The Weekend Report

The Huntsman: Brrrrrr

The Jungle Book continued to hold sway at the box office with a top branch estimate of $61.4 million. The session’s sole wide national release The Huntsman: Winter’s War was a distant second with $20.1 million. There were also a trio of limited wide openers that included the Mexican slacker comedy Compadres at $1.4 million; the offbeat drama A Hologram for the King grossing $1.1 million and the historic Elvis & Nixon trailing with $473,000.

In the niches there was a wide variety of new imports with the Telugu Sarrainodu in the front with $586,000. Less impressive were the Punjabi Vaisakhi List at $78,100 and the Tamil Jacobinte Swargarajyam ekeing out $35,600. The sole exclusive to register any significant box office potential was the mother-daughter dramedy The Meddler with a $58,300 tally from four screens.

There was also a flurry of quickly engineered playdates for Purple Rain to honor Prince’s untimely death. A Warner Bros. spokesman said it numbered roughly 150 engagements (many single projections) with box office reporting expected Monday or Tuesday.

The frame also saw significant expansions for both Miles Ahead and Everybody Wants Some!! Both films failed to sustain early momentum.

Revenues for the weekend were slightly better than $130 million that translated into a 27% erosion from seven days earlier. It was however a 36% improvement from 2015 when the fourth weekend of Furious 7 vroomed to $17.8 million and the top new title was The Age of Adaline with $13.2 million.

There was always a degree of trepidation that the sequel to 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman would be bereft of its heroine. Nonetheless The Huntsman: Winter’s War corralled major talent and a hefty budget and early overseas box office was encouraging. Nonetheless advance tracking was soft with high end expectations of $25 million that didn’t quite happen and have left studio executives somewhat puzzled to pinpoint commercial weaknesses.

Domestically the audience was 61% female with 53% of viewers aged 30-years and younger. The film opened two weeks ago internationally and had pocketed close to $50 million. The current weekend saw the addition of 37 territories including an $11 million box office in China and an estimated $32 million overall frame.

Meanwhile The Jungle Book remains torrid overseas with current weekend business estimated at $96 million and a $337 million cume and Japan and South Korea yet to open.

The Jungle Book swung wide and was the frame’s big winner with a potent debut estimated at $103.3 million. Two additional films made national bows as counter-programmers with Barbershop: The Next Cut sweeping up a tidy $20.2 million in second spot and Criminal opening to a grim $5.8 million.

In the niches there was strong response for a pair of Indian imports. The Hindi Fan grossed $1.4 million while the Tamil Theeri had a robust $608,000 ($1 million since its Wednesday launh). Best of the exclusives freshmen were the Irish musical Street Street with $65,800 from five screens and an unexpectedly strong $85,900 for the thriller Green Street in three engagements.

Both Miles Ahead and Everybody Wants Some!! continued slow roll outs to good effect.

The session generated revenues of about $180 million for a resilient 72% bounce from the immediate prior weekend. It was a 49% improvement from 2015 when the third weekend of Furious 7 be.

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