By Chris Kavan - 03/31/19 at 08:54 PM CT
While Dumbo flew to the top, the flying elephant came in a bit below expectations. But Disney isn't crying too many tears as Captain Marvel stands on the edge of the $1 billion global mark. It was good news for Unplanned, as the film managed to snag a spot in the top five above expectations while the opposite was true for Harmony Korine's Beach Bum, which barely managed to make the top 10. Jordan Peele's Us continued strong in its second week and Hotel Mumbai enjoyed a decent expansion. While this weekend hasn't been as exciting as some in March, things should heat up once again once Shazam! and Pet Semetary join the party.
1) DUMBO
Disney's latest live-action adaptation came in on the lower end of expectation with a $45 million opening. Disney was hoping for at least $50 million while some were predicting upwards of $60 million based on pre-ticket sales. As it stands, Dumbo, while outpacing such titles as Christopher Robin ($24.6 million) and Alice Through the Looking Glass ($26.9 million) it was well under the opening for Cinderella ($67.9 million), saying nothing for the likes of Beauty and the Beast and Jungle Book. A bigger issue is the film's reported $170 million budget - as it is likely to stall out under the $150 million mark on the domestic front. Audiences gave the film an "A-", so at least it played well, which came in 53% female and 54% 25 or older. The film is going to have to hope for some decent international numbers, and it has $71 million thus far - not a bad start. Dumbo just doesn't have the same nostalgia factor for audiences and the story is a bit of downer compared to some of the other films and I just don't think it has as big of appeal. But Disney is going to turn out just fine, even with a few stumbles like this and Nutcracker and the Four Realms. I'm sure they want every film to be a huge hit, but they can take a few punches and survive, but maybe they'll think about some more reasonable budgets for live-action films in the future, especially ones that are based on the older films.
2)
US
Jordan Peele's original horror title dipped 52% in its second weekend, bringing in $33.6 million and raising its total to $128.2 million, topping the $125 million mark in the process. That hold was better than Halloween (58%) and just below It (51%). After expanding in a few more markets, the international total for Us is now at $46.3 million giving it a worldwide total of just under $175 million. Us does face direct competition in the form of Pet Semetary next week, and it will be interesting to see how Peele's originality does in the face of the next big adaptation from the Master of Horror. I can see both co-existing and Us is looking at around a $190 million total. If it can top A Quiet Place ($189 million) it will become the 6th biggest live-action original in the last decade, and the biggest since Gravity ($274 million) back in 2013. It also looks to have no issue passing both the domestic ($174 million) and worldwide ($256 million) of Get Out and I don't think Peele is going to have any trouble getting his next project off the ground.
3)
CAPTAIN MARVEL
Even if Dumbo didn't fly too high, Disney is still soaring with Captain Marvel. Dipping just over 40%, Captain Marvel brought in $20.5 million, giving the film a new $353.8 million domestic total. Crossing that $350 million mark in the process, Captain Marvel is in 8th place on the MCU chart and, if it can hit $400 million (and maybe just a bit more) it has a shot at rising to 5th place. And while it didn't quite make it to $1 billion yet, the $990 million means it will do so in the next few days - becoming the seventh film in the MCU to hit that impressive mark (it will also be the seventh to hit $400 million domestic, should it hit that mark). Like Us, Captain Marvel faces direct competition from DC's Shazam! (which has been getting a lot of praise) so it will also be interesting to see how the female-fronted hero plays against a more comedic coming-of-age story that happens to be set in the superhero genre. I'm looking at another win-win here, as I also think there is plenty of room for Captain Marvel and Shazam! to co-exist though we'll see how much one affects the other.
4)
FIVE FEET APART
The teen romance drama had the best hold among the top 12, dipping a light 26.9% and keeping its fourth-place position with a $6.25 million weekend, giving it a new $35.87 million total. The puts the film ahead of the $34 million total of The Duff, as it looks like it has a shot at hitting the $45 million mark. It also added another $6.2 million overseas for a $14.8 million total, adding up to a $50 million global total. This is really the only movie for romance right now, and targeting younger crowds helps, which is why I think it's doing pretty damn good among the competition. It's not my cup of tea, but variety is always welcome in my eyes.
5)
UNPLANNED
If Dumbo and The Beach Bum both under-performed, things seemed to be balanced out by Pure Flix's Unplanned, which came in ahead of expectations with $6.1 million, cracking the top five in the process. That is the second-best opening for a Pure Flix film behind God's Not Dead 2 ($7.6 million). Of course this includes pre-theater buyouts and previews totaling $1.5 million, but that's par for the course for a faith-based film. I find it not-at-all surprising that the film earned an "A+" from its audience, as I'm sure the hard-core conservatives showed up in force for the anti-abortion film. The audience was 58% female with 70% coming in 25 or older. I don't expect this to continue strong, as many faith-based films are pretty much tapped out over the first week. There are exceptions, but I don't think Unplanned has wide appeal outside its core audience. But with a mere $6 million budget, Unplanned doesn't have to stick around long to become profitable, which is a win for Pure Flix and all those involved. Can't say I'm happy with the results, but I can respect them.
Outside the top five: The Beach Bum was certainly a bummer for Harmony Korine and star Matthew McConaughey, opening with just $1.8 million way down in tenth place. That is a far cry from Korine's Spring Breakers ($14.1 million) and continues McConaughey's questionable trajectory (he hasn't has a big film since Interstellar in 2014). This $5 million picture will probably struggle to hit little over half that mark.
Hotel Mumbai enjoyed a fruitful expansion, jumping form 4 to 924 theater, a nearly 3500% increase, hitting $3.16 million and making a huge leap from 39th to 8th place in the process. The film is a bit grim, so that result is pretty good.
In milestone news, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World topped $150 million with a $4.23 million weekend (7th place) and new $152.9 million total.
Alita: Battle Angel just crossed $400 million worldwide with a $402.5 million total, sadly, probably not enough to warrant a sequel which I think it deserves.
Next week brings us the new superhero in Shazam! a new remake in Pet Semetary and a dramatic biography in Best of Enemies.
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