OPENINGS: In the US, the launch of THE MUMMY (Perfect World/Universal) could hardly have gone worse with a $32.2M weekend. Although it’s higher than the openings for Tom Cruise’s recent Jack Reacher titles and Edge of Tomorrow, this was a very expensive project (reports differ on just how expensive, with production costs from $125M to almost $200M), and with terrible reviews and exit polls, it can’t expect to get much above $75M here. As expected, things were better overseas, where the spectacle opened with $141.8M in almost all major territories (France opens next week, and Japan in late July), $52.2M of it from China. Word of mouth won’t be friendly internationally, either, but at $400-$450M worldwide, The Mummy might reach breakeven. What it won’t do is provide an effective kick-off to Universal’s “Dark Universe” mega-franchise, and it’s hard to see how the next entry in the series, a reboot of Bride of Frankenstein with Javier Bardem as the groom, will do much better. The studio has announced quite a few additional chapters, but we’ll see how many of them actually start shooting.
IT COMES AT NIGHT (A24) is a far smaller piece of business, but it underdelivered even on its own terms with $6M, considerably lower in the sub-genre of classy low-budget horror than the $8.8M A24 had with its opening of The Witch last year, or the $11.9M for STX’s The Gift in 2015. Night may not even hit $20M in the US.
MEGAN LEAVEY (Bleecker Street) had a soft start with $3.8M, although if it can hold onto its theatres, it might benefit from word of mouth and accumulate a half-decent multiple. A problem with a start like this is that it’s hard for the studio to justify additional marketing spending even if the holds are encouraging.
MY COUSIN RACHEL (Fox Searchlight) crept into the low end of wide release at 523 theatres, and showed little life with a $1800 per-theatre average (that’s below Megan Leavey‘s $1900 average at nearly 4x as many theatres).
HOLDOVERS: Here’s a stat worth noting: the 45% Weekend 2 decline for WONDER WOMAN (RatPac/Wanda/Ten Cent/Warners) is better than any hold in the DC, Marvel, Spider-Man or X-Men universes since the original Spider-Man in 2002. (Amazing Spider-Man opened on a Tuesday, so it doesn’t fit the comparison.) That’s an extraordinary achievement, and with $205M in the bank already after a $57.2M weekend, it’s gunning for the title of top DC release, currently held in the US by Batman v Superman‘s $330.4M. Overseas, the results weren’t quite as strong, with a 53% drop to $58.1M, but that’s still a far better hold than, say, Pirates 5, which dropped 65% in its second overseas weekend. Wonder Woman should reach $650-700M worldwide, the same neighborhood as Man Of Steel and Doctor Strange.
CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: THE FIRST EPIC MOVIE (DreamWorks Animation/20th) capitalized moderately on its final weekend with the family market to itself, down 48% to $12.3M, and should end up at $75-85M in the US. It’s barely opened overseas.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES (Disney) is already running out of ocean, down 52% in the US to $10.7M, and likely to finish with $155-160M, down 1/3 from 2011’s On Stranger Tides. Most of its money is coming from overseas, where it’s at $464.4M ($161.2M from China) after a $34.8M weekend. The wild card for Pirates is Japan, where the franchise has been huge in the past, but the worldwide total is still likely to be down 25-30% from Tides, and these productions are so hugely expensive that a Pirates 6 will be a risk.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2 (Marvel/Disney) dipped 37% in the US to $6.2M, on track for a $375M+ total. Overseas, it’s at $466.8M after a $2.2M weekend. It should end with a 10% bump over the first Guardians worldwide.
LIMITED RELEASE: BEATRIZ AT DINNER (Roadside) had a solid start with a $30K weekend per-theatre average at 5 NY/LA arthouses, although the studio didn’t release daily numbers, so it’s hard to gauge its prospects. THE HERO (Orchard) is claiming a $12K average at 4, but that estimate includes an extremely optimistic forecast for Sunday, so the number could come down tomorrow. PARIS CAN WAIT (Sony Classics) continued its methodical expansion, averaging $2600 at 176. BAND AID (IFC) averaged $2500 at 12.
NEXT WEEKEND: It’s an unusual prime summer weekend that lacks a big action title, so several genres are filling the gap. The big arrival is CARS 3 (Pixar/Disney), and it’s joined by R-rated comedy ROUGH NIGHT (Columbia/Sony), rap biography ALL EYEZ ON ME (Summit/Lionsgate), and thriller 47 METERS DOWN (ES). Limited releases include THE BOOK OF HENRY (Focus/Universal) and MAUDIE (Sony Classics).
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