $233.8 million in its first two weeks in June and “Suicide Squad” took in $241.5 million in its first two weeks in August 2016.

    Lionsgate’s family drama “Wonder” has continued to show impressive traction with this weekend’s estimates bringing it to a cumulative $89 million. The film, which stars Jacob Tremblay as a fifth grader with a facial deformity, has a modest $20 million budget.

    “Thor: Ragnarok” will top $290 million domestically after its fifth weekend and is the sixth highest domestic grosser of 2017. The film has surpassed $800 million globally and helped push Disney past the $5 billion worldwide mark. Of the 17 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Ragnarok” is the seventh to reach this milestone and the third to do so this year.

  • Box Office: ‘Coco’ Crushes ‘Justice League’ Over Thanksgiving Weekend

    By Dave McNary

    LOS ANGELES, Nov 26 (Variety.com) – Disney-Pixar’s “Coco” handily won the Thanksgiving holiday box office over the second weekend of Warner Bros.-DC Entertainment’s “Justice League,” with $71.2 million at 3,987 North American sites during the Wednesday-Sunday period.

    “Justice League” pulled in $60 million at 4,051 locations during the same timeframe. The superhero action-adventure, the fifth in the DC Extended Universe, has totaled $172 million in its first 10 days.

    “Coco” posted for the third-best Thanksgiving holiday opening ever, trailing three other Disney titles — “Frozen” with $93 million in 2013, “Moana” with $82 million in 2017 and “Toy Story 3” with $80 million in 2010.

    Audiences surveyed by comScore’s PostTrak gave “Coco” strong ratings with 66% calling it “excellent,” and another 23% rating it “very good.” Surveys also showed 77% of viewers saying they would “definitely recommend” the movie to friends and 20% saying they would watch it again in a theater.

    “Coco,” directed by Lee Unkrich and co-directed by Adrian Molina, is based on the traditions surrounding the Day of the Dead holiday in Mexico and centers on a 12-year-old boy who dreams of becoming a musician and explores his family history in the Land of the Dead. The studio has not released a price for the movie. Disney-Pixar titles are usually budgeted in the $175 million to $200 million range.

    “Justice League,” which teams up the DC characters in the same manner as Disney-Marvel’s superheroes, is already in the top 15 of titles released in 2017 and has opened with a B+ CinemaScore. It’s been the lowest performer among the DC Extended Universe. “Wonder Woman” grossed $206.3 million in its first 10 days in June and “Suicide Squad” took in $222.6 million in its first 10 days in August 2016.

    Gal Gadot stars as Wonder Woman along with Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as the Flash, and Ray Fisher as Cyborg as the superheroes team up to save the world. Warner Bros. has not disclosed the production cost, which is believed to be as much as $300 million.

    Lionsgate’s family drama “Wonder” continued to show impressive traction in third place with about $32 million at 3,140 locations for a 10-day total of more than $69 million. The film, which stars Jacob Tremblay as a fifth grader with a facial deformity, has a modest $20 million budget.

    Disney-Marvel’s “Thor: Ragnarok” finished fourth with about $24 million at 3,281 sites, lifting its 24-day domestic total to $277 million. It’s topped “Despicable Me 3” as the sixth-highest grosser of 2017.

    Fox’s “Murder on the Orient Express” and Paramount’s “Daddy’s Home 2” tied for fifth over the five days, both with $18.6 million. “Orient Express” has totaled $74.2 million domestically in its first 17 days while “Daddy’s Home 2” has earned $72.7 million in the same period.

    Sony Classics saw stellar returns from its platform release of coming-of-age drama “Call Me by Your Name” with $404,874 at four venues in Los Angeles and New York since its Friday launch for an impressive per-screen average of $101,219. That’s the best limited opening of 2017, topping the “Lady Bird” launch with $364,437 on four screens, and the highest since “La La Land” opened with $881,104 at five venues last December.

