Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #23 of 2014 looks like $165 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, 10% above the norm for this weekend and 15% above the same weekend last year.
Opening at 3,173 theaters, The Fault in Our Stars from 20th Century Fox grossed $26.1 million through Friday, putting the film on track for a $55.0 million opening three-day weekend (well above our $41.5 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast). The film is pacing toward a really good three-day average of $17,300 per theater for the weekend (above the $5,333 opening weekend average for all wide-release films the last two years). Critical sentiment is supportive (82% positive overall and a similar 81% positive with top critics). The Fault in Our Stars is headed for $164 million total domestic.
Opening at 3,490 theaters, Edge of Tomorrow from Warner Brothers grossed $10.7 million through Friday, putting the film on track for a $30.0 million opening weekend (very close to our $29.5 million forecast). The film is pacing toward a somewhat above average three-day average of $8,600 per theater for the weekend. Critical sentiment is especially positive for a sci-fi action film (89% positive overall and 86% positive with top critics). Edge of Tomorrow is headed for $89 million total domestic.
Maleficent is headed for $33.0 million in its second weekend (down 52% from last weekend and slightly above our $30.6 million forecast). The total domestic outlook for Maleficent has been adjusted up to $205 million. X-Men: Days of Future Past is headed for $15.5 million in its third weekend (down 52% from last weekend and a touch below our $16.3 million forecast). The total domestic outlook for X-Men: Days of Future Past has been adjusted to $226 million.
| Weekend 23: June 6-8, 2014 | ($ millions) | |||||
| Pre-Wknd Showbuzz Forecast | Early Weekend Estimate | Actual Friday Gross | Showbuzz Domestic Final Proj. | |||
| The Fault in Our Stars | Fox | [41.5] | 55.0 | 26.1 | 164 | |
| Maleficent | Dis | [30.6] | 33.0 | 10.1 | 205 | |
| Edge of Tomorrow | WB | [29.5] | 30.0 | 10.7 | 89 | |
| X-Men: Days of Future Past | Fox | [16.3] | 15.5 | 4.5 | 226 | |
| A Million Ways to Die in the West | Uni | [7.3] | 7.0 | 2.2 | 44 | |
| Godzilla | WB | [5.9] | 6.2 | 1.8 | 197 | |
| Neighbors | Uni | [4.9] | 5.1 | 1.6 | 154 | |
| Blended | WB | [4.7] | 4.1 | 1.3 | 45 | |
| Chef | OpenR | [2.5] | 2.7 | n/a | 21 | |
| Million Dollar Arm | Dis | [2.0] | 2.0 | .59 | 37 | |
Note: The table above summarizes an early look at the weekend. The first column is a reminder of each film’s ShowBuzzDaily Forecast for the weekend (in brackets). The second column, on which the films are sorted, displays the new weekend projection for each film, based on the Friday numbers (the third column). The final column is a preliminary estimate of the ShowbuzzDaily Domestic Total number for the film’s total run in North America. A “++” indicates the Domestic number has been upgraded; a “–” indicates a downgrade.
Total Box Office Volume
The Top 12 Films this weekend are looking like $165 million total Friday-Sunday, up 10% from the four-year average for the comparable weekend and up 15% from the same weekend last year.
| WEEKEND 23 | ($ millions) | ||
| Weekend Volume: Top 12 Films | Top Movies Opening Each Weekend (Fri-Sun only) | ||
| 2014 | $165 | The Fault in Our Stars $55.0, Edge of Tomorrow $30.0 | |
| 2013 | $143 | The Purge $34.1, The Internship $17.3 | |
| 2012 | $174 | Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted $60.3, Prometheus $51.1 | |
| 2011 | $132 | Super 8 $35.5, Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer $6.1 | |
| 2010 | $145 | The Karate Kid $55.7, The A-Team $25.7 | |
| Avg 2010-13 | $150 | ||
Check back tomorrow for more complete Weekend Studio Estimates based on Saturday’s actual box office, as well as the International Box Office report.
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