Moviefone Editorial

Tag: weekend-box-office

  • ‘Moana 2’ Sails to a Huge Debut at the Box Office

    (L to R) Auli‘i Cravalho as Moana and Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda as Simea in 'Moana 2'. © 2024 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    (L to R) Auli‘i Cravalho as Moana and Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda as Simea in ‘Moana 2’. © 2024 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

    Preview:

    • Disney’s ‘Moana 2’ launched to a huge $221 million over five days.
    • It’s the biggest five-day opening number in history.
    • ‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator II’ continued to be successful.

    Box office tills both here and around the world continued to ring out (well, probably beep in this day and age) with glee as the long Thanksgiving weekend powered to a massive total.

    That’s primarily thanks to the new Disney animated movie sequel ‘Moana 2,’ which locked in a new Thanksgiving box office record with $221 million domestically over the five-day holiday frame, obliterating the previous high-water marks set by 2019’s ‘Frozen II’ ($125 million) and 2013’s ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.’ ($109 million).

    It’s also the biggest five-day debut in history, overtaking Universal’s 2023 behemoth ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ ($205.6 million).

    And Disney will be happy –– the film’s three day tally of $135.5 million registers as the best start for its animation arm, ahead of ‘Frozen II’ (which opened to $130.2 million the weekend prior to Thanksgiving).

    Ticket sales for the ‘Moana’ sequel were far above the early estimates of $135 million to $145 million. Worldwide, the movie has made more than $386.3 million, with launches still set for several counties this week.

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    Here’s what Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman had to say:

    “ ‘Moana 2’ has far surpassed our high expectations this weekend and is a testament to the phenomenon that ‘Moana’ has become. This is a moment to celebrate, and we’re thankful to all the moviegoers and fans who’ve helped make this a record-breaking debut.”

    While the movie was seen as something of a gamble –– it originated as a TV series spin-off to the 2016 movie, before being retooled for a theatrical release, that has certainly paid off.

    It’s been a good year for Disney, thanks to the successful likes of Pixar’s ‘Inside Out 2’ (whose current worldwide box office tally stands at $1.69 billion) and ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (now at $1.33 billion globally).

    The box office in total did well, surging to more than $400 million this weekend. It’s a much needed boost for an industry that has been struggling to recover from the pandemic in particular.

    And that’s also partly thanks to second week and weekends for fellow heavy hitters ‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator II.’

    How is ‘Wicked’ performing in its second weekend at the box office?

    (L to R) Ariana Grande is Glinda and Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba in 'Wicked', directed by Jon M. Chu. Photo: Universal Pictures.
    (L to R) Ariana Grande is Glinda and Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba in ‘Wicked’, directed by Jon M. Chu. Photo: Universal Pictures.

    ‘Wicked’ danced through life to another huge turnout, landing in the No. 2 spot with $80 million over the traditional weekend and $117.5 million over the five-day holiday stretch.

    The movie has earned $262.4 million in North America and $359.2 million globally to date.

    It already ranks as the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation in domestic box office history, ahead of 1978’s ‘Grease’ ($188.62 million), as well as the fourth-biggest worldwide stage-to-screen reimagining behind 2008’s ‘Mamma Mia’ ($611 million), 2012’s ‘Les Misérables’ ($442 million) and, yes ‘Grease’ ($396 million).

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    Directed by Jon M. Chu and starring Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey and Jeff Goldblum, the movie charts the story of what happened before and after the events of ‘The Wizard of Oz.’

    There were concerns that the fact it’s part one of two might hurt sales but confirming the split between films ahead of time seems to have reassured viewers. It doesn’t hurt that the movie enjoyed positive reviews and was embraced by a large slice of the moviegoing public.

    Universal will need it to stay popular –– the combined two movies come with a $300 million price tag and the company spent untold millions on a worldwide promotional tour with the cast. Still, the blizzard of Oz-related partnership deals will help.

    How about ‘Gladiator II’?

    (L to R) Pedro Pascal plays General Acacius and Paul Mescal plays Lucius in 'Gladiator II' from Paramount Pictures.
    (L to R) Pedro Pascal plays General Acacius and Paul Mescal plays Lucius in ‘Gladiator II’ from Paramount Pictures.

