OPENINGS: Studios are increasingly starting their global launches of franchise blockbusters overseas, and once again, the weekend’s biggest box office news occurred outside the US. X-MEN: APOCALYPSE (20th) has opened in 75 overseas territories that cover about 2/3 of the world (but not yet China) and had a $103.3M weekend. That’s much lower than the $171.1M start for X-Men: Days of Future Past, but that was in 118 markets that did include China (which was worth $37.7M alone), and the studio claims that on an apples-to-apples basis, Apocalypse has opened bigger. Future Past ended up at $514M overseas, so however the comparison falls, that’s still a good neighborhood to be in.
Back home, THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE (Rovio/Sony) led the box office with a $39M weekend, not quite as high as Hotel Transylvania‘s $42.5M. Notably, Transylvania had a 73% Saturday bump, while Angry Birds only managed 48%, suggesting some frontloading. Also, while Transylvania dropped 34% on its 1st Sunday, Sony is projecting just a 28% drop for Angry Birds, which may mean a lower final number tomorrow. In any case, this is a solid start, and the Birds also flew to $55.5M overseas, where it is now almost worldwide (including China), for a $112M international total. Angry Birds looks like it might get to $350M worldwide, which would once again put it in the area of Hotel Transylvania‘s $358.4M, enough to launch a modest franchise. As we noted on Friday night, Sony has a limited rooting interest in all this, since Rovio paid all the production and marketing costs, and Sony receives a fee that would be around $25M on a $350M worldwide total, with Rovio keeping any other upside.
NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING (Good Universe/Universal) plunged 55% from the opening of Neighbors 2 years ago to a meager $21.8M. If it continues at that rate, it would reach $120M worldwide, not enough to pay for its production and marketing. It’s odd that a movie fairly well-regarded as dumb comedies go (73% on Rotten Tomatoes) generated so little enthusiasm for a sequel, and it’s certainly not good news for Seth Rogen, who may be aging out of his fanbase. Neighbors 2 also isn’t thrilling overseas (where the first movie took in $120.5M), with $30M after a $6M weekend in 45 markets.
THE NICE GUYS (Waypoint/Warners) is the latest nail in the coffin of mid-budgeted non-franchise star vehicles. Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling weren’t able to get its opening above $11.3M, and with limited foreign appeal, it’s unlikely to break even. Truthfully, the movie plays like a pilot for a Crowe/Gosling cable series, and maybe that’s where its stars will end up next.
HOLDOVERS: CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (Marvel/Disney) tripled the next holdover, but its 54% drop to $33.1M, especially with no direct competition in the market, is a bit heavier than expected. (Avengers: Age of Ultron fell 50% in its 3rd weekend and Iron Man 3 fell 51%, while Civil War fared just slightly better than the 55% drop for Batman v. Superman—Deadpool, on the other hand, slipped just 45%.) This may be where audience superhero fatigue becomes evident, and it won’t be helped by the arrival of X-Men next week. Of course, Civil War has nothing to complain about. In the US, it’s at $347.4M, and should easily clear $400M, and overseas it earned $30.7M for a $706.1M total, putting it over $1B worldwide, and likely to reach the $1.2B level of Iron Man 3.
THE JUNGLE BOOK (Disney) is holding strong, down just 36% from last weekend to $11M in the US and a $327.5M total, plus $530.2M overseas after a $7.4M weekend (with Japan/Korea yet to open). Stablemate ZOOTOPIA (Disney) is nudging the $1B worldwide mark (it’s at $981.8M) after a $1.7M weekend in the US that was down 40% from last week, and a $4.7M weekend overseas, where it actually ticked up in Japan.
MONEY MONSTER (TriStar/LStar/Sony) crashed by 52% in its 2d weekend to $7.1M, unsupported by its older audience, and won’t get much above $40M in the US. Remarkably, the cheapie horror movie THE DARKNESS (Blumhouse/High Top/Focus/Universal) had the same 52% drop, and although that only leaves it at $8.5M after a $2.4M weekend, its tiny economics may well make it more successful than Money Monster.
LIMITED RELEASE: MAGGIE’S PLAN (Sony Classics) opened at 5 NY/LA theatres with an OK $13K per-theatre average. WEINER (IFC) was a bit stronger, with a $17K average at 5, but considering the NY-centric appeal of that documentary, the number may not mean much nationally. THE MEDDLER (Sony Classics) expanded to near-wide release at 464 theatres, and had a thin per-theatre average of $1700. THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY (IFC) widened to 271 theatres with a $2K average. A BIGGER SPLASH (Fox Searchlight) had a $2600 average at 128. LOVE & FRIENDSHIP (Amazon/Roadside), now in 47 theatres, averaged $12K. THE LOBSTER (A24) averaged $17K at 24. None of these numbers suggests wide mainstream success.
NEXT WEEKEND: As noted, X-Men: Apocalypse reaches US shores for Memorial Day weekend, and so does ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (Disney).
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