OPENINGS: After last week’s Fall Guy stumble, KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (20th/Disney) arrived at the high end of projections with $56.5M. That was roughly on par with the starts for 2011’s Rise ($54.8M) and 2017’s War ($56.3M), although a bit lower than 2014’s Dawn ($72.6M). The franchise has reliably done better […]
OPENINGS: Pundits have been quick to celebrate the current fade of the comic book genre, but the truth is that Hollywood hasn’t yet found anything to reliably replace it at the top of the box office. After years of Marvel sagas kicking off the summer movie season with extravagant grosses, this year the studio’s […]
OPENINGS: ABIGAIL (Universal) launched at the low end of expectations with $10.2M, lower than the $11.8M for Night Swim and virtually the same as the $9.9M for Imaginary. Those films are respectively at $32.5M and $28M in the US, which is the likely range for Abigail. However, the new film reportedly cost $28M before […]
OPENINGS: CIVIL WAR (A24) marked its studio’s biggest swing to date, with costs that will approach $100M for production and worldwide marketing. (A24 limited its risk by pre-selling some overseas territories to subdistributors.) The early results were promising, with a studio-record $25.7M weekend, alhough tepid audience surveys and the fact that the audience was […]
OPENINGS: MONKEY MAN (Universal) walked an odd path to theaters, originally being targeted for a Netflix release. While the result earned strong reviews (87% on Rotten Tomatoes), there was no storybook ending at the box office, as Dev Patel’s film was below expectations at $10.1M. Nor did Monkey Man stir much excitement overseas, with […]