As what many expected, the latest superhero mash-up, X-Men: Apocalypse, topped the box office, but it didn't prove to be as strong as what some were thinking. The eighth installment in this mini-universe earned $65.8 million over the three-day weekend and $79.8 million including Monday ($15,848 per-venue average for the 3-day). While distributor 20th Century Fox was expecting an $80 million 4-day start, many believed (especially after strong Thursday preview numbers) this would come closer to $100 million. And, in comparison, Days of Future Past pulled in $110 million over this same weekend two years ago. Being the fourth superhero movie in the last four months certainly had a watering effect on this flick (Deadpool, Civil War and Batman v. Superman combined for $1 billion in domestic grosses), and mixed reviews (49% on Rotten Tomatoes) didn't help either. An "A-" CinemaScore is solid, and could help for some later stability, but there is some action competition coming up in the form of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 and Warcraft.The $170 million production has earned strong numbers overseas, with $265 million worldwide in just 10 days. At its current pace, the worldwide gross seems set to pass $500 million. That would be more than enough for profit, but one has to wonder if Fox is concerned about its Wolverine threequel set for March 2017.
Meanwhile, after being on fire for the last three movies, Disney suffered a rare embarrassing miss with their fantasy sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass. The pricey visual spectacle earned just $26.8 million over the three-day, and $33.5 million including Monday ($7,138 per-venue average for the three-day). That was about half of what was expected, as Disney and tracking services were thinking the film would reach around $60 million for the extended weekend. However, despite a strong marketing campaign, overall interest in an Alice sequel wasn't really that much. Despite earning $1 billion worldwide, the first Alice in Wonderland was not well-received by critics or audiences, and the sequel got worse reviews (30% on Rotten Tomatoes). Strong competition for family audiences didn't help either. The CinemaScore was a solid "A-", meaning that it went over better with audiences. But, on a $170 million budget, this is a failure no matter how you slice it. It did get off to a $65 million start overseas (including $27 million in China), but with marketing expenses, its going to need at least $350 million worldwide to have a chance at breaking even.But, with four of their last five movies earning at least $870 million worldwide, Disney will be fine. And they still have Pixar's Finding Dory, Steven Spielberg's The BFG and remake Pete's Dragon on deck. I have a review for Alice up on christiananswers.net, and will have a separate review up on the blog in the next couple of days.
Competition didn't help last week's topper The Angry Birds Movie, which was down 51% to $18.8 million over the three-day ($24.6 million including Monday), for a decent $72.2 million gross in 11 days. Next weekend, the film will face competition for older kids by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. Worldwide, the film is at a very solid $230 million so far, on its way to perhaps $400 million.
Continuing to be front-loaded (due to competition this time from X-Men), Captain America: Civil War was down another 53% to $15.4 million ($20 million 4-day), for a still-very strong $377.5 million gross in 25 days. It's now earning less on this weekend than Iron Man 3, and is only $2 million ahead of it through the same point. It will still finish over $400 million, but it is proving to be more front-loaded than its word-of-mouth suggests. Worldwide, its' at an undeniably massive $1.1 billion with maybe about $100 million to go.
After a very disappointing start last weekend, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising got even worse news. It plunged 57% in its second weekend to $9.4 million ($11.4 million including Monday), for a $40.7 million gross in 10 days. That may look good against a $35 million budget so far, but not when the first film had earned $10 million more in its opening weekend.
The only film in the Top 10 that really had an impressive hold was surprisingly, The Jungle Book. In the face of fellow Disney movie Alice Through the Looking Glass, the CGI blockbuster was off just 35% to $7.1 million ($9.5 million including Monday), for a huge $341 million gross in seven weeks of release. Next weekend will bring a bit more competition, but Jungle could very well challenge Deadpool ($362 million) for the second-biggest movie of the year so far. It's also at a huge $870 million worldwide with still Japan and Korea to open.
After a mediocre start last week, The Nice Guys held, umm, OK? The critically-adored crime thriller was off 42% for the three-day to $6.5 million ($8.3 million including Monday), for an underwhelming $23.6 million gross in 10 days. The Shane Black film will have a hard time going past $40 million stateside against a $50 million budget.
Money Monster had a decent hold in its third weekend, off 38% to $4.3 million ($5.6 million including Monday), for an OK $35.3 million gross in 17 days. It has earned an additional $15 million overseas. Against a $27 million budget, this should end up in OK shape for Sony, but its not an impressive performer by any means.
Expanding to nearly 500 locations, romantic dramedy Love and Friendship did nicely over this weekend, pulling in $2.4 million over the three-day ($3.2 million including Monday), for a $4,895 per-venue average over the three-day weekend. In 17 days since its limited opening, the Kate Beckinsdale film has picked up $4.1 million.
Disney accomplished a notable feat this weekend. It had four films in the Top 10 as Zootopia made it a remarkable 13th-straight week in the list. However, the animated smash did lose majority of its screens to fellow Disney flick Alice, and was off 52% over the three-day to $801,747 ($1.12 million 4-day). A week before its Blu-ray release, Disney's 55th animated flick has earned a fantastic $336.2 million, and is just inches away from passing $1 billion worldwide (its at $992 million thanks to strong holds in Japan so far). The last time a film made it this long in this list was another Disney blockbuster, Frozen (which was in the Top 10 for 16 weeks).
And that's it. Next week, older kids get Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, date night audiences get Me Before You, and who knows what gets Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. June may get off to a solid start, or it may not? Stay tuned.