    Focus Features’ “Darkest Hour,” starring Oldman as Winston Churchill, opened strongly with a $248,000 at four theaters for the five days. The well-reviewed film — which centers on Chruchill’s early days as prime minister in 1940 with a possible Nazi invasion of Britain looming — is playing at the Arclight and Landmark in Los Angeles and the Union Square and Lincoln Plaza in New York City.

    The holiday weekend is one of the busiest moviegoing periods of the year. According to comScore, this year’s five-day Thanksgiving weekend saw total grosses his $268 million — $7.5 million better than last year’s when “Moana” opened with $82 million, and “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” taking in $65 million in its second weekend.

  • Box Office: ‘Justice League’ Disappoints With Worst DCEU Opening Ever

    By Dave McNary

    LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Warner Bros.-DC’s costly “Justice League” has dominated the North American box office but fallen well short of expectations with a $96 million opening weekend at 4,051 locations.

    It’s a decidedly gloomy result for the tentpole, which had been forecast by the studio just prior to the weekend to open in the $110 million range. Instead, “Justice League” is launching with only the eighth largest opening of 2017. It’s not even in the top 50 domestic openings of all time, ranking 53rd behind “Fast and Furious 6.”

    “For every macro budget superhero movie the stakes are incredibly high and with that comes an enormous pressure to exceed all expectations and for DC, this has never been more true,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with comScore. “In the wake of the much-needed home run that was ‘Wonder Woman,’ the momentum was with the brand and great expectations placed on the very broad shoulders of ‘Justice League’ to keep that train moving.”

    Dergarabedian noted that the movie will gross $285 million worldwide this weekend and that initial reception among audiences is positive. The overall CinemaScore was B+ with males comprising 58% of the audience while females gave the movie an A-, as did moviegoers under 25.

    “With the rightfully heightened expectations for a movie of this magnitude comes a greater scrutiny of both the quality of the movie as determined by critics and of course the profitability of the film, but the ultimate arbiter are moviegoers who seem to have found the concept and the event nature of the film enough to them out to the movie theater even if the overall North American opening weekend number may be less than many expected,” Dergarabedian said.

    “Justice League” had been on track for an opening weekend of $110 million since late October. Stakes are particularly high for Warner Bros., which hasn’t revealed the cost of “Justice League” — estimated to be as much as $300 million. The movie is the fifth installment of its DC Extended Universe, aimed at duplicating the success of Disney-Marvel’s interconnected franchises. And it’s by far the lowest launch, trailing “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” ($166 million); “Suicide Squad” ($133 million); “Man of Steel” ($116 million); and “Wonder Woman” ($103 million).

    The six films that have cracked the $100 million opening mark this year are Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” at $174.8 million, Disney-Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” at $146.5 million, Warner-New Line’s “It” at $123.4 million, Disney-Marvel’s “Thor: Ragnarok” at $122.7 million, Sony-Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” at $117 million, and Warner-DC’s “Wonder Woman” at $103.3 million. Universal’s “Fate of the Furious” took in $98.8 million in April for the seventh-best launch of 2017.

    Gal Gadot stars as Wonder Woman along with Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as the Flash, and Ray Fisher as Cyborg. Amy Adams, Amber Heard, Jeremy Irons, J.K. Simmons, and Willem Dafoe also appear. Zack Snyder began shooting “Justice League” in April of 2016, from a script by Chris Terrio. Joss Whedon — director of Disney-Marvel’s two “Avengers” movies — assumed directing duties following the tragic suicide of Snyder’s daughter in March.

    Reviewers have not been impressed with “Justice League,” which carries a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Its opening comes two weeks after Disney-Marvel’s “Thor: Ragnarok” debuted above forecasts with a $122.7 million opening weekend in what was the fourth-biggest launch of the year.

    Liosngate’s family drama “Wonder” provided positive news for the weekend, opening far above expectations with $27 million at 3,096 sites. “Wonder,” starring Jacob Tremblay as a fifth grader with a facial deformity, received an A+ CinemaScore with an audience that was 68% female and 66% over 25.

    “Thor: Ragnarok” followed in third with $21.8 million at 4,080 venues for a 17-day domestic total of $247.4 million.

