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April 7, 2019
 

Behind the US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 4.7.2019

 

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).



About the Author

Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."