    ‘Gladiator II’ might not be on the same level as either of its box office colleagues, but it’s certainly seeing some hefty rewards.

    A sequel to Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning 2000 original has been in development almost as long as the first film has been out, but it has taken years for Scott and a cadre of writers to crack the sequel story.

    In the end, they chose to follow Lucius, the young man seen in the first film (played there by Spencer Treat Clark) who is the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, who returns for the sequel).

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    The new movie follows a grown Lucius (with rising star Paul Mescal in the role) as he finds himself enslaved by the Roman empire and forced to fight as a gladiator. He’s also drawn into the turbulent politics of Rome via Macrinus, a slave-turned-slave-owning arms dealer, played to scene-stealing effect by Denzel Washington.

    Following a $55.5 million domestic opening (slightly behind predictions) the second weekend of release, the sequel took third place with $30.7 million over the traditional weekend and $44 million over the five day frame.

    So far, it has grossed $111.2 million domestically and $320 million worldwide.

    But, like the other movies, it needs to earn, as it was also massively expensive to make, costing more than $250 million to produce and another $100 million to market to global audiences.

    What else happened at the box office this week?

    (L to R) Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans in 'Red One.' Photo: Amazon MGM Studios.
    (L to R) Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans in ‘Red One.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios.

    With the new competition in the market place, ‘Red One’ was shoved down to fourth. Despite opening in the top spot three weeks ago, the Christmas action movie (which also stars Dwayne Johnson) has struggled somewhat.

    Its stocking was filled with $12.8 million over the main weekend and $18.7 million over the five-day holiday frame.

    The Amazon MGM film has grossed $75 million in North America and $148.7 million globally, which is solid but still probably behind what the company might hope for given the expansive $250 million budget.

    Still, the company is partly looking for the movie to drive interest in its Prime Video streaming service.

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    Lionsgate’s ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ rounded out the top five with $3.2 million over the traditional weekend and $4.85 million through the extended Thanksgiving period.

    The family-friendly faith-based holiday film cost $10 million to make and has grossed $32 million in North America since opening four weeks ago. It won’t exactly set the studio’s heart aflame, but it’s honestly a better result than some of its underperforming releases this year. Looking at you, ‘Borderlands’ ($115 million budget before marketing costs, $32.9 million worldwide to date).

    Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson) in 'Moana 2'. © 2024 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson) in ‘Moana 2’. © 2024 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

    Other Animated Disney Movies:

    Buy Disney’s ‘Moana’ on Amazon

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  • Box Office: ‘The Grinch’ Scores Best Opening Ever for a Christmas Movie

    Box Office: ‘The Grinch’ Scores Best Opening Ever for a Christmas Movie

    Universal

    Here’s a reason for the Grinch to grin: At an estimated $66 million for the weekend, “Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch” — with Benedict Cumberbatch — had the best opening ever for a Christmas-themed movie, reports Deadline. That beats Ron Howard‘s live-action film “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” with Jim Carrey, which held the previous record with a $55 million opening.

    With schools and businesses closed today because of Veterans Day, “The Grinch’s” holiday total could reach $70 million. (Estimates aren’t in yet for Monday’s box office.)

    The animated movie was heavily promoted with IHOP ads (and special Grinch pancakes), Grinch-themed Amazon boxes, a Grinch filter on Snapchat, and Cumberbatch launching “The Grinch for Good” program on “The Today Show.”

    Overlord
    Paramount/Bad Robot

    Meanwhile, newcomers “Overlord” (above) and “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” both underperformed, but soldiers fighting Nazi zombies proved a bigger draw than Claire Foy as the new Lisbeth Salander.

    The WWII/horror film earned an estimated $10.1 million. Sony reports that “Spider’s Web” earned $8 million, although it may actually be closer to $7.7 million.

    “Even if [“Spider’s Web”] grosses 70% overseas, it’s hard to see it breaking even,” a “trusted film finance source” told Deadline.

    Sony Pictures

    Relish Mix told Deadline one of the reasons “Spider’s Web” didn’t make as much as David Fincher’s 2011’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo“:  “Moviegoers are confused as to why Rooney Mara is not returning to the series. They are also confused why the studio skipped over original entries to a lesser-known tale.”