  • Box Office: ‘Daddy’s Home 2’ Derails ‘Orient Express,’ ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Stays at No. 1

    By Dave McNary

    LOS ANGELES, Nov 12 (Variety.com) – Showing plenty of staying power, Disney-Marvel’s “Thor: Ragnarok” is dominating the North American box office with $56.6 million at 4,080 locations in its second weekend.

    The figure give the third Thor movie the 29th highest second weekend of all time and the fifth best of 2017. It also took in nearly the combined total of the two new titles — Paramount’s family comedy “Daddy’s Home 2,” with $30 million from 3,575 sites and Fox’s mystery “Murder on the Orient Express” with $28.2 million at 3,341 venues.

    “Thor: Ragnarok,” starring Chris Hemsworth and directed by Taika Waititi, declined 54% from its $122.7 million opening last weekend and is already the ninth highest domestic grosser of 2017 with $211.6 million in its first 10 days. It’s also been a stellar international performer with $438 million in less than three weeks — topping $650 million worldwide.

    On Nov. 8, “Thor: Ragnarok” became the 12th consecutive Marvel Cinematic Universe film to top $500 million worldwide.

    The movie has reversed a box office slump that persisted through October and left 2017’s overall domestic moviegoing down 5% from last year at $9.14 billion as of Sunday. With Warner Bros.’ “Justice League” opening next weekend, Disney-Pixar’s “Coco” on Nov. 22 and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” launching on Dec. 15, the industry is now poised to end the year on an upbeat note. The overall weekend totaled about $148 million, down 6% from the same frame in 2016, according to comScore.

    “Now it will take the dream team of ‘Justice League,’ ‘Coco’ and of course ‘The Last Jedi’ and a host of other films big and small to rally the industry toward a year end total that could rival last year’s record $11.4 billion,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore. “The clock is ticking and there’s not a lot of time left on the calendar to make up the difference.”

    “Daddy’s Home 2” is performing at the high end of recent forecasts and is finishing about 23% below the original’s $38.7 million opening in 2015. Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell reprise their roles as fathers co-parenting the children of Wahlberg’s character who struggle to cope when their fathers, played by Mel Gibson and John Lithgow, arrive during the holiday season. The film carries a $70 million budget.

    The original went on to gross $150 million domestically. Paramount’s distribution president Kyle Davies pointed to an A- CinemaScore as an indication that the “Daddy’s Home 2” is resonating with all demographics — and should perform well in coming weeks. “We are well-positioned heading into the holiday season with a movie for audiences from 8 to 80,” he added. “Murder on the Orient Express” has also launched above expectations. Kenneth Branagh stars as detective Hercule Poirot in the latest adaptation of Agatha Christie’s story of a murder mystery on a luxury train in the 1930s. The cast has plenty of star power with Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, “Hamilton’s” Leslie Odom Jr., and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” actress Daisy Ridley.

    “Murder on the Orient Express,” which has a $55 million budget, also pulled in $45.8 million in 25,903 international screens, lifting its overseas total to $57.2 million.

    STXfilms’ “A Bad Moms Christmas” finished fourth with $11.5 million at 3,615 locations in its second weekend, showing impressive holding power with a decline of only 31%. The film has grossed nearly $40 million in its first 12 days.

    A24’s expansion of Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” cracked the top 10 with $1.2 million on 37 screens for an impressive $33,776 per screen average. The comedy-drama posted the best 2017 platform opening last weekend with $364,437 at four sites.

    Fox Searchlight’s platform release of “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” starring Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson, opened with a strong $320,000 at four locations. McDormand plays a small town mother taking on the local police force after her daughter’s rape and murder goes uninvestigated for several months.

  • Box Office: ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Smashes Expectations With Huge Opening Weekend

    By Dave McNary

    LOS ANGELES, Nov 5 (Variety.com) — Disney-Marvel’s “Thor: Ragnarok” is heading for a stellar opening weekend with $121 million at 4,080 North American locations — the fourth best launch of 2017.

