By Chris Kavan - 07/01/18 at 10:00 PM CT
It was another fantastic weekend for Hollywood as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and The Incredibles 2 delivered repeat performances at the top of the box office and the openings of both Sicario: Day of the Soldado and Uncle Drew scored solid openings as well. All told, the box office came in ahead of the same weekend in 2017 and has topped $6 billion in domestic sales quicker than ever and is on pace to top the record $11.38 billion from 2016. With Ant-Man and the Wasp coming up, it looks like things will continue strong in July.
1) JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM
Yes, Fallen Kingdom dropped a bit more than Jurassic World (59.5% vs. 49%) and, yes, it hasn't made as much money ($60 million second weekend and $265.78 million total vs. $106.5 million and $402.8 million total) but make no mistake, Fallen Kingdom is still going to be a monster hit. Costing a mere $10 million more than Jurassic World, the $170 million film has already recouped its cost, even with marketing taken into account. At its current pace, Fallen Kingdom is looking at a domestic total of at least $350 million with a good chance of hitting $375 million. But that is just one part of the story, the real action picks up overseas. Fallen Kingdom is going strong with $667.6 million so far, including $237 million from China. Even though it earned less overseas than in North America this weekend ($56.1 million). It is on pace to get very near the $1.2 billion worldwide mark (depending on how its Japanese run - it's final big market - goes). So while Fallen Kingdom isn't going to hit the stratospheric heights of Jurassic World, it will do just fine on its own - and herald a third entry in this new Jurassic franchise.
2)
THE INCREDIBLES 2
Coming in second for the second weekend in a row (after its first-place opening), The Incredibles 2 dipped 43.3% for a $45.5 million weekend as it crossed the $400 million mark with a new $439.7 million total. That makes it the second highest-grossing Pixar film behind just Finding Dory ($486 million) a total it has a very good chance of passing during the July 4th holiday frame. It is also now the third highest-grossing animated film of all time - which it will also top when it dethrones Finding Dory as well. Even if Ant-Man and the Wasp takes away a good chunk of its audience, the animated sequel is still looking at an amazing $540-$550 million total. And, if those numbers hold, will be the fourth Disney film in the just the last four months (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War) to land in the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time - solidifying Disney's dominance of their grip on blockbuster territory. With an opening in just 51% of the international market, it topped the $200 million mark (including $40.8 million from China). With plenty more to go, we'll see how far it can go as it already stands at $656.8 million globally.
3)
SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO
The first of the new releases in the top five, the sequel to Sicario, sub-titled Day of the Soldado, had a very solid debut with $19 million - $7 million ahead of where Sicario wound up in its wide debut. That an ultra-violent, R-rated, drug-running, morally questionable film can compete among the summer tent-poles is a testament to the adult-fueled power of the film industry. The film drew a 59% male audience with 70% coming in over the age of 25 and it was awarded a "B" Cinemascore. Sony is about to dump a slew of these R-rated films on the market (Equalizer 2, Girl in the Spider's Web and Miss Bala all on the docket), so the success of Soldado means the studio is on to something, if not blockbuster territory, at least in solid, money-making territory. As of right now it looks the $35 million-budgeted Soldado is going to hit at least $50 million domestic, and anything international should push it well into the black. It has $8.4 million thus far, not a huge number, but any little bit will help. At this point it looks like it will at least top the $46.88 million the original film brought in, a welcome result of any sequel.
4)
UNCLE DREW
Coming in the fourth position is a film based on a series of Pepsi commercials. Somehow that phrase didn't immediately inspire studios to either bolt in terror or die laughing - but the jokes is on whoever might have passed on Uncle Drew, because the basketball comedy earned a nice, cool $15.5 million. It earned a great "A" Cinemascore from an audience that was 59% male with 58% coming in over the age of 25. Does that mean there is a lot of untapped nostalgia for commercials? While I wish all the best for Uncle Drew, I don't want this to become a trend. The all-star athletic cast included Kyrie Irving, Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson and Lisa Leslie. Lil Rel Howery, Tiffany Haddish, Nick Kroll, Erica Ash and Mike Epps help round out the cast. The opening puts it over the opening for Tag ($14.7 million) and below the opening for Game Night ($17 million). Tag has over $40 million while Game Night wound up with just over $69 million. It reasons that Uncle Drew, provided it doesn't take a huge nosedive, will wind up around the $55 million or so mark. With a budget around the $17 million or so mark, Uncle Drew should also be profitable in the long run.
5)
OCEAN'S 8
Another fantastic hold (the best in the top 12 among films that didn't expand), Ocean's 8 dipped just 30.4%, dropping from third to fifth place, bringing in $8.03 million for a new total of $114.7 million. That means it will soon top the $117 million total for Ocean's 13. It has already doubled its $70 million budget on domestic alone and it continues to perform well overseas with a $95 million total and a $209.5 million global total. It remains to be seen if this is the start of a new Ocean's franchise (I would kind of like to see the boys and girls play together, myself) but even if this is a one-off, it affirms my faith that female-driven films (even reboots) can be successful and entertaining at the same time.
Outside the top five: A lot of good news in the smaller markets. First up, the documentary about Fred Rogers, Won't You Be My Neighbor? continued its expansion, with an additional 306 theaters added to its count and is now playing in 654 total theaters. It jumped 25.7% over last weekend, remaining in the 10th place spot with $2.29 million and a new $7.48 million total. That puts it 33rd among all documentaries and we'll see if it can challenge RBG (another strong documentary currently sitting at $11.52 million) in this genre as it continues to play.
In limited release, Sanju again proved the popularity of Hindi-language films in the U.S. playing in just 356 theaters it landed in the top 10 - 8th place - with a $2.55 million debut - just ahead of Solo: A Star Wars Story (unless is can find a few more dollars in the seat cushions come Monday).
In more limited release, the documentary Three Identical Strangers, an uplifting story about three identical twin brothers who miraculously find each other - only for the feel-good story to descend into nightmare territory - had the best per-theater average after debuting in five theaters with $163,023 and a $32,605. Given the response, I would assume some expansion is on the way. Plus, it does look quite intriguing, even if you know some of the story.
This weekend brings us the next, big Marvel film, Ant-Man and the Wasp along with the horror prequel/sequel The First Purge (opening early on the fourth). We'll see if Disney/Marvel can craft another massive hit.
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