In its time of need, Hollywood looked to Pixar for salvation, and FINDING DORY (Pixar/Disney) is delivering. According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, its opening day was $53M (including $9.2M from Thursday evening), more than any animated film has ever made in a single day, ahead of the $47.1M that Shrek The Third earned on its 2d day of release (albeit a 24-hour day, as opposed to Dory‘s 29-hour “Friday”). That should also give Dory a record-breaking opening weekend for animation of $130M+ (Shrek The Third currently leads with $121.6M), and a solid chance of passing Captain America: Civil War‘s current $400M as the biggest hit of the season. (Shrek 2 has the current US animation record with $441.2M, and Frozen holds the worldwide animation record at $1.28B, which would be a tough number to beat.)
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE (New Line/Universal/RatPac/Warners) is at a much milder level of success, with a $12M Friday (including $1.8M from Thursday night) and a likely $30M weekend, with a possibility of some upside if it proves to be the Father’s Day movie of choice. That’s a bit below the $12.9M opening day for Get Hard, which had a $33.8M weekend, a $90.4M US total, and $111.8M worldwide. Dwayne Johnson is a bigger draw than Will Ferrell internationally in the Kevin Hart co-star role, and that may help overseas, but on the other hand Central reportedly cost about 20% more than Get Hard (worldwide costs will be around $150M), so it may balance out.
THE CONJURING 2 (New Line/Warners) is behaving like a sequel, more frontloaded than its predecessor. Its $5.2M 2d Friday is down 68% from opening day, compared to a 57% drop to $7.3M for the first Conjuring. A $17M weekend would put it at $70M, heading for around $100M in the US, which would be down about 35% from the original, still very profitable thanks to its moderate costs.
NOW YOU SEE ME 2 (Summit/Lionsgate) is also falling faster than the first in its series. It’s down 64% from its opening day to $3M, compared to a 40% drop to $6.1M for the original Now You See Me. A $10M weekend would put it on track for $65M in the US, down 45% from the original, and needing significant help overseas to hit profit.
WARCRAFT (Legendary/Movie Media Group/Alibaba/Universal), at this point, is all about China. It’s a disaster in the US that might not get past $50M after an awful 2d Friday drop of 81% to $2M and a weekend that might not reach $7M.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (Nickelodeon/Paramount) may end up earning less than half of the $191.2M US total for the 2014 reboot. It had a $1.7M 3rd Friday, and a $6M weekend will have it on track for $85M in the US, another summer title that will need big overseas help.
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE (TSG/20th) is fading, headed for a $5-6M weekend after $1.5M on Friday, and a US total that probably won’t crack $160M, not a big number on $300M+ in worldwide costs.
ME BEFORE YOU (MGM/New Line/RatPac/Warners) will be a bit less than midway between The Fault In Our Stars‘s $124.9M and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl‘s $6.8M in the death romance genre, with a $55M US total likely after $1.5M on Friday and a $5M weekend.
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