    The third Thor movie is also putting an emphatic end to the month-long box office slump that saw the worst October in a decade. Among 2017 titles, its debut weekend trails only “Beauty and the Beast” at $174.8 million, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” at $146.5 million and “It” at $123.4 million.

    “Thor: Ragnarok” also officially launches the holiday season with a major bang. Moviegoing has been battered this year by a subpar second half that’s pulled down 2017 grosses by 5%, but it should rebound somewhat, thanks to “Thor: Ragnorak,” Warner Bros.-DC Entertainment’s “Justice League” (which opens Nov. 17) and Disney-Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (opening Dec. 15).

    “November has been a hotbed for blockbusters and is as important to any given year as even the hottest summer months and has been the launch pad for some of the biggest franchises in box office history including ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘Twilight,’ not to mention the traditional home for James Bond,” noted Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with comScore. “Now Thor joins the rarefied air that is the $100 million November opening club, becoming only the ninth film to ever reach this threshold and the first to do it within the first part of the month.”

    STXfilms’ R-rated “A Bad Moms Christmas,” which opened Wednesday, is heading for a respectable $21.6 million at 3,615 sites for its first five days. A24’s launch of Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” posted the best platform opening of the year with $375,612 on four screens for an impressive $93,903 per-screen average.

    “Thor: Ragnarok” wound up over-performing recent estimates, which had been in the $100 million to $118 million range. The rollout includes 3,400 3D screens, 391 IMAX screens, 616 premium large format screens, and 204 D-Box locations. The IMAX total was $25.4 million.

    With Chris Hemsworth reprising the title role, “Thor: Ragnarok” will finish far above its predecessors, nearly doubling the 2011 opening of “Thor” at $65.7 million and coming in 41% above the 2013 sequel “Thor: The Dark World” at $85.7 million.

    “Thor: Ragnarok” is directed by Taika Waititi from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and the writing team of Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost. It also stars Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, and Anthony Hopkins. The character of Thor, based on Norse mythology, was created in 1962 by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics.

    “Thor: Ragnarok” has also taken in $306 million overseas, including $109 million in its international launch last week in 52% of foreign markets. It expanded to most other overseas territories this weekend.

  • Box Office: Tyler Perry’s ‘Boo 2!’ Tops a Really Crappy Weekend, ‘Only the Brave’ Flops

    LOS ANGELES, Oct. 22 (Variety.com) — Tyler Perry has prevented a disaster at the box office with the opening of Lionsgate’s comedy sequel “Boo 2! A Madea Halloween” scaring up a solid $21.7 million at 2,388 North American locations.

    That was pretty much the limit of good news at the nation’s multiplexes, where moviegoers gave limited support to a quartet of new arrivals — weather-disaster title “Geostorm,” firefighter hero tale “Only the Brave,” murder mystery “The Snowman” and faith-based drama “Same Kind of Different as Me.”

    “Boo 2!”, which received an A- CinemaScore, is finishing in line with expectations and about 25% behind original “Boo! A Madea Halloween,” which won its opening weekend last year. The sequel, set at a haunted campground, is directed and written by Perry, who also stars in his ninth iteration as the tough-talking Madea.
    Warner Bros.’ “Geostorm,” starring Gerard Butler, is finishing a distant second place with about $13.3 million at 3,246 venues — at the top end of modest forecasts but a major disappointment given the film’s estimated $120 million budget, financed by Warner Bros. and Skydance Media. (There’s also those reported reshoots that cost an estimated $15 million that won’t help the movie’s search for profitability.)

    Moviegoers gave the disaster movie a B- CinemaScore. The timing of the release, with hurricanes hitting hard in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico over the past two months, probably dampened audience enthusiasm.

    On the international side, “Geostorm” took in $36.4 million at 13,000 screens with first-place finishes in 36 territories to lift its international total to $49 million. South Korea and Russia were the strongest new markets.