    “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” is a sequel to the Millennium trilogy created by Stieg Larsson. It’s the first novel not written by Larsson, who passed away in 2004. While in Sweden, all three books in the trilogy have been made into movies, we never got US versions of the second and third books.

    The Front Runner, Hugh Jackman
    Sony Pictures

    New release “The Front Runner,” starring Hugh Jackman as scandal-ridden politician Gary Hart, boasted a weekend best per-screen average with $14,0000 at four NY and LA venues. But that’s not great for a potential Oscar contender: Those usually average closer to $40,000 to $50,000 per screen. With so-so reviews and an Election Day opening that hurt the movie more than helped it, “The Front Runner” is unlikely to be in the running for the Oscar race this year.

    In other box-office news, Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” is still going strong and will hit $100 million today.

    Here are the top 10 weekend estimates for November  9-11

    1. “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch” (2018), $66,000,000
    2. “Bohemian Rhapsody,” $30,850,000
    3. “Overlord,” $10,100,000
    4. “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” $9,565,000
    5 . “The Girl in the Spider’s Web: A New Dragon Tattoo Story,” $8,015,000
    6 . “A Star is Born” (2018), $8,010,000
    7. “Nobody’s Fool” $6,540,000
    8. “Venom” (2018), $4,850,000
    9. “Halloween” (2018), $3,840,000
    10. “The Hate U Give,” $2,070,000

    [Via Deadline]

  • ‘A Quiet Place’ Made A Lot of Noise at the Box Office

    Thanks to word-of-mouth and strong reviews, “A Quiet Place” is a hit.

    In its opening weekend, the John Krasinski-directed horror movie — starring Emily Blunt — smashed expectations with an estimated $50 million for a first-place finish, reports Deadline.

    The Paramount Pictures/Platinum Dunes production, which centers on a family struggling not to make a sound or else they will be attacked by noise-seeking monsters, reportedly cost only $17 million — putting “Quiet” on the fast track to profitability.

    “A Quiet Place” is very good news for distributor Paramount, which has struggled at the box office in recent years. It’s the studio’s highest opening weekend since “Star Trek Beyond” in July 2016, which opened at No. 1 with $59.2 million.

    Steven Spielberg‘s “Ready Player One” came in at No. 2 with $25.1 million, dropping a very respectable (for a big-budget blockbuster) 40 percent in its second weekend. The nostalgia-fueled trip into the VR world of the Oasis has banked almost $97 million to date at the domestic box office, with an impressive global box office take of $391.3 million. It’s Spielberg’s best showing at the worldwide box office since 2011’s “The Adventures of Tin Tin.”
    “Blockers,” the R-rated comedy starring Leslie Mann and John Cena, came in third with an impressive $21.4 million. The directorial debut of “Pitch Perfect” and “30 Rock” writer Kay Cannon, “Blockers” is another successful R-rated outing for Universal, who has released hit funny movie “Bridesmaids” and “Girls Trip.”

    After a very positive early screening at SXSW this year, Universal was able to translate the solid buzz from the festival into an opening weekend that performed slightly above expectations.

    “While the one-sheets for this movie looked as blah as New Line’s for “Game Night,” Deadline reports, “the difference here was that Universal spurred a hot word-of-mouth out of SXSW with great reviews which distinguished this raunchy comedy as an ‘American Pie’ from the parents’ POV. And that’s what set this raunch apart from the rest of the fray, plus — it has a lot of heart.”

    The other new release of note this weekend, “Chappaquiddick,” came in seventh place with $6.2 million. The film, based on a key event from Ted Kennedy’s life, hails from Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios. According to Deadline, Entertainment Studios says that the film “will make money after its ancillary output deals off a $25M final domestic box office.”

    Other film finance sources, Deadline reports, are struggling to believe that the film will ever post a profit, as pundits believe it won’t earn much more than $17 million domestic.

  • 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: ‘It’ Slays the Competition Again, ‘mother!’ Flops

    By Seth Kelley

    LOS ANGELES, Sept. 17 (Variety.com) — “It” continues to post terrifyingly huge numbers.

