By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
It was the proverbial case of “the bigger they are, the harder they fall” as Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice took a hard hit but nonetheless emerged as the top choice in the marketplace with an estimated $52.3 million. The only new national release was faith-targeted God’s Not Dead 2 that kneeled at fourth with a disappointing $7.7 million.
In limited wide, Purge-spoofing Meet the Blacks connected with its audience with $3.9 million. Exclusive newcomers included an excellent start of $119,000 at four gigs for jazz portrait Miles Ahead and an encouraging $317,000 (19 screens) for the college daze Everybody Wants Some!! Also encouraging were the family crisis Saturday’s Warrior with $118,000 from nine engagements and a single-screen tally of $24,500 for the Tribeca outcast anti-vaccination argument Vaxxed. Indian imports saw good response for Hindi Ki & Ka of $461,000 and a dismal $26,800 for Telugu Savitri. Chongqing Hot Pot from China grossed a spicy $192,000.
The session also featured several major expansions. Hank Williams biopic I Saw the Light added 736 playdates and hit a sour note of $727,000 while the unsparing drone of Eye in the Sky maintained its niche appeal with a $4 million frame.
Weekend revenues generated about $132 million and abated 49% from the immediate prior frame. It was a comparable 42% decline from 2015 when the launch of Furious 7 debuted to $147.2 million or more the entire tally of the current 3-day period.
Spit-ballers were projecting Batman v. Superman’s second weekend fate with declines of about 60% and an eventual domestic gross of more than $350 million. It’s now expected to take a 69% hit in North America and, based upon international projections of $137 million, a considerably more buoyant 40% drop overseas. The current $680 million global gross likely means it will fall short of $1 billion worldwide theatrically but still generate enough dough to justify DC’s ambitious movie plans.
While God’s Not Dead 2 bowed just 17% off the pace of its 2014 inspiration, tracking had estimated the sequel’s opening strength at $10-$12 million. The original went on to $60 million.
| Weekend (estimates) April 1 – 3, 2016 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice | WB | 52.3 (12,290) | -69% | 4256 | 261.4 |
| Zootopia | BV | 19.9 (5,390) | -17% | 3698 | 275.9 |
| My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 | Uni | 11.1 (3,490) | -38% | 3179 | 36.5 |
| God’s Not Dead 2 | Pure Flix | 7.7 (3,200) | NEW | 2320 | 7.7 |
| Miracles from Heaven | Sony | 7.5 (2,380) | -23% | 3155 | 46.8 |
| Allegiant | Lionsgate | 5.7 (1,880) | -40% | 3018 | 56.3 |
| 10 Cloverfield Lane | Par | 4.7 (1,880) | -20% | 2511 | 63.5 |
| Eye in the Sky | Bleecker Street | 4.0 (3,900) | 331% | 1029 | 6.1 |
| Meet the Blacks | FreeStyle | 3.9 (3,870) | NEW | 1014 | 3.9 |
| Deadpool | Fox | 3.5 (1,790) | -28% | 1968 | 355.1 |
| Hello, My Name is Doris | Roadside Attractions | 2.3 (2,400) | 39% | 964 | 6.6 |
| London Has Fallen | Focus/VVS | 1.9 (1,250) | -38% | 1510 | 59.1 |
| I Saw the Light | Sony Classics | .73 (980) | 1499% | 741 | 0.8 |
| Star Wars: The Force Awakens | BV | .71 (1,540) | -13% | 462 | 934.9 |
| Midnight Special | WB | .57 (9,860) | 472% | 58 | 1 |
| Whiskey Tango Foxtrot | Par | .53 (620) | -41% | 847 | 22.3 |
| Kung Fu Panda 3 | Fox | .51 (1,290) | -9% | 396 | 140.3 |
| Ki & Ka | Eros | .46 (3,220) | NEW | 143 | 0.46 |
| The Witch | A24/Elevation | .45 (670) | 176% | 666 | 24.6 |
| Oopiri/Thozha | PVP | .35 (2,300) | -63% | 151 | 1.5 |
| The Perfect Match | Lionsgate | .32 (1,070) | -53% | 301 | 9.4 |
| Everbody Wants Some!! | Par | .32 (16,680) | NEW | 19 | 0.32 |
