As what some were expecting, Finding Dory remained at #1 for a third-straight weekend. The Pixar blockbuster had another solid hold, off 43% to $41.8 million ($51.4 million including July 4th, which landed on a Monday), the eighth-biggest 3rd weekend ever, for an absolutely huge $381.8 million pick-up in 18 days. In just three weeks, Dory is already the fifth-biggest animated movie ever domestically behind Shrek 2 ($441 million), The Lion King ($423 million), Toy Story 3 ($415 million) and Frozen ($400 million). And, even more importantly, it just edged past the lifetime gross of its predecessor, Finding Nemo ($380 million, unadjusted for inflation of course). At its current pace, Dory will become the biggest animated film ever domestically within the next month. Despite some intense competition coming up from The Secret Life of Pets (Friday) and Ice Age: Collision Course, Dory stands a chance at reaching $500 million in the U.S. alone! (only 6 movies in history have done that) Worldwide, it continues to slowly roll out, as it has picked up $550 million so far. It's safe to assume this sequel has been even bigger than what many were anticipating!
Not many were anticipating the new releases to be huge, but, in all fairness, The Legend of Tarzan did outperform expectations. The David Yates film opened in a pretty close second, earning $38.5 million ($46.6 million including July 4th), for a solid $13,081 per-venue average. Many were thinking this might would earn around $30 million through Monday, as tracking wasn't very strong. But instead, audiences turned out in fairly respectable numbers for this. Tarzan more than doubled the opening of last year's Pan ($15 million) and nearly matched last weekend's Independence Day: Resurgence ($41 million). But, does this mean the movie will be successful? With a $180 million budget, ummm....not yet. It's going to need major overseas help in order to break even (it did earn $19 million this weekend from a handful of markets). Next weekend doesn't offer much competition, so we'll see how it holds. Reviews weren't good (34% on Rotten Tomatoes), while the CinemaScore was a respectable "A-".
Opening with strong results in third place was horror threequel, The Purge: Election Year, which pulled in $31.5 million over the 3-day ($36.1 million including July 4th), for a very solid $11,271 per-venue average. That was slightly ahead of the second entry, Anarchy ($29.8 million), and not far behind the first film ($36 million in 3 days). Universal and the production team pulled off something really ingenious here. By making the threequel an election-based film (especially with all the election headlines for 2016), they managed to keep people's interest in this series, in which its incredibly rare for a franchise to remain this consistent by a third entry. Election Year received mixed reviews (54% on Rotten Tomatoes), but its "B+" CinemaScore is pretty good for horror standards (horror films have apparently been the only real strong genre this summer in theaters thus far). With just a $10 million budget, this will easily be a profitable success for Universal, who hopes to start rebounding after a slow start to 2016 (they've got The Secret Life of Pets and Jason Bourne coming).
With the crowded release slate this weekend, one had to be a stinker, and sadly, that wound up being Steven Spielberg's The BFG. The adaptation of the Roald Dahl book failed to generate much attention, earning $18.8 million ($22.7 million including July 4th), for a mild $5,593 per-venue average. For Disney, this is even less than their May misfire Alice Through the Looking Glass ($27 million opening). Considering this was the first collaboration between Spielberg and the Mouse House, I'm really surprised this wasn't a hit. But, I might would blame this on a rare bad scheduling move on Disney's part. Finding Dory is much bigger than expected, and Disney put this just two weeks after it (and one week before Pets). An October release might would have suited it better. The marketing was strong, if not particularly engaging. And one has to wonder if the book really is all that popular (I hadn't heard of it before hearing of this movie). At worst, this does put a dent in Disney's live-action fairy tale record. The budget was $140 million, and expectations were for it to hit $30 million. Reviews were solid though (71% on RT), and the CinemaScore was an "A-".With the titular holiday in mind, one could have thought Independence Day: Resurgence would hold strong. But instead, the sequel was down 59% over the three-day weekend to $16.7 million ($21.7 million including the 4th). In 11 days, the Ronald Emmerich disaster flick has earned $77.8 million. It should make it past $100 million, but it will have only sold a small fraction of the tickets the original sold back in 1996 (which earned $300 million stateside). Overseas, it's at $175 million so far.
Holding the strongest in the Top 10 was the action comedy Central Intelligence, which was off just 31% over the weekend to $12.5 million ($15.4 million including Independence Day), for a strong $94.8 million gross in 18 days. Kevin Hart and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will get some minor competition next week from Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (though that's rated R), but it will easily pass $100 million by the end of this week.
The Shallows held OK in its second weekend, off 48% to $8.8 million ($10.5 million including the 4th), for a very solid $36.8 million gross in 11 days. The shark thriller should hold better next weekend. Following its very disappointing debut, Free State of Jones was off 45% to $4.1 million ($5.3 million including the 4th), for a tepid $16.4 million gross in the same amount of time. This one will probably only finish around $25 million.
Two sequels rounded out the Top 10. Facing direct competition from Purge, The Conjuring 2 was off 50% to $3.8 million ($4.5 million including the 4th), for a still very solid $96 million pick-up in 25 days, and will pass $100 million next weekend. Now You See Me 2 was off 47% to $3 million ($3.7 million including the 4th), for a forgettable $59.4 million gross in the same amount of time. Both are doing solid business overseas so far though. The horror sequel is at $275 million worldwide, while the magician sequel is at $215 million worldwide.
That's it for this weekend. I will have a review up for The BFG next weekend, while for the box office...Illumination Entertainment returns with their first original project in four years, The Secret Life of Pets. The caper is expected to be very strong. Also opening is R-rated comedy Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. Can the summer box office get a much-needed jolt? We'll see.