    The Warner Bros. and New Line production expects to finish its second weekend with $60 million from 4,103 locations. That would make its domestic gross so far $218.7 million — a record for the highest earning September release ever. The old record-holder was 1984’s “Crocodile Dundee” with $174.8 million.

    Broken down by day this weekend, “It” earned $19.4 million on Friday and $26.2 million on Saturday. Sunday’s take is estimated to be about $14.5 million. 389 IMAX screens are expected to account for just over $3 million of the film’s take in North America this weekend.

    Overseas, “It” is pulling in an additional $60.3 million in 56 markets. That raises its international total to $152.6 million and the worldwide tally to $371.3 million. Based on Stephen King’s novel, “It” opened last weekend with an enormous domestic pull of $123.4 million.

    “mother!” continues to struggle. The Paramount release, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Jennifer Lawrence, is expected to earn $7.5 million from 2,368 locations.

    Meanwhile “American Assassin,” a joint production between CBS Films and Lionsgate, is expecting an opening of $14.8 million from 3,154 locations — good enough for a second place finish. The audience breakdown was 55% Male and 29% under the age of 35. The film is an adaptation of Vince Flynn’s 2010 novel, and stars Dylan O’Brien as a CIA black ops recruit who is trained by a Cold War veteran (Michael Keaton). The film’s opening is comparable to 2014’s “John Wick,” which opened to $14.4 million on its way to launch a franchise with $43 million in domestic earnings.

    In limited release, Annapurna’s “Brad’s Status” is on tracking to earn $100,179 this weekend from four locations. Mike White wrote and directed the movie starring Ben Stiller as a man who is constantly comparing his life to those of his college friends. Austin Abrams, Jenna Fischer, Luke Wilson, and Michael Sheen also star in the flick, which has been generally well reviewed (83% on Rotten Tomatoes).

  • 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: ‘Annabelle: Creation’ Conjuring $36 Million Domestic Debut

    LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “Annabelle: Creation” isn’t just fleshing out New Line Cinema’s self-proclaimed “Conjuring Universe,” it’s also helping to save the back half of the summer box office. The prequel to 2014’s “Annabelle” is conjuring up a $36 million domestic debut.

    According to estimates, Warner Bros.’ supernatural horror will easily win its opening weekend after taking in $15 million from 3,502 locations on Friday, including Thursday night previews. Talitha Bateman, Lulu Wilson, Stephanie Sigman, Miranda Otto, and Anthony LaPaglia star in the origin story behind the killer, antique doll from director David F. Sandberg.

    Also in the double digits for WB, “Dunkirk” continues to steamroll its blockbuster competition in second place. Despite being in its fourth frame, Christopher Nolan‘s World War II drama is expected to add just under $11 million to its total after making just over $3 million from 3,762 screens on Friday. That number is also expected to officially put “Dunkirk” over the $150 million marker domestically with $153 million.

    New entry “Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature” also managed to snag a spot in the top 3, despite only pulling off an $8 million heist. The sequel to 2014’s “The Nut Job” scored just shy of $3 million from 4,003 screens on Friday. Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph, Brendan Frasier, Katherine Heigl, Liam Neeson, and Jackie Chan lend their voices for the Open Road animation.

    Elsewhere, last week’s winner “The Dark Tower” falls from No. 1 to No. 4. It seems the negative word of mouth/press has halted Sony’s Stephen King adaptation in its second frame. After making just over $2 million from 3,451 locales on Friday, “The Dark Tower” is only expected to make $7.5 million this time around.

    Last but certainly not least, “Girls Trip” is still going strong. Universal’s Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Regina Hall, and Tiffany Haddish R-rated comedy took in another $2 million from just 2,303 venues on Friday. That number will translate to a solid $6 million fourth frame, bringing “Girls Trip” to a near-milestone — $96 million domestic.

    “The Emoji Movie,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Kidnap,” new entry “The Glass Castle,” and “Atomic Blonde” round out the rest of the top 10.