| The Revenant | Fox | .29 (860) | -36% | 334 | 182.6 |
| Kapoor & Son – Since 1921 | Fox Intl | .27 (2,230) | 55% | 122 | 2.4 |
| Risen | Sony | .23 (540) | -75% | 425 | 36.5 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $127.55 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | -42% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -49% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Chongqing Hot Pot | China Lion | .19 (9,600) | 20 | 0.19 | |
| Spotlight | Open Road/eOne | ,14 (700) | -10% | 202 | 44.6 |
| The Lady in the Van | Sony Classics | .13 (910) | -43% | 142 | 9.5 |
| Miles Ahead | Sony Classics | .12 (29,820) | 4 | 0.12 | |
| Saturday’s Warrior | Purdie | .12 (13,130) | 9 | 0.12 | |
| Born to Be Blue | IFC/eOne | .11 (3,170) | 64% | 35 | 0.3 |
| Embrace of the Serpent | Oscillosope/Raven | 75,700 (1,400) | -31% | 54 | 1.1 |
| Marguerite | Cohen Media | 71,400 (1,550) | 56% | 46 | 0.22 |
| Savitri | Vision | 26,800 (425) | 63 | 0.03 | |
| Vaxxed | Cinema Libre | 24,500 (24,500) | 1 | 0.02 | |
| Francofonia | Music Box | 22,100 (11,050) | 2 | 0.02 | |
| Dong Ju: Portrait of a Poet | Megabox | 15,600 (3,120) | 5 | 0.02 | |
| Truman | A-Z Films | 13,900 (2,780) | 5 | 0.01 | |
| The Dark Horse | Broad Green | 7,900 (3,950) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Standing Tall | Cohen Media | 7,100 (3,550) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Sold | Matson | 5,500 (5,500) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Kill Me, Deadly | Indican | 4,600 (4,600) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| The Girl in the Photographs | Vertical | 4,300 (430) | 10 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (January 1 – March 31, 2016) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Market Share | |||
| 20th Century Fox (10) | 754.4 | 26.90% | |||
| Buena Vista (5) | 579.9 | 20.60% | |||
| Paramount (7) | 297.7 | 10.60% | |||
| Warner Bros. (8) | 282.6 | 10.10% | |||
| Universal (6) | 185.8 | 6.60% | |||
| Lionsgate (10) | 172.3 | 6.10% | |||
| Sony (11) | 152.5 | 5.40% | |||
| Focus (5) | 109.6 | 3.90% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (6) | 51.5 | 1.80% | |||
| Open Road (3) | 40.1 | 1.40% | |||
| STX (2) | 34 | 1.20% | |||
| A24 (4) | 31.5 | 1.10% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (2) | 15.3 | 0.55% | |||
| Other * (115) | 101.8 | 3.65% | |||
| 2809 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.4% | |||||
| Top Global Grossers (January 1 – March 31, 2016) * | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Box Office | |||
| Deadpool | Fox | 748,937,044 | |||
| Star Wars: The Force Awakens * | BV | 738,742,605 | |||
| Zootopia | BV | 726,496,541 | |||
| Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice | WB | 549,490,716 | |||
| The Mermaid | Alibaba; Sony | 541,597,636 | |||
| The Revenant | Fox | 509,912,280 | |||
| Kung Fu Panda 3 | Fox; DreamWorks | 439,370,096 | |||
| The Monkey King 2 | Filmko; China Lion | 190,045,811 | |||
| From Vegas to Macau III | Bona; Media Asia | 186,531,818 | |||
| Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip * | Fox | 162,774,727 | |||
| Daddy’s Home * | Par | 154,198,579 | |||
| Ip Man 3 | Pegasus; Well Go | 146,808,543 | |||
| The Hateful Eight * | Weinstein Co. | 139,923,743 | |||
| Gods of Egypt | Lionsgate | 132,685,593 | |||
| Detective Chin Tang | Huaxia; China Lion | 128,091,800 | |||
| Allegiant | Lionsgate | 125,875,490 | |||
| London Has Fallen | Focus; NuImage | 125,963,877 | |||
| Ride Along 2 | Uni | 121,973,530 | |||
| The Big Short * | Par | 106,767,841 | |||
| The 5th Wave | Sony | 106,484,451 | |||
| * does not include 2015 box office | |||||
