By Chris Kavan - 05/21/17 at 07:52 PM CT
It may come down to the wire, folks. As it stands now, Aliens: Covenant holds less than a $1 million lead over Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - and actuals on Monday could reverse the two. In non-top spot news, the power of a young, female audiences helped deliver Everything, Everything in to a decent opening while a new cast couldn't rescue Diary of a Wimpy Kid from a disappointing opening. Last week's new movies fell hard while international numbers continue to provide big money for some well-established blockbusters.
1) ALIEN: COVENANT
Ridley Scott returned to his horror roots but it wasn't exactly fireworks. While Prometheus opened with $51 million, Alien: Covenant had to settle for $36 million. That drop off was expected, though it is a bit surprising to note Covenant opened lower than Alien Vs. Predator ($38.2 million) back in 2004. Still, it's not all doom - Covenant also carries a $97 million budget compared to the $130 million that Prometheus had. The other big concerning factor is how front-loaded Covenant happened to be - it earned $4.2 million from Thursday previews and 43% of its entire haul came from Friday. I know I'm a bit disappointed, but, then again, I didn't get a chance to see it yet and I still think it will be worth it. Audiences ran 62% male and 66% over 25. They awarded the film an OK "B" Cinemascore. Having already opened international, Covenant stands at $118 million globally. Given its opening, Covenant is looking at a probably total of around $80 million and should have no problem turning a profit with its international numbers added in. I was hoping for higher, but hopefully Mr. Scott has plenty more on tap for us.
2)
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
Having spent two weeks clearly in charge of the box office, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 had to settle for second - though not by much. With $35.06 million, there is still a chance it could top Covenant when the final numbers come in on Monday. As it stands, Guardians 2 now has a robust $301.8 million total, topping the $300 million mark representing a good 46% drop over last weekend. With another $430.8 million overseas, Guardians 2 is sitting at $732.6 million on the global front - 19% ahead of the first Guardians film and within spitting distance of becoming the first non-Iron Man MCU film to hit $800 million worldwide (which it should over the long Memorial Day weekend). It is still looking to hit $375 million domestic and nearly $900 million worldwide before it ends its run.
3)
EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING
While there are plenty of movies for the boys, Everything, Everything hit up a different audience - and that audience was more than happy to support it. With $12 million, Everything, Everything already topped its $10 million budget. It sought a young, female audience and they are the ones who showed up. With an 82% female and 74% under 25, that was exactly what MGM was hoping for. With an "A-" Cinemascore, it also looks like they enjoyed it. The opening was about in line with the $15 million of If I Say and much better than the recent opening of If I Fall ($4.6 million) and Edge of Seventeen ($4.7 million). Even though the reviews weren't exactly stellar, the film should wind up with around $35 million domestic and anything it gets international will just be icing on the cake.
4)
SNATCHED
The Amy Schumer/Goldie Hawn comedy did have a decent, though not outstanding, opening, but it fell big in its second weekend. With $7.6 million, Snatched took a 61% hit over its opening weekend and stands at a $32.78 million total. The $42 million film is going to be lucky to hit $50 million domestic at this point and it's looking more and more likely that, like so many other films, it will have to rely on a decent overseas performance if it wants to score a win for the studio.
5)
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE LONG HAUL
Sometimes it's okay to change things up, but in the cause of the Wimpy Kid series, this time it was definitely not. An all-new cast didn't seem to impress anyone, not least the target fan base, and Long Haul could only scrape up $7.2 million in its opening. That entire weekend is what the previous Wimpy Kid films make on their opening day. The previous films also went on to post $64, $59 and $49 million totals - Long Haul is going to miss those marks by a mile. With a "B" Cinemascore and pretty scathing reviews, Long Haul is going to have to hope Memorial Day families will turn out an save it a bit, but sub-$25 million is likely in any case and the chances of catching another Wimpy Kid film in the future seems mighty dim.
Outside the top five: The only news here is the continued push of The Fate of the Furious on the global market. With $992.7 million global and $1.213 billion worldwide, the film sits 12th on the all-time global list and 6th on the international list. It should break in the top 10 (and pass Beauty and the Beast in the process) in short order to take the global crown in a week or so.
Next week as the long Memorial Day weekend drops, we will get the buff bods of Baywatch and the undead bods of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
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