  • Box Office: ‘Dunkirk’ Destroys ‘The Emoji Movie’ and ‘Atomic Blonde’

    By Seth Kelley

    LOS ANGELES, June 25 (Variety.com) — An unlikely battle emerged at the box office this weekend between “The Emoji Movie” and “Dunkirk.” As of Saturday morning the animated feature and war epic seemed to be in a dead heat. But by Sunday morning, most of the dust had settled, and it appears “Dunkirk” will once again be the weekend’s first place film.

    Christopher Nolan’s latest from Warner Bros. over-performed last weekend when it opened to over $50 million, showing that the director, combined with positive critical reception, still has a strong draw — even for a movie lacking movie star power, and at risk of being written off as yet another World War II movie. This time around it looks to take in $28.1 million from 3,748 locations, for a strong hold.

    It’s the first time that a movie has been first place two weekends in a row since the same studio’s “Wonder Woman” in early June. Patty Jenkins’ movie has had a phenomenal run since, and is currently closing in on $400 million domestic (right now it’s at $395.4 million).

    That means Sony’s “Emoji Movie” is in second for the weekend with $25.7 million from 4,075 locations. The animated adventure took a lot of heat from critics — reaction ranged from meh to horrible, earning its current Rotten Tomatoes score of 8%. Its B CinemaScore is also quite low for an animated movie, meaning audiences aren’t particularly enjoying the movie either.

    T.J. Miller plays the central character, a “Meh” emoji who has “no filter,” meaning his expression can change. The same cannot be said for the rest of the cast, which includes James Corden, Anna Faris, Maya Rudolph, Christina Aguilera, and Sofia Vergara. Oh yeah, and Sir Patrick Stewart plays “Poop.”

    “We’re thrilled,” said Sony’s marketing chief Josh Greenstein. “The audience has spoken and made the ‘Emoji Movie’ a family event.”

    That leaves this week’s other major release, “Atomic Blonde” somewhat straggling. Focus Features and Sierra/Affinity is looking at a decent, but slightly below expectations launch for the Charlize Theron-starrer with $18.5 million from 3,304 locations. Earlier in the week “Blonde” was pegged at $20 million, but the opening weekend result is still solid considering its $30 million budget. It’s also one of the largest launches for Focus, behind only “Insidious Chapter 3” ($22.7 million); “London Has Fallen” ($21.6 million); and “Burn After Reading” ($19.1 million).

    The R-rated spy thriller has been compared to a female “Bond” or “John Wick.” After all, it shares DNA with the latter in stuntman-turned-director David Leitch, who will next helm the “Deadpool” sequel. “Blonde’s” launch is bigger than the first “Wick,” which opened in Fall 2014 to $14.4 million, but less than its sequel ($30.4 million).

    In “Blonde,” Theron plays a hardcore action star — the type of character that knocked out audiences in “Mad Max: Fury Road” — named Lorraine Broughton. The rest of the cast includes James McAvoy, John Goodman, and Sofia Boutella.

    “We’re very happy with the opening. I feel this movie is going to have legs to it,” said Lisa Bunnell, distribution chief at Focus Features.

    Bunnell also pointed to Focus’ commitment to putting women in and front and behind the camera with recent releases including “The Beguiled” and “The Zookeeper’s Wife.” “There’s always a thought process behind ‘Let’s see some diversity,’” she said. “This is definitely a movie where Charlize takes center stage … she can fight men, and she can beat men, so it’s a really empowering movie to go see.”

    “Blonde” will land just below the summer comedy event that “Girls Trip” has become. Universal’s release is posting $20.1 million during its second weekend from 2,648 theaters, for only a 36% drop from last weekend. Conversely, EuropaCorp and STX’s “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” flopped last weekend, and is falling off fast. This weekend, Luc Besson’s epic domestic dud should make $6.8 million from 3,553 locations.

    Annapurna showed Kathryn Bigelow’s “Detroit” at 20 locations before its wide rollout next weekend. From those theaters, the critically approved crime drama took in $365,455 for a per screen average of $18,273.

    “We’re seeing that first and foremost, people are really into the movie,” said Annapurna’s distribution head Erik Lomis, who pointed to strong exit information, including 71% of the audience marked “definite recommend.” “It’s a Kathryn Bigelow film, so it’s for everybody,” he added.

