By Chris Kavan - 07/14/19 at 07:48 PM CT
Spider-Man: Far from Home had no problem repeating as champ over its second weekend at the box office. Both new entries found a place in the top five, with Crawl having a better time than Stuber at attracting audiences. There was also reason to celebrate outside the top five as The Farewell opened to the best per-theater average of the year - something good as the indie market has struggled to produce a certified hit, until now anyways. While it is still too early to tell how 2019 will stack against 2018, with The Lion King and Hobbes & Shaw both on the docket, I still think the year will end up better overall - not to mention some huge films coming out later in the year.
1) SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME
After its record-setting opening, Spider-Man: Far from Home continued to play strong, dipping just over 51% to bring in $45.3 million, giving the film a new $274.5 million total. That hold is a bit lower than Spider-Man 2 (48%) and The Amazing Spider-Man (44%) but well above the likes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (62%), Dark of the Moon (52%) and The Last Knight (61%). Even if The Lion King takes away a good chunk of its audience, Far from Home should be at or very near $300 million by next weekend. Plus, it's $100 million international total means Far from Home is the highest-grossing Spider-Man film overseas, with $572.5 million - topping Spider-Man 3 ($555 million). Nearly $200 million of that total comes from China alone. At $847 million, it will soon pass Spider-Man: Homecoming ($881 million) and Spider-Man 3 ($890 million) to become the biggest Spider-Man film worldwide. There are still rumblings the film has to hit $1 billion for Disney to retain the rights to the character or he will revert back to Sony. I have a feeling that with the current results, Far from Home will hit that mark and the MCU will be better for it.
2)
TOY STORY 4
Disney can claim the second place spot as well. Toy Story 4 dropped 39% and added $20.66 million to its total, which now stands at $346.3 million - and should hit $350 million within a day or so. That means the film is officially the fifth-highest Pixar film of all time, passing the $339 million of Finding Nemo and should have no problem passing Inside Out ($356.4 million) before long. It may have enough gas to get to $400 million, but even if it falls short of that milestone mark, this animated sequel has already proven its worth. With $771.1 million worldwide (including its record $15.3 million opening in Japan), it's not going to have any problem being profitable. It won't catch up to Toy Story 3 ($415 million) on the domestic front, but I don't think Disney is going to be wringing their hands over these results.
3)
CRAWL
The first of the new entries gracing the top five, the alligator/hurricane horror survival tale Crawl hit third place with a $12 million opening. That result is just above the $11.2 million of 47 Meters Down but below the $17 million opening of The Shallows. 47 Meters Down wound up earning $44 million in the end and Crawl looks to follow a similar path - the film received a "B" Cinemascore - decent for a horror film, with a crowd that was 51% male and 64% aged 25 or older. Led by Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper, Crawl seems to deliver on its premise, delivering exactly the kind of action/horror that summer has delivered in the past. It will be interesting to see how the 47 Meters Down sequel opens compared to this one when it hits in August. As it stands, Crawl should have no problem earning a fair bit of change, it also added $4.8 million international thus far.
4)
STUBER
Coming in fourth place, and Disney's third film in the top five, the action/comedy team-up of Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani landed with $8 million. While that result was within expectations, it was still one the low end and I'm guessing the rather tepid critic response (46% on Rotten Tomatoes) may have made audiences a bit more skeptical. Still, the film earned a "B" Cinemascore itself - so audiences were a bit happier with the outcome, with 56% of that audience made up of males and 61% coming in 25 or older. It seems the buddy-cop option has ran its course after exploding in the 90s and surviving early in the 2000s before fading out. I still think this movie looks like a lot of fun and even if it isn't long for theaters, I will make a point to watch it somewhere down the line.
5)
YESTERDAY
Rounding out the top five, Danny Boyle's "what if The Beatles never existed but someone still remembered their songs" Yesterday dipped a light 33%, adding $6.75 million for a new $48.3 million total. The film looks to be on the right track to double its $26 million budget by next weekend. Its global tally sits at $80.5 million as well, and the feel-good film of the summer (both me and my parents loved it) should near that $100 million mark. If it can hit $60 million, it will pass Love, Actually ($59 million) on the romantic charts and I think it has a very good shot at that. While some may find it sappy, it's a great pick-me-up and a joy for fans of The Beatles.
Outside the top five: The struggling indie market finally has a big hit for the year as The Farewell posted $351,330 from just four theaters, for the year's best $87,833 per-theater average. To show how much indies are struggling, the next best per-theater average isn't an indie at all, but rather the $76,601 per-theater for Avengers: Endgame. In any case, The Farewell, about a family gathering to celebrate an aging matriarch who doesn't know she has just a short time to live - has an all-star Asian cast, including Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Shuzhen Zhao, Aoi Mizuhara and Jim Liu and, like Crazy, Rich, Asians shows there is a lot of room for diversity. The film expands next week before going wide August 2nd.
In milestone news, Avengers: Endgame hit $850 million after a $1.6 million weekend (12th place) and a new $851.2 million total. The film is still $7.2 million shy of Avatar's global record - and looks like it will fall just short after all is counted.
Men in Black: International also hit $75 million after a $2.2 million weekend (10th place) and a new $76.4 million total. That is likely to be the last milestone it hits, and a rather disappointing result for the reboot.
While it didn't hit a box office milestone, Aladdin officially became Will Smith's highest-grossing domestic film with $331.4 million - topping the $325 million of Suicide Squad. Even adjusted for inflation, its fourth on the list all time and should top Suicide Squad ($344 million adjusted) in due time.
Next week The Lion King is the only wide release to drop, but it will be enough. Even though critics have been a bit harsh on this live-action-looking remake, I suspect the film is going to break big, and send Spider-Man back down to Earth.
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