    Black Label Media’s “Only the Brave,” distributed by Sony, is heading for fifth place with $6 million at 2,577 sites, finishing behind Universal’s second weekend of “Happy Death Day” at $9.4 million and Warner’s third weekend of “Blade Runner 2049,” which earned $7.4 million. “Only the Brave,” based on the story of the 19 Arizona firefighters who died in the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire, has received stellar critical support with a 90% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

    STXfilms’ second weekend of Jackie Chan actioner “The Foreigner” will land in sixth with about $5.6 million, ahead of Universal’s “The Snowman,” which is finishing far below forecasts with a disappointing $3.4 million at 1,812 venues. “The Snowman,” produced by Working Title, is in a tie with New Line’s seventh weekend of horror blockbuster “It,” which will win up with a total of $320 million domestically after 45 days.

    “The Snowman” fell flat with audiences, who gave it a D CinemaScore. Critics panned the movie with a 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

    Pure Flix’s “Same Kind of Different as Me” debuted out of the top 10 with about $1.4 million at 1,362 sites.

  • Box Office: ‘Blade Runner 2049’ Kills the Franchise With Disappointing Opening Weekend

    By Seth Kelley

    LOS ANGELES, Oct. 8 (Variety.com) — “Blade Runner 2049” is heading for a downbeat $31.5 million opening weekend at 4,058 sites in North America.

    Sunday’s estimated result throws serious doubt onto what had been high hopes for a box office success story. In one of the most surprising turnarounds in recent years, “Blade Runner 2049” fell far short of expectations, which had been in the $45 million to $50 million range at the start of the weekend amid stellar reviews, strong advance ticket sales, and the revered status of 1982’s original “Blade Runner.”

    Instead, the film grossed only a moderate $12.7 million on Friday, including $4 million from Thursday night previews. Saturday saw an 11 percent decline to $11.4 million. Sunday’s projected total was $7.4 million.

    The key factors for the under-performance were the movie’s 163-minute running time — which limits the number of showings each day — plus far less traction among younger moviegoers than anticipated.

    “The core of enthusiastic and loyal ‘Blade Runner’ fans were over 25 and predominantly male and propelled the film as expected to the top spot, but a lengthy running time and lesser interest among females made it tougher for the film to reach the original weekend box office projections,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with comScore.

    Warner Bros. is handling domestic distribution on “Blade Runner 2049,” starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, through its output deal with Alcon Entertainment. Financed by Alcon and Sony — and laden with special effects — the film carries a reported $150 million price tag, but it is rumored to be closer to the $170 to $180 million range. Denis Villeneuve helms the sequel film, which is set in a bleak 2049 Los Angeles with Gosling starring as an LAPD officer dealing with replicants seeking freedom.

    Warner Bros. domestic distribution president Jeff Goldstein said “Blade Runner 2049” had fallen short of expectations in mid-sized and smaller markets along with the South and Midwest, where the running time and Major League Baseball playoffs appeared to have held down attendance.

    “We did well in the major and high-profile markets,” he added. “Alcon and Denis made an amazing movie. The audience for it was narrower than we anticipated.”
    Fox’s opening of survival drama “The Mountain Between Us,” starring Idris Elba and Kate Winslet, was the weekend’s runner-up, coming in slightly below projections with a moderate $10.1 million at 3,088 venues. Based on the Charles Martin novel, the film stars Elba as a surgeon and Winslet as a journalist who are left stranded together following a plane crash. Reviews have been mixed to negative earning the film a 46% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

    Lionsgate’s animated “My Little Pony” trotted in with a modest $8.8 million at 2,528 locations, slightly above forecasts. Based on the Hasbro toys and TV series, the movie’s voice cast includes Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Uzo Aduba, and Sia.

    The fifth weekend of New Line’s blockbuster “It” showed plenty of staying power in third place with $9.6 million at 3,197 sites. The horror hit will close the weekend with $305 million domestically plus $298.8 million internationally to top the $600 million worldwide mark.

    Fox’s third weekend of “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” and Universal’s second weekend of “American Made” were battling for fifth place with about $8.1 million each, followed by Warner’s third weekend of “The Lego Ninjago Movie” with $6.8 million. Focus Features’ expansion of Judi Dench’s “Victoria & Abdul” came in eighth with $4.1 million at 732 locations.

