OPENINGS: At $53.5M, SHAZAM (DC/New Line/Warners) had the lowest opening weekend of the current DC run of superhero movies (it was also below all the Marvel openings), but it was produced to be a lower-budget companion piece to the megabusters, and with that in mind, its opening was fine. Overseas was bigger at $102M, but that includes all major worldwide territories including China, so the number was again modest in the context of superhero spectaculars. A $400M worldwide total would probably be profitable enough to keep the franchise going.
PET SEMATARY (Paramount) dropped 9% on Saturday for a $25M weekend. That was better than the $18.7M start for last April’s Truth Or Dare, which fell 13% on its 2nd day of release, and it suggests a fair $50-55M US total for Sematary. (That would be slightly under the $57.5M total for the 1989 Pet Sematary, without adjustment for inflation.) Overseas, Pet Sematary opened in 46 markets at a middling $17.3M.
THE BEST OF ENEMIES (STX) was an odd choice for an April release, a long way from awards season despite its prestige subject and lead actors, and it floundered at $4.5M. Its reviews were downbeat (52% on Rotten Tomatoes), so it’s unlikely to get much higher than $15M in the US, with slim prospects overseas.
HOLDOVERS: DUMBO (Disney) plunged 60% to $18.2M in its 2nd weekend, worse than Beauty & The Beast (-48%), The Jungle Book (-40%), Alice In Wonderland (-46%), and even the misbegotten Alice Through the Looking Glass (-58%). It may not be able to surpass $115M in the US, and things are no better overseas, where it’s at $137.5M after a $39.6M weekend in 55 territories. With $300M+ in production/marketing costs, this will be the rare event movie money-loser for Disney.
US (Blumhouse/Perfect World/Universal) continued to fall much faster than Get Out, down 58% to $13.8M in its 3rd weekend (Get Out dropped 27% in its parallel weekend). It’s also heading down faster than other recent prestige horror like It (-51%) and The Conjuring (-41%). If it passes Get Out‘s $176M US total, it will be just slightly ahead. Overseas, Us is at $64.2M after a $10.3M weekend in 62 markets, with only Mexico and Japan left to open. As with the US, it may barely pass Get Out‘s $79.4M international total.
CAPTAIN MARVEL (Marvel/Disney) dipped 39% to $12.7M in its 5th weekend, not far off the 5th weekend of Black Panther (-35%), and better than Avengers: Infinity War (-41%), Age of Ultron (-47%), and Captain America: Civil War (-49%). It may reach $400M in the US. Overseas, it’s at $663.5M after a $14.1M weekend in all major territories, which notably is higher than Black Panther‘s $646.9M international total, even though Panther earned $700M in the US.
FIVE FEET APART (CBS/Lionsgate) continues to hold well, down 40% to $3.7M in its 4th weekend, and on track to hit $50M if it can hold onto its theatres. It’s softer overseas, where it’s at $21M after a $4.1M weekend in 39 markets.
UNPLANNED (Pure Flix) increased its theatre count by 43%, yet fell 50% to $3.2M in its 2nd weekend (on a per-theatre basis, the average was down 65%). It may get to $20M in the US, far below Christian genre hits like God’s Not Dead ($60.8M).
WONDER PARK (Nickelodeon/Paramount) continued sinking, down 59% to $2M in its 4th weekend for a US total that probably won’t reach $50M. Overseas, it’s at a dismal $18M after a $3.3M weekend in 25 territories.
The bottom fell out of THE BEACH BUM (Neon), which followed last week’s low opening with a 72% crash to under $500K.
LIMITED RELEASE: HIGH LIFE (A24) had an OK start, averaging $25K at 4 NY/LA arthouses. AMAZING GRACE (Neon) was more subdued, with a $12K average at 8. PETERLOO (Amazon) is claiming a $10K average at 3, but that number relies on an extremely strong Sunday estimate. THE PUBLIC (Greenwich) opened at 265 with a dim $1100 average. THE MUSTANG (Focus/Universal) had a moderate expansion to 350 with a $2200 average. THE AFTERMATH (Fox Searchlight) fared less well, widening to 344 with an $1100 average. DIANE (IFC, also on VOD/streaming) averaged $2K at 34. THE CHAPERONE (PBS) averaged $2K at 11. SUNSET (Sony Classics) mustered a $1K average at 18.
NEXT WEEKEND: The superhero item of the week is the rebooted HELLBOY (Summit/Lionsgate), which will compete with comedy LITTLE (Universal), YA drama AFTER (Aviron) and the animated MISSING LINK (UA/Annapurna/MGM). Limited releases include TEEN SPIRIT (Bleecker Street).
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