Of course, everyone figured that Shazam would remain on top. And while it didn't hold well, it didn't exactly have a massive drop either. The lighter superhero flick was off 53% to $25.1 million in its sophomore frame, for a decent $94.9 gross in 10 days. Yes, that is not anywhere close to the 10-day starts of other superhero flicks. But, considering the smaller budget and the lesser-known hero, its' still perfectly fine. The main concern for Warner Bros. right now is that Avengers: Endgame is ticking closer, and they're going to need to bring in as much money as they can before it launches in 11 days. Spring Break is this week for many schools, and Easter weekend usually brings in stronger holds. Overseas, Shazam! is doing similarly decent, with $260 million worldwide so far (though it is collapsing fast in China). I don't think its going to reach $500 million now, with $400 million perhaps a near ceiling at this point.
Third place went to the Hellboy remake, which didn't pull in much attention. The R-rated gorefest earned only $12 million in its debut (mild $3,638 per-venue average), way behind the Guillermo del Toro films (which opened to $23 million and $34 million, respectively). Distributor Lionsgate gave the film an extensive marketing effort, particularly on social media, and kept the budget at a relatively restrained $50 million. Of course, audience reception was not great, with a weak "C" CinemaScore. With Endgame around the corner, its a guaranteed short life in theaters for this useless title.
Typical for horror flicks, Pet Sematary was down 59% to $10 million in its sophomore frame. Another remake in the list, the Paramount release has pulled in a solid $41.1 million in 10 days. Next weekend will bring competition in the form of The Curse of La Llarona, which means this may continue to fade pretty fast. However, it has nearly doubled its production budget already.
Unfortunately, the news continued to become grimmer for Disney's latest live-action remake (three remakes in the Top 5, go figure...), Dumbo. Tim Burton's latest fell 50% to $9.2 million in its third frame, for a disappointing $89.9 million gross in 17 days. It will pass $100 million next week, but may not get much higher than that. Overseas, its' pulled in $170 million so far, for a $260 million worldwide pick-up. It will probably get to $300 million, but not much more.
Thankfully, the Mouse House has Disney+ coming up.....and Captain Marvel. The MCU's latest seems to be benefiting from the built-up buzz for Endgame opening in two weeks. The film was off just 31% in its sixth frame to $8.6 million, for a huge $386.5 million pick-up in 42 days. The worldwide gross currently ranks in the Top 30 with $1.064 billion, with the hope of reaching $1.1 billion.
It looks like word-of-mouth hasn't been the friend of Us (though there's also been a lot of competition). Jordan Peele's latest fell another 50% in its fourth frame to $6.9 million, for a still great $163.5 million pick-up in 24 days. The Curse of La Llarona will make it lose more screens next week, and the final gross may only end up matching Get Out's $177 million final.
Eighth place belongs to After. The romantic book adaptation did better than expected, earning $6.2 million (meh $2,900 per-venue average). Distributor Aviron Pictures gave this a solid marketing campaign, and produced it for $14 million. More promising, however, is its $12 million start overseas. Overall, it sounds like this could turn into a minor surprise for all involved. Audiences gave it a "B" CinemaScore.
The biggest disappointment of the new releases turned out to surprisingly be The Missing Link. Laika's latest failed to generate attention with just $5.8 million in ninth place (an abysmal $1,712 per-venue average). That's less than half of the studio's last effort, Kubo and the Two Strings ($12.6 million debut). Despite strong critical reviews, the marketing effort (while strong) wasn't all that appealing. Also, stop-motion animation doesn't really sell anymore (there's also been a lot of options for families lately). This is yet another quirky animated title that will be more useful in the awards season race than commercial business. Audiences gave it a "B+" CinemaScore.
Rounding out the list was last week's underperformer The Best of Enemies. And despite strong audience reception and no competition for older audiences, the historical drama seems to be getting lost in the midst of more appealing options. It fell 55% to $2 million, for a weak $8.1 million in 10 days. Despite a $10 million pricetag, a finish just above that won't be enough to break even.
And that's about it. Next week will bring two releases opening on Wednesday (faith-based, true story drama Breakthrough and Disneynature's doc Penguins), while Friday brings horror flick The Curse of La Llarona from The Conjuring Universe. Its' sure to be another quiet weekend before overall business roars back to life with Avengers: Endgame tracking for record-breaking numbers the next weekend. Look for my predictions post on Wednesday. :)