    To treat the bigger picture, this weekend is not good news for the summer box office overall, which is now 8.1% behind last year.

    “We have been in a major struggle to compare favorably with last year’s summer season week after week and with yet another ‘down’ weekend on the books, the summer deficit just added another percentage point in the wrong direction,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore, who pointed out that this weekend’s crop could not compete with 2016’s “Jason Bourne” and “Bad Moms.” Looking ahead, the first weekend in August seems to signal even more gloom and doom, as several films will be measured up against “Suicide Squad’s” record breaking August 2016 tally.

  • Box Office: ‘Dunkirk’ Crushes Expectations, ‘Valerian’ Flops

    By Seth Kelley

    LOS ANGELES, July 23 (Variety.com) — “Dunkirk” and “Girls Trip” are opening above expectations at the domestic box office, while “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” looks like a huge flop.

    But let’s start with the good. Christopher Nolan‘s World War II film from Warner Bros. is flying past earlier projections to a $50.5 million opening weekend from 3,720 locations. $11.7 million of that total came from Imax screens alone — that’s 23% of the total market share from 402 locations. That $50.5 million number is a good one considering it is expected to have a large multiple, and continue to play well through August. The movie’s production budget was reportedly just under $100 million, although earlier reports speculated that it was much higher.

    Critics have fallen in love with Nolan’s depiction of the real-life Battle of Dunkirk. Their reviews have earned the movie a 92%, and chatter has already started about its award season potential. But audiences have responded as well, perhaps surprisingly, to what many have described as an atypical war movie. It holds an impressive A- CinemaScore.

    “We looked at this as a big summer event film. We wanted to give it the patina of a tentpole release,” said Warner Bros. distribution chief Jeff Goldstein of the studio’s decision to date the film for the end of July. “We know from past history when you open up at this point in the summertime, you can run for weeks and weeks,” he added, referencing last year’s “Suicide Squad.”
    Nolan ruffled some feathers for his bullish comments about the vitality of the theatrical experience. But, perhaps, his prizing of that is part of what ended up encouraging audiences to buy tickets as opposed to waiting for the movie to hit a streaming service. The movie is getting the widest 70MM release in more than two decades, and much of it was shot with Imax’s extremely high-resolution 2D film cameras.

    “We’re thrilled with the numbers, and we’re thrilled with the partnership,” said Imax Entertainment CEO Greg Foster. “The one-two punch of Chris’ vision and the Imax experience has once again proven to be irresistible to moviegoers in theaters.”

    Even during a crowded weekend, Universal’s “Girls Trip” is breaking the curse of underperforming R-rated comedies this summer as it looks to post $30.4 million from 2,591 locations. That’s the largest opening of any live-action comedy so far this year.
    “Girls Trip” follows a foursome — Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Tiffany Haddish, and Jada Pinkett Smith — who go out for a long overdue women’s weekend to New Orleans for the Essence Music Festival. Director Malcolm D. Lee is also known for his first feature, “The Best Man,” and its follow-up, “The Best Man Holiday.”

    Meanwhile “Valerian,” Luc Besson‘s big-budget adaptation of the French comic series from his own EuropaCorp, and distributed in the U.S. by STX Films, looks like a real clunker. The sci-fi epic should land in fifth this weekend with about $17 million from 3,553 locations.

    There is some risk mitigation at play here for what is believed to be the most expensive independent movie of all time — the bulk of the production budget was covered with foreign pre-sales, equity financing, and tax subsidies. STX took on marketing and distribution for the film after EuropaCorp’s partner, Relativity, went under. Europa financed the P&A. But, regardless, someone will pay for the movie’s poor returns so far, and sights are set overseas to see if the international box office has a more positive response.
    It’s a tough break for Besson, who has treated the movie like a passion project. Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne form the central pairing in the sci-fi epic about a team of space-and-time-traveling agents. Clive Owen, Rihanna, and Ethan Hawke round out the cast.

    In its second week, “War for the Planet of the Apes” should earn $20.4 million this weekend, landing it in third after a 64% drop. “Spider-Man: Homecoming” looks to land in fourth with $22 million domestically, a 50% decline from its second to third weekends in theaters.

