By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
The Boss Baby animated an estimated $49.7 million to take the crown from Beauty and the Beast, which grossed $47.5 million. The session’s other incoming national release Ghost in the Shell, wound up with a disappointing $18.8 million. The frame’s onslaught of new exclusives didn’t generate a single potent grosser.
The Zookeeper’s Wife bowed to a solid $3.3 million. Holidays in India saw a flood of new pictures with only Punjabi Raab de Radio displaying any commercial heft. China’s The Devotion of Suspect X admired a $328,000 launch from 43 venues.
Weekend revenue pushed close to $175 million and ebbed back 14% from seven days back. It was 31% improved from 2016, when the second weekend of Batman v Superman led with a $51.3 million tally.
It was another weekend of surprises—good and bad—in light of industry tracking that failed to near actual performance. Pundits identified strong appeal for the animated yarn of a corporate overlord in diapers in The Boss Baby. Nonetheless it was predicted to be second to B&B with an opening in the area of mid-$30 million. That changed abruptly as Friday matinees upped the ante to $40 million-plus. The domestic audience skewed slightly female at 53%. And despite a sophisