By Chris Kavan - 05/27/19 at 12:29 PM CT
It might not have been A Whole New World for Disney as Aladdin topped the Memorial Day Weekend box office in impressive fashion. While Disney has been missing rather than hitting with their live-action offerings of late, Aladdin, despite some early trepidation from fans, was a big hit and will probably make the studio happy about the future, including The Lion King, Maleficent 2 and Cruella. Not that they need any extra incentive, seeing as Avengers: Endgame become just the second film in history to hit $800 million. Brightburn and Booksmart both opened in line with expectations - nothing huge, but no disappointments either.
1) ALADDIN
Disney has had a rough patch of late with their live-action remakes, but they have no need to worry about Aladdin. With Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott and Will Smith leading the charge, Aladdin hit $86.1 million for the weekend with an expected $105 million by Monday (with some reporting it will top $110 million). That would place it among the top five Memorial Day Weekend openings. That tops the $84 million/$103 million for Solo: A Star Wars Story. Even better, where Solo cost $275 million, Aladdin only carried a $180 million budget and with the film over-performing and audiences leaving happy - the long-term prospects look much better. It earned an "A" Cinemascore - with 54% of the audience female and 54% coming in age 25 or older. Things also look good on the international front where it earned $121 million - opening in every major market save Japan. It earned only a so-so $18.7 million out of China but with $207 million plus expected over the holiday, it's sitting pretty. Taking account the average for a film that opened on Memorial Day Weekend, Aladdin is looking at an average right in the $225 million range. Even if it falls on the low end, it will still have no problem topping $200 million and should also top the $213.7 million of Solo with little effort. In fact, on the higher end of things, $240 million is more likely. It all depends on how it holds against competition - which includes the likes of Godzilla: King of Monsters, Rocketman, Secret Life of Pets 2, Dark Phoenix and Men in Black: International over the next few weeks. Even if it falls harder than expected, Disney still has to be happy with this result, especially with the mixed reactions people has going into opening weekend.
2)
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM
Keanu Reeves latest entry into his badass hitman story hit $100 million - with $24.35 million for the weekend and an expected $30 million including the holiday - pushing its total to $107 million. While it dipped 57%, it is already the highest-grossing film in the franchise (with a fourth film already announced - no surprise there). It also topped $181 million worldwide - also becoming the highest-grossing film in the series. In fact, its current pace is very similar to the path set by both Jason Bourne and Mission:Impossible - Rogue Nation. And, as franchises go, this type of increase between a second and third entry is hard to come by as most franchises tend to decrease over time. That bodes well for any future entries as audiences seem more than happy to support. We'll see if it has enough in the tank to get to $300 million worldwide - but even if it falls short of that mark, Wick has proven himself a very capable box office draw.
3)
AVENGERS: ENDGAME
Speaking of very capable box office draws, Avengers: Endgame hit another huge milestone in its 5th weekend of release. With a $16.84 million weekend and expected $22 million including the holiday, Endgame became just the second film in history to top $800 million domestic with a new $803.7 million. It joins Star Wars: The Force Awakens in this very exclusive club. Its global haul now stands at $2.677 billion - a mere $111 million behind Avatar on that chart. Will it beat that total? It's still going to be a close race, as Endgame is looking at a domestic total in the $850-$860 million range (no, it won't get near to Force Awakens $937 million total) - so it's going to come down to how well it can compete on the international front to see if it can ultimately top Avatar's insane total. It really doesn't matter at this point as Endgame is just a beast that is going to be hard-pressed to find anything that will stack up against it in the future.
4)
POKEMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU
The fun-filled Detective Pikachu took a 47% hit, adding $13.3 million for the weekend and an expected $17.5 million with the holiday included, which would push its total to just above the $120 million mark. It is getting closer and closer to taking the video game adaptation crown outright - Tomb Raider's $131 million is going to fall before long. That is domestic, in terms of worldwide it has $352.9 global - and sits behind only Rampage ($428 million) and Warcraft ($433 million) in that department. It remains to be seen if it can hit that mark - but I put its chances as pretty good at this point, even if it is slowing down. Godzilla might make a pretty good dent in its domestic chances, but $150 million is still likely at this point.
5)
BRIGHTBURN
The other new film that found a place in the top five was the horror superhero origin story Brightburn. Starring Elizabeth Banks, David Denman and Jackson A. Dunn, the twisted take on a familiar story took in $7.53 million for the weekend, expected to rise to $9 million for the holiday time frame. Still, the film carries a light $7 million budget - and it should approach $20 million at least. That's not a home run, but it should be enough to push it into the black, if even bare minimum. I think this looks like a solid streaming option - and it still looks like a brutal take on your common origin trope. So while this may not blow away expectations in theaters, I think it will wind up a better option for home viewing. The film brought in a typical horror film "C+" Cinemascore with 58% coming in male and 64% coming in age 25 or older. It added an additional $4.5 million from international audiences.
Outside the top five: Coming in just behind Brightburn, the comedy Booksmart (a kind of female-driven Superbad) took in $6.5 million with $8 million expected from the holiday. Despite some great buzz and the best reviews out of all the new films, Booksmart just couldn't find a bigger audience. It's too bad as, by all accounts, leads Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein have excellent chemistry and the film pushes that R-rated boundary - another that should have done better.
No other milestones of note so we'll have to wait until next weekend, which brings us Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the Elton John biopic Rocketman and the horror Ma.
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