Aladdin worked its magic on the box office this weekend, bringing in an estimated $86.1 million over the three-day period and a studio-projected $105 million over the four-day nearly 27 years after the release of its animated inspiration. Meanwhile, counter-programmers Booksmart and Brightburn debuted to okay results while Avengers: Endgame became only the second film ever to cross $800 million in North America.
Debuting in a super-wide 4,476 locations, Aladdin rose above some early negative buzz (centered around Will Smith’s CG-generated genie) and mixed reviews to become the fourth-highest opening ever for a Disney live-action reimagining, behind only Beauty and the Beast ($174.7 million), Alice in Wonderland ($116.1 million) and The Jungle Book ($103.2 million). That’s a much better opening than this year’s Dumbo, which debuted to a disappointing $45.9 million on its way to $112.9 million in North America and roughly $350 million globally to date. It’s reasonable to assume the flying elephant simply wasn’t as big a draw for younger generations given its more dated source material.
Aladdin represents the second-highest three-day opening for Smith after 2016’s Suicide Squad ($133.6 million), having surpassed the $77.2 million debut of I Am Legend in 2007 (when ticket prices were, in fairness, considerably lower). It’s also the highest-ever opening for director Guy Ritchie, whose previous best was Sherlock Holmes, which debuted to $62.3 million in 2009.
Second place went to last weekend’s champ John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, which dropped 57% in its sophomore frame to an estimated $24.3 million over the three-day weekend, while the studio is projecting $30.5 million over the four-day period. That’s a larger dip than for either of the franchise’s previous installments, which eased 44.5% (John Wick) and 46.7% (John Wick: Chapter Two) in their respective second weekends. Nonetheless, Parabellum was inevitably more front-loaded than its predecessors given its $56.8 million opening last weekend–nearly double what John Wick 2 grossed in its debut–and its projected $107.1 million gross through Monday is already more than either of the previous entries managed in their entire runs.
Third place went to the fifth weekend of Avengers: Endgame, which brought in an estimated $16.8 million over the three-day period and a studio-projected $21.9 million for the four-day. The total for the Disney/Marvel epic will cross $800 million on Monday, which, as mentioned previously, will make it just the second time a title has ever so in North America after 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936.6 million total).
POKÉMON Detective Pikachu fell to fourth place in its third weekend of release, bringing in an estimated $13.3 million three-day and a Box Office-projected $17.1 million four-day. The Warner Bros. title is looking at a $119.9 million total through Monday, while it’s made roughly twice as much overseas.
Debuting in fifth place was Brightburn, the superhero-horror film/Superman inversion starring Elizabeth Banks as the mother of an extraterrestrial young boy who uses his extraordinary powers for evil. With an estimated three-day gross of $7.5 million (and a studio-projected $9 million four-day total), the Sony/Screen Gems release also debuted modestly, though luckily its reported budget was just $6 million. While reviews for the James Gunn-produced film were mixed (its Rotten Tomatoes score is 58%), it benefitted from being the first wide-release horror film to hit theaters since The Curse of La Llorona opened back in April.
Close on Brightburn’s heels in sixth place was the R-rated comedy Booksmart, which grossed an estimated $6.5 million three-day and a Box Office-projected $7.9 million four-day, which can be counted as a modest start for the United Artists release. The film has certainly been getting its share of press over the past couple of weeks thanks in part to actress Olivia Wilde, who made her directorial debut with the project and has been a consistent presence on talk shows in the lead-up to release. It grabbed additional headlines following its debut at this year’s SXSW festival, where it generated a significant amount of buzz.
Booksmart’s excellent Rotten Tomatoes score (97%) certainly helped drum up more interest this weekend, and audiences seem to generally be enjoying the film if you take into account its “B+” Cinemascore and 83% Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score. Compared to other recent teen comedies, this one opened better than 2016’s R-rated The Edge of Seventeen ($4.5 million) but below 2015’s The DUFF ($10.8 million), though of course the latter benefitted from a PG-13 rating.
Falling to seventh place in its second weekend was the Universal family sequel A Dog’s Journey, which dropped around 50% to an estimated $4 million three-day, while the studio is projecting a $5.4 million four-day total. That’s a larger second-weekend drop than either A Dog’s Purpose (42.3%) or A Dog’s Way Home (36.1%), and with a projected $16.2 million through Monday, this one should finish well short of those films’ respective totals.
Rounding out the Top 10, the third weekend of United Artists’ The Hustle brought in an estimated $3.8 million three-day (and a Box Office-projected $4.8 million four-day) for a total of $30.8 million through Monday, Sony/Screen Gems’ The Intruder nabbed an estimated $2.2 million over the three-day period (and a studio-projected $2.8 million four-day) for $32.5 million through Monday, and finally, Lionsgate’s Long Shot grossed an estimated $1.5 million over the three-day and a studio-projected $1.9 million over the four-day period in its fourth weekend. That would bring the Charlize Theron-Seth Rogen comedy to $29.1 million through the Memorial Day holiday.
Overseas Update:
Aladdin debuted to an estimated $121 million overseas, bringing its global opening weekend tally to $207.1 million through Sunday. That includes $18.7 million in China, $9.2 million in Mexico and $8.4 million in the U.K. That represents all international markets save Japan, where the film is slated to open on June 7.
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum grossed an estimated $24.8 million overseas this weekend, bringing its international total to $74.4 million and its global cume to $181.5 million.
POKÉMON Detective Pikachu took in an estimated $24.3 million internationally, bringing its overseas total to $236.8 million (including $84.4 million in China) and its worldwide tally to $352.9 million.
Avengers: Endgame brought in an estimated $15.3 million internationally, bringing its overseas total to $1.8793 billion and its global cume to a massive $2.6775 billion. Notably, Endgame is still more than $100 million short of Avatar‘s worldwide total of $2.7879 billion from a decade ago.
The post Studio Weekend Estimates: <em>Aladdin</em> Soars to $86.1M 3-Day/$105M 4-Day; <em>John Wick 3</em> Nabs $24.3M/$30.5M; <em>Avengers: Endgame</em> Crosses $800M Domestic appeared first on Boxoffice.
from Boxoffice