  • Box Office: Stephen King’s ‘It’ Scares Away the Competition

    By Seth Kelley

    LOS ANGELES, Sept 10 (Variety.com) – LOS ANGELES – “It” came; “It” saw; “It” conquered.

    The New Line and Warner Bros. adaptation of Stephen King’s novel is officially shattering box office records during its opening weekend. The R-rated horror film should make a whopping $117.2 million from 4,103 locations, far surpassing earlier expectations. That would give “It” the third largest opening weekend of 2017, about even with “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” which made $117 million. Only “Beauty and the Beast” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” earned more this year. $7.2 million of “It’s” domestic grosses are coming from 377 Imax screens.

    “There’s something really special about the story itself, the way the movie was made, and the marketing,” said Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief at Warner Bros. “The stars aligned on this, and we still have some room to grow for the weekend.”

    “It” earned a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes of 87% and a B+ CinemaScore. Its gender breakdown is reportedly 51% female and 49% male. About two thirds of the audience has been over 25 years old.

    “It’s” opening is mostly unprecedented, crushing the record for largest September opening set by “Hotel Transylvania 2” in 2015 with $48.5 million, and the biggest opening weekend banked by a horror or supernatural film — “Paranormal Activity 3” earned $52.6 million in 2011. When it comes to R-rated movie openings, “It” falls only to “Deadpool,” which changed the game in 2016 with a massive $132.4 million opening. This, during a weekend when Hurricane Irma threatens huge portions of Florida and Georgia, which could dent attendance by as much as 5%.

    In addition to its domestic grosses, the horror hit is expected to pull in $62 million from 46 markets overseas, giving “It” a $179 million global debut. That’s a huge win for a movie with an estimated $35 million production budget.

    Horror films often have lower budgets than other more CGI-dense blockbusters, so the return on investment has potential to be massive. Goldstein said the genre is one that New Line particularly excels in, and there is potential to see more horror in the future if the right story comes along. “If we were able to find more films in this genre, we’d be thrilled to make them,” he said.

    The movie comes courtesy of Argentine director Andy Muschietti, who is known for the 2013 horror film “Mama.” Bill Skarsgard stars as Pennywise the Clown, which terrorizes young children in Derry, Maine. The rest of the cast includes youngsters Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Nicholas Hamilton, and Jackson Robert Scott in supporting roles.

    That leaves Open Road’s “Home Again” trailing far behind. The Reese Witherspoon-led romantic comedy should earn $9 million this weekend from 2,940 locations. The $15 million project was directed by Hallie Meyer-Shyer, the daughter of Nancy Meyers, who also worked on the film as a producer. The story centers on Witherspoon’s character — a mother of two who unexpectedly has three young men come to live with her following a recent separation from her husband.

    Lionsgate’s “Hitman’s Bodyguard” is landing in third with $4.9 million from 3,322 locations after winning the domestic box office for the past three weekends. “Annabelle: Creation” from Warner Bros. is next with $4 million from 3,003 spots. And “Wind River” caps the top five with an anticipated $3.2 million from 2,890 theaters.

    For the movie business, “It” couldn’t have come at a better time. Following a dismal summer box office that plunged 14.6% from last summer to $3.8 billion, “It” serves in part as the pick-me-up the industry was desperately craving. After this weekend, the year to date box office will improve from 6.5% behind 2016 to 5.5%, according to data provided by ComScore.

    Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore attributed the film’s success to the “universality of the fear of clowns” which created an “event for fans who came out to be scared en masse in the communal environment of the movie theater.”

    He added, “The marketing campaign brilliantly evoked a sense of teenage wonderment, fear, and ultimately bravery in the face of the true evil as perfectly embodied by Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise. That, along with the great ensemble cast of young actors and a movie that delivered on the promise of that marketing, made the film an astonishing over-performer.”

    A sequel is already in the works at New Line with Gary Dauberman attached to write the script, and Muschietti expected to return to the director’s chair.

    Regarding plans for the next movie, Goldstein said, “It puts more pressure on us to come up with the best version of the story so we bring fans what they want to see. We’ve had a lot of history with franchises. Some are great, and some we wish we had a little bit more story. Fortunately, there’s a lot here in this story.”

