OPENINGS: OCEAN’S EIGHT (Village Roadshow/Warners) had a $41.5M weekend, the highest of the Ocean’s movies by a bit (not adjusting for inflation). The only point of concern is that it’s the first Ocean’s movie to drop on Saturday (by 4%, where the others had risen 6-17%), although that may only reflect the fact that “Friday” numbers now include Thursday night. Still, it’s possible that the final box office multiple may be lower than the others in the franchise, ending up at $125M in the US. With around $175M in production/marketing costs, that leaves room for a fair profit, assuming international popularity. The worldwide rollout strategy is gradual, with an opening $12.2M in 16 markets.
HEREDITARY (A24) took a 10% hit on Saturday, bringing it to a $13M weekend. It may reach $35M in the US, enough potentially for a modest win.
HOTEL ARTEMIS (Global Road) was a disaster, with a $3.2M weekend, although it was the weekend’s only opening to gain on Saturday (by 5%). Nevertheless, it probably won’t reach $10M in the US.
The biggest box office news of the weekend occurred overseas. JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM (Legendary/Perfect World/Universal) won’t reach the US for 2 more weeks, but it’s opened in 48 territories (not yet including China or Latin America) with $151.1M.
HOLDOVERS: SOLO (Lucasfilm/Disney) fell another 49% in its 3rd weekend to $15.2M, hoping to pass $200M in the US. Things are worse overseas, where it’s at $136.1M after an $11.3M weekend in all major markets except Japan. Quite possibly, it will suffer the further humiliation of not even reaching $400M worldwide.
DEADPOOL 2 (20th) dropped 41% in its 4th weekend to $13.7M, and seems to have enough gas in its tank to reach $300M in the US. It had an $18.5M weekend overseas for a $376M total (without a China release), and it should get to $700M worldwide, about 10% below the first Deadpool‘s $783.1M.
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (Marvel/Disney) had the best hold in the Top 10 in its 7th weekend, down 35% to $6.8M, and it may top $670M in the US. The bigger news is worldwide, where it’s just $2M away from becoming the 4th movie in history to hit $2B (with Avatar, Titanic and The Force Awakens) after a $10.9M weekend overseas.
ADRIFT (H Brothers/STX) floundered in its 2nd weekend, falling 57% to $5.1M, with $30M as its likely final destination in the US. It’s in only 12 markets overseas, where it has a $800K total.
BOOK CLUB (Endeavor Content/Paramount) dipped 40% in its 4th weekend to $4.2M, on its way to $65M in the US. It also has $3.1M in early international release.
UPGRADE (Blumhouse/BH Tilt/Universal) held better than Adrift in its 2nd weekend, something of an accomplishment for a low-rent B-movie, with a 53% drop to $2.2M. It should hit $13M in the US.
Things got even worse for the flop ACTION POINT (Paramount), down 63% in its 2nd weekend to $900K, with a $7M US total possibly an unreachable goal.
LIMITED RELEASE: WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR (Focus/Universal) opened in 29 theatres with a moderate $16K per-theatre average. HEARTS BEAT LOUD (Gunpowder & Sky), at 4 theatres, averaged $18K. FIRST REFORMED (A24) expanded aggressively to 334 with a soft $1700 average. ON CHESIL BEACH (Bleecker Street) made an unwise move into 203 theatres and averaged just $600. AMERICAN ANIMALS (Orchard/MoviePass) widened to 42 with a $5600 average (although that number assumes a spectacularly strong Sunday, so it may come down in finals). THE SEAGULL (Sony Classics), now at 89, averaged $1100. Meanwhile, the sleeper of the season, the documentary RBG (Magnolia), lost about 10% of its theatres and still slipped just 34% in its 6th weekend and may hit $10M next week.
NEXT WEEKEND: The blockbuster of the week is INCREDIBLES 2 (Pixar/Disney). Counterprogramming will come from urban reboot SUPERFLY (Columbia/Sony) on Wednesday, and the comedy TAG (New Line/Disney) on Friday.
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