Of course, it was all about Incredibles 2 this weekend. The hotly-anticipated Pixar sequel (which I had seen talked about the most among anticipated movies in recent years) lived up to its hype, earning a massive $180 million in its debut (a huge $40,816 per-theater average). That breaks the opening weekend record for animation, beating Finding Dory's $135 million opening weekend. In the meantime, it also beat last year's Beauty and the Beast remake ($174 million) to post the biggest debut ever for a PG movie. If the estimate holds, the sequel will edge past Captain America: Civil War ($179.1 million) for the eighth-biggest opening weekend in history (Disney now owns 9 of the Top 10 biggest opening weekends ever). For 2018, Incredibles ranks second to Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther for opening weekends. Projections were for the film to earn $130-140 million by Disney and other analysts.Why was this so big? First off, as I mentioned earlier, sequel chatter has been astounding over the years for the original, which is considered one of the best Pixar movies (and one of the best animated movies ever). Secondly, there has been a lack of any true, real PG-rated family options in theaters the last few months (no, Show Dogs does not count). Third, superheroes have become the moviegoing craze of the past decade (the first Incredibles arrived a few years before the Marvel Cinematic Universe started), and have consistently pulled in the biggest audiences. And finally, Pixar's reputation for delivering quality films kept them pulling in multiple quadrants and a diverse audience of all ages.
How will Incredibles 2 play from here? With fans rushing out, some front-loading is likely. Reviews were very strong, however (94% on Rotten Tomatoes), and the CinemaScore a rare "A+". One other thing in Incredibles favor is that there's no real competition until Hotel Transylvania 3 arrives on July 13 (Ant-Man and the Wasp may pull in some families, but will likely be PG-13), which will help its multiple over the weeks. At this point, a finish well past Toy Story 3's $415 million gross seems like a safe bet. Finding Dory earned $486 million, which seems reachable at this point too depending on how it holds.
Overseas, Incredibles opened in 26% of international territories, earning a strong $51.5 million for a $232 million worldwide launch. Pixar films usually slowly roll out, so look for the sequel to add more at a slower rate. The first movie earned $630 million worldwide, this will likely crush that number. Don't be surprised if the $1 billion mark falls. At an estimated $258.1 million, this weekend ranked as the 8th-highest grossing of all-time. Ultimately, Incredibles 2 soaked up 69.7% of this weekend's business.
But there were other movies playing too. In its second weekend, Ocean's Eight failed to put up decent counterprogramming against the Pixar sequel. The crime spin-off was down 53% to $19.6 million, for a decent $79.2 million gross in 10 days. That's a similar drop to Oceans' Twelve (-54%), but more precipitous than the other installments (which all fell between 40 and 45%). There's still time for it to level off, as next weekend's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom won't appeal to the same audience.
Other films opened this weekend too, but they didn't make nearly as much noise. Appealing to older adults, true story comedy TAG essentially matched expectations with a $14.6 million opening (mild $4,317 per-venue average) in third place. That's behind recent R-rated comedies such as Blockers ($21 million) and Game Night ($17 million). But, on a weekend where many adults were distracted with a family movie in the marketplace, it was difficult to have this open in the face of such a strong event. In that matter, the opening can be considered decent. The budget was kept at a light $28 million (though there probably was a lot spent on marketing). Reviews weren't terrible, but not great either (56% on Rotten Tomatoes), while audiences gave it a "B+" CinemaScore. Next weekend won't bring any direct competition, so this could turn a solid multiple as older adults catch up. Distributor Warner Bros. expected a low-teens millions debut.It hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows for the Mouse House (after three of the biggest openings of all-time), as Solo: A Star Wars Story continued to chug along at "meh" to disappointing levels. The spin-off was off 42% in its fourth weekend to $9.1 million, for a $192.8 million pick-up in 24 days. Jurassic World will likely give a gutpunch to the Millennium Falcon next weekend, as the spin-off looks to close before it can even hit The Last Jedi's $220 million opening weekend!!! Overseas, the news is even grimmer, with $375 million looking to be the worldwide ceiling here.
Nearly taking fourth place, Deadpool 2 continued to have solid staying power, off just 38% in its fifth weekend to $8.8 million. The R-rated superhero sequel is at a big $294.7 million in one month of release, and is set to pass the triple century mark next week. Following a solid debut last weekend, Hereditary had a slightly above-average drop for a horror flick, off 48% to $7 million (considering the negative "D+" CinemaScore, this is actually a decent hold). The critically-adored indie horror flick is at a very solid $27.2 million in 10 days, and could make a play for a $40 million finish.
The last new release, action flick Superfly tried to get a jump on the weekend by opening Wednesday, but it failed to generate much attention. The Sony release pulled in $6.3 million over the weekend (weak $2,838 per-venue average), and $8.4 million since Wednesday. That was behind the $10-12 million 5-day expectations Sony and analysts predicted. While the budget was a light $16 million, with marketing, it doesn't look like Sony's going to wind up in the black here. Reviews were mixed (54% on Rotten Tomatoes), and the CinemaScore was a "B+".
Benefiting from some double-features with fellow Disney flick Incredibles 2, Avengers: Infinity War continued to rake in money. The blockbuster was off a light 27% in its eighth weekend to $5.3 million, for a phenomenal $664.2 million gross in 56 days. It passed Titanic ($659 million) on Friday to claim fourth place on the all-time list domestic, the final record it will likely achieve. Overseas, the film has earned an astounding $1.355 billion overseas, for a $2.019 billion worldwide gross. It probably won't catch Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($2.068 billion) for third place, but I don't think Disney is complaining.
Meanwhile, Adrift was off another 60% in its third weekend to $2.1 million. The disaster thriller has washed up with a mediocre $26.8 million gross in 17 days with very little to go. Rounding out the Top 10 is Book Club, which plummeted 57% in its fifth weekend to $1.9 million. The female ensemble comedy has earned a rock solid $62 million in one month of release.
That's about it. I hope to write a predictions post Wednesday or Thursday for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. :) Look out for my review of Incredibles 2 tomorrow.