  • Box Office: ‘Hitman’s Bodyguard’ Rules Over One of the Worst Weekends Ever

    By Seth Kelley

    LOS ANGELES, Aug 27 (Variety.com) — There’s no getting around it: this weekend’s domestic box office is a catastrophe.

    In the grand scheme, it can seem like a small issue when compared with Hurricane Harvey — the deadly natural disaster that tore through the Gulf Coast of Texas on Friday, dumping more than 20 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. But Harvey also had at least some impact on the business, forcing theater closures in South Texas. Still, the degree to which the storm hurt the bottom line of moviegoing is up for debate.

    Once again, “Hitman’s Bodyguard” and “Annabelle: Creation” will top the charts for Lionsgate and Warner Bros., respectively. “Bodyguard” is expected to earn $10.1 million from 3,377 theaters — combined with last weekend, its total domestic gross should be $39.6 million. And “Annabelle” will make $7.4 million from 3,565 locations, raising its current domestic cume to $77.9 million.

    The overall box office this weekend is not expected to pass $65 million, and the top 12 films will gross less than $50 million. Those figures are the lowest in more than 15 years.

    Another factor under inspection is Saturday evening’s UFC match which saw Floyd Mayweather beat Conor McGregor with a 10th-round TKO. The fight was estimated to reap as much as $1 billion in revenues, and among the biggest pay-per-view draws in history. Numbers regarding the amount of viewers will be released later in the week, but some analysts predicted the highly-anticipated brawl could keep those who would ordinarily see a movie, out of theaters.

    There have been lulls around this time in recent years. In 2014, the first weekend in September made $66 million overall. Two years before that, the Sept. 7-9 frame made $67 million overall and $51.9 from the top 12. 2008 saw a similar slump in the Sep. 5–7 frame.

    But not since late September in 2001 have they dropped quite so low. The Sept. 21-23 frame in 2001 earned $59 million overall and the top 12 made $43.5 million. The year before, Sept. 15-17 fell to $53.7 million for the weekend and $37.9 for the top 12.
    TWC made two of the weekend’s biggest plays with the animated feature “Leap!” and the expansion of Taylor Sheridan’s “Wind River.” The former opened at 2,575 locations in North America, and is expected to take in $5 million.

    The film was acquired for a low cost of $3 million, and under its title in every market outside of the U.S., “Ballerina,” has already picked up $58.2 million from foreign locations. It’s billed as a musical adventure comedy about an orphan girl who aspires to become a dancer. The voice cast is led by Elle Fanning, and also includes Maddie Ziegler, Carly Rae Jepsen, Nat Wolff, Kate McKinnon, and Mel Brooks. Critics smushed it to 37 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences earned the film an A CinemaScore.

    “It’s a tough weekend out there in the marketplace when a $5 million movie is ranked third,” remarked Laurent Ouaknine, distribution boss at TWC. “On our side, we have a film that audiences love,” he said, adding that, while the audience is predominantly young and female, they’re seeing that boys “that are coming with their family like it too.”

    “Wind River,” meanwhile should make an additional $4.4 million this weekend from 2,095 locations. The film, now in its fourth week of release, is intended as the conclusion of a trilogy that includes “Sicario” and “Hell or High Water.” During its first weekend at four theaters, the thriller scored one of the year’s best per-screen averages, but its mass appeal seems more questionable. “Hell or High Water,” which earned a best picture nomination at the Oscars, also made $4.4 million during its fourth weekend, but from fewer locations (1,303).

    Also, “Birth of the Dragon” is opening at 1,618 locations to $2.5 million. That’s below the $3.25 million goal set by the distributor. BH Tilt and WWE Studios co-acquired the film after its premiere at the 2016 Toronto Film Festival. The marketing campaign was inexpensive and focused on digital promotion, and targeted events. The movie — an homage to Bruce Lee’s style of martial arts films — lends its inspiration’s name to the main character, played by Philip Ng. Set in 1960s San Francisco, Lee challenges kung fu master Wong Jack Man (Xia Yu) to an epic fight.