    To end on a positive note, “Wonder Woman” is officially the highest-grossed movie of the summer, as of this weekend, with over $389 million. That puts Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot’s acclaimed film ahead of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” The stat is exciting news for those who have hope for more female-led projects in the future.

    “Dunkirk” and “Wonder Woman” this week pushed Warner Bros. past the $1 billion mark at the domestic box office for 2017 — the seventeenth consecutive year that the studio has done so.

  • Box Office: ‘Apes’ Tops ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ With $56.5 Million

    War for the Planet of the Apes box officeBy Seth Kelley

    LOS ANGELES, July 16 (Variety.com) – “War for the Planet of the Apes” is officially the box office champ, during a weekend that demands a close look.

    Fox and Chernin Entertainment’s latest “Apes” movie is coming in on the low end of expectations with $56.5 million from 4,022 locations. It was pegged at $60 million-$65 million earlier in the week, but is ending up about the same as 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” which kicked off the modern trilogy with $54.8 million during its opening weekend. 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” was a bigger hit with a $72.6 million domestic opening, when it hit theaters against the third weekend of “Transformers: Age of Extinction.”

    One way “War for the Planet of the Apes” stands out from other big-budget studio films is its rave reviews — it currently has a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film, which depicts the titular war between apes and humans, is directed by Matt Reeves, who joined the franchise when he stepped in on “Dawn.” Much has been made of the noticeable updates in technology that have gone into bring Andy Serkis’ character Caesar, the lead ape, to life. Woody Harrelson, in human form, joins the franchise as the villain, while Steve Zahn, as a chimp, offers comic relief.

    “First and foremost the movie came in right where we expected it to,” said Fox’s distribution chief Chris Aronson, who pointed to a potentially “soft” next few weeks that could give “Apes” a long runway. “We’re going to play for quite some time,” he said.

    “Spider Man: Homecoming,” meanwhile, is landing in second with about $45.2 million. That’s a 61% drop from last weekend’s heroic opening, which is probably a steeper falloff than Sony would have liked to see. That said, the movie’s total domestic gross in two weekend — $208.3 million — is already higher than the entire run of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” “Homecoming” is a hit with critics and audiences (93% on Rotten Tomatoes; A CinemaScore), and dominated social media chatter for weeks leading up to its release. Tom Holland is the teen in the red suit, who first joined the Marvel universe in “Captain America: Civil War.”

    The weekend’s other major release apart from “Apes” is the horror flick “Wish Upon” from Broad Green Pictures and Orion Pictures. The movie is entering the box office with a whisper, about $5.6 million from 2,250 locations. The fright-fest is directed by John R. Leonetti based on a script by Barbara Marshall. Its primarily young cast, led by Joey King, includes two Netflix alums in “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s” Ki Hong Lee (aka Dong), and “Stranger Things’” beloved Barb, Shannon Purser. The movie was largely panned by critics, with a 20% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it also carries a lackluster audience appeal with a C CinemaScore.

    Universal’s “Despicable Me 3” is showing in third place for the weekend, expecting to earn an additional $19 million from 4,155 locations. And Sony’s “Baby Driver” stays in the conversation with a strong 32% hold that should land it in fourth. Edgar Wright’s latest is racing to $8.8 million from 3,043 locations. Rounding out the top five is the indie darling “The Big Sick” from comedian Kumail Nanjiani. The movie expanded to wide release (2,597 spots) during its fourth weekend in theaters, and should earn $7.6 million.

    “It’s amazing that this independent film has found its footing as a family movie among all the summer blockbusters,” said Amazon Studios’ marketing and distribution chief Bob Berney in a statement. “The comedy and universal themes are connecting with audiences across the country.”

    Finally, keep an eye on “Wonder Woman,” which is finishing in sixth this weekend with $6.7 million, and closing in on several benchmarks. By Monday, it’s expected to cross $381 million domestically, which would put it past “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows Part 2” to become the third highest Warner Bros. movie ever. It’s also only a few million shy of passing “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” which with $386.2 million is currently the highest grossing movie of the summer so far. “Wonder Woman” has already blown past the domestic totals of fellow DC Comics movies “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Suicide Squad.”