Pixar is still Pixar, but the Disney Animation division of the studio (also headed by John Lasseter) is proving that it’s a formidable creator of animated features as well, following Frozen with the smashingly imaginative ZOOTOPIA (Disney). Based on preliminary numbers at Deadline, Zootopia had a $18M Friday (including $1.7M from Thursday night), and is on its way to a potential $70M+ weekend, which would be a new record for the unit and one of the highest non-summer, non-sequel, non-holiday animated openings ever. With $93.2M already in the bank from early international openings and a franchise-friendly premise, further adventures in Zootopia are a virtual certainty.
The inclusive, hopeful worldview of Zootopia couldn’t be more different from the brutally xenophobic slant of LONDON HAS FALLEN (Millenium/Gramercy/Focus/Universal), and however this year’s presidential election may go, movie audiences have cast their votes decisively. The best that can be said for the $7.6M Friday and likely $20M or so weekend (down 25-30% from Olympus Has Fallen‘s $10.1M/$30.4M start) is that it’s better than last week’s Gerard Butler opening, the $14.1M for Gods Of Egypt, which was also much more expensive to produce. Nevertheless, this is another picture whose studio wants us all to know that it’s on the hook only for marketing costs, because even if London does better than Olympus overseas (very unusually for an action film, London earned only 39% of its worldwide total outside the US), it’s still a tossup at best to recoup its $150M+ total costs.
The flop of the weekend, though, is WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT (Paramount), which might not have been greenlit if it hadn’t already been in production when Sandra Bullock’s somewhat similar Our Brand Is Crisis crashed and burned last fall. Whiskey managed just $2.4M on Friday for a weekend that won’t get much past $7M (Tina Fey’s lowest since the $6.2M for the nearly forgotten Admission), and although it had a moderate $35M production budget, it has little chance of making its way out of red ink once marketing costs are added to the total.
DEADPOOL (20th) was dethroned after 3 weeks at the top, down 48% from last Friday to $4.6M for a $16-17M weekend. It will go over $300M in the US this weekend, and still has a chance of passing $350M.
Thinking of GODS OF EGYPT (Summit/Lionsgate), it plunged 72% from last Friday to a horrible $1.3M, and with a $4-5M weekend ahead, it might not pass $30M in the US on a production/marketing cost of $250M. EDDIE THE EAGLE (MARV/20th) held better but not well, down 54% Friday-to-Friday to $900K, for a $3M weekend and a US total that may not reach $20M. TRIPLE 9 (Open Road) fared even worse, on track for a $2M weekend.
KUNG FU PANDA 3 (DreamWorks Animation/20th) was seriously wounded by the arrival of Zootopia, down 60% from last Friday to $800K and now looking like it won’t get close to $150M in the US.
The Oscars provided some help to the winners THE REVENANT (Regency/20th) declined just 11% from last Friday to $850K, and should have a $3.5M weekend and end up around $185M in the US. SPOTLIGHT (Open Road) almost doubled its run to 1227 theatres and more than doubled its Friday, but its numbers are still relatively meager, with $500K for the day and what may be a $2M weekend. If it ends up at $45M in the US, it will narrowly pass Birdman but still be the 3rd consecutive Best Picture winner to earn less than $60M in the US, and the 5th of the last 7.
Terrence Malick’s films are an extremely rarefied taste, and despite a starry cast (Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Antonio Banderas), it’s not appealing to the outside world, on its way to a $15K per-theatre weekend average in 4 NY/LA arthouses.
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