    And Sony’s “All Saints,” from Affirm Films and Provident Films should earn $1.55 million from 846 locations. The faith-based film has a low budget, and is generally embraced by critics (89 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (A- CinemaScore). John Corbett and Cara Buono lead the cast of the flick, directed by Steve Gomer. Steve Armour wrote the script, based on a true story, that centers on a salesman-turned-pastor and a group of refugees from Southeast Asia.

    Despite the recent popular assertion that movie releases are moving to a year-round schedule with fewer dead zones, August remains a predictably sleepy month for theaters. Still, years past have managed bigger successes than we are seeing in 2017. Last year at this time, for example, Sony’s Screen Gems launched “Don’t Breathe,” which grossed $26.4 million in its opening weekend. While a similar sort of horror hit would be difficult to position between “Annabelle” and September release “It,” there is potential for movies to perform well at the tail end of summer. That “Wonder Woman” and “Baby Driver” saw their theater counts upped only adds as further emphasis that studios see the hole in the schedule — they just aren’t quite sure how to properly fill it.

  • Box Office: ‘Hitman’s Bodyguard’ Takes Out ‘Logan Lucky’

    By Seth Kelley

    LOS ANGELES, June 18 (Variety.com) – Without a superhero movie or new studio sequel in play, this weekend provided an opening for two smaller films to shine. But as the weekend draws to a close, one is beaming brighter than the other.

    That title goes to Lionsgate’s R-rated action comedy “Hitman’s Bodyguard,” which is firing off to $21.6 million during its opening weekend at 3,377 locations. That’s a solid opening, especially during a painful summer for the movie business and sleepy month of August. The final tally was fueled by an aggressive marketing push, and a trio of stars at the center — Samuel L. Jackson as a notorious hitman, and Salma Hayek as hit equally threatening wife, and Ryan Reynolds as a bodyguard. The film comes courtesy of director Patrick Hughes (“The Expendables 3”) and writer Tom O’Connor.

    “‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ is generating great word of mouth among moviegoers,” said Lionsgate’s distribution president David Spitz. “It has a clear runway in the weeks ahead, and we expect it to play well right into September.”

    Meanwhile, “Logan Lucky” — a critical darling from Steven Soderbergh and Bleecker Street — is sputtering. The heist comedy, which relied on an unconventional production and marketing strategy, looks to make $8 million this weekend from 3,031 theaters. The film was partially funded through foreign pre-sales and partnering with Amazon for streaming rights. The story — penned by Rebecca Blunt, who likely doesn’t exist — centers on a trio of siblings played by Channing Tatum, Riley Keough, and Adam Driver, who attempt to pull off a massive robbery. It’s set at the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race.

    Of the two, “Logan Lucky” fared better with critics, earning a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, as opposed to “Hitman’s Bodyguard,” which has a 39%. But the roles are reversed when it comes to audience reception — “Hitman’s Bodyguard” has a B+ CinemaScore as opposed to “Logan Lucky’s” B.

    In the end, “Logan Lucky” will end up in third for the weekend behind the second weekend of “Annabelle: Creation.” The latest in the “Conjuring” universe from Warner Bros. is targeting $15.5 million this weekend from 3,542 locations. And “Dunkirk” will land in fourth behind “Logan Lucky” with an estimated $6.7 million. The same studio has more cause to celebrate as “Wonder Woman” crosses $800 million worldwide.

    “Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature” rounds out the top five this weekend with $5.1 million.

    Outside of the wide releases, TWC continues its gradual rollout for Taylor Sheridan’s “Wind River.” This weekend it looks to gross $3 million from 694 locations, raising its total cume past $4.1 million. A major acquisition at Sundance, “Patti Cake$” is struggling to find an audience with $66,000 from 14 locations.

    And the summer of hell continues: This season’s box office overall has slipped to 13.3% behind last year at this point, according to data from ComScore. Despite a strong fall season, the year overall is now pacing 5% behind 2016.