Avengers: Endgame easily retained its perch, and continued to break records. Down 59% in its sophomore frame, the penultimate entry in the Marvel Universe pulled in another $145.8 million this weekend (averaging $31,275 per-venue). That's the second-biggest second weekend ever behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($149.1 million), which was helped by Christmas break. Of course, the gap is close enough that actuals could reveal a different story. However, it is important to note that with fans rushing out last week, a heavy drop was expected. In comparison, Captain America: Civil War was down 60% while Infinity War was off 55%. Of course, Endgame was the fastest film to reach $400 million (5 days), $500 million (8 days), and $600 million (10 days). It's at $619.7 million already in 10 days of release, and is about to pass the final gross of the original Avengers ($623 million) in just 11 days time! Domestically, Endgame already ranks ninth on the all-time list.Overseas, the film held even better. Off an average of 55% in most markets, Endgame added another $280 million from overseas territories (Russia was the lone and only remaining new opener). It's earned $1.56 billion overseas alone in just two weeks, and a massive $2.19 billion worldwide. With that, Endgame has passed Infinity War's entire worldwide run ($2.05 billion) in just 11 days time. It's also edged past Titanic ($2.17 billion) for second place on the all-time list, with its sights set on Avatar ($2.78 billion) to claim first place. That seems likely as of now, unless it falls apart next week against Detective Pikachu.
Meanwhile, out of all three new releases, Sony's The Intruder fared the best. The PG-13 thriller opened to $11 million in second place (decent $4,950 per-venue average from just over 2,200 locations, 45% of Endgame's theater count). That was above Sony's conservative $9 million forecast, but most analysts believed it had a shot at $15 million. This movie was hoping to pull in the same African-American crowd as Tyler Perry's Madea films (and the PG-13 rating would supposedly help), and was marketed very well, but it didn't quite break out. Thankfully, with just an $8 million budget, Sony should turn out fine, but it probably won't bring in too much profit. Audiences gave it a mixed "B-" CinemaScore, not a very positive sign for the weeks ahead.
Meanwhile, Lionsgate was hoping that the strong buzz out of SXSW Festival plus the pairing of Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron would bring in box office gold. They also thought an R-rated comedy would prove effective counter-programming against Avengers. They were wrong, as Long Shot opened to just $10 million in its debut (mild $3,104 per-venue average). Many analysts were also thinking this would hit $15 million potentially. Apparently the concept didn't click with audiences, and the CinemaScore was only a "B". And lets' just face it, it is really hard to open a movie a week after a record-smasher. With a $40 million budget, unless it finds its' footing through May, it looks like this will be one of the more high-profile misses of the season.
However, the weekend's biggest disappointment was the animated musical Uglydolls. Despite a strong voice cast, kids and parents were not exactly intrigued, pulling in just $8.5 million (abysmal $2,330 per-venue average). That's ahead of Missing Link's debut ($6 million) from last month, but that's no real consolation. For distributor STX Films, this is their second-straight misfire after The Best of Enemies last month. In the end, there seemed to be little room for this pic, as older kids and teens were sucked into the Endgame, while others are waiting for next week's Detective Pikachu. With a $45 million budget, audiences gave the film a "B+" CinemaScore.Continuing to benefit from Endgame, Captain Marvel spent a ninth-straight week in the list. Marvel's heroine was off 49% to $4.3 million, for a huge $420.8 million gross in 63 days. Its' also about to pass $700 million overseas. The only film in the list with a hold stronger than 45% was Breakthrough. The faith-based flick was down 42% to $3.9 million, for a moderate $33.3 million in 19 days. The Chrissy Metz flick will likely finish at about $45 million stateside. While that's a fine result against a $14 million budget, its' still probably not the breakout hit some thought it would be.
Fading fast, The Curse of La Llorona fell another 57% in its third frame to $3.5 million, for a decent $48.1 million in 17 days. It's on track for a $55 million finish, or just over double its opening weekend. With Endgame continuing to pull in superfans, Shazam! is also fading very fast now. The DC competitor fell another 56% to $2.5 million in its fifth frame, for a decent $135.2 million gross in one month of release, along with $355 million worldwide.
Little plummeted 58% in its fourth frame to $1.5 million. The Universal comedy has pulled in an OK $38.6 million as it has very little to go. Disney's remake of Dumbo rounded out the Top 10, as Uglydolls stole more younger kids. The Tim Burton flick fell another 59% in its sixth weekend to $1.4 million, for a disappointing $109.7 million pick-up in 37 days. Dumbo has earned nearly $350 million worldwide, but that's likely not enough to justify $170 million plus marketing costs.
And that's about it. Next weekend, Warner Bros. unleashes the highly-anticipated Detective Pikachu, which seems like its' set to unseat Endgame. Also opening is the remake of Dirty Little Scoundrels (called The Hustle), comedy film Poms and biographical film Tolkein (life story of the author of Lord of the Rings). I'll have a predictions post up Wednesday along with a review of Dumbo (finally!). Hope all has a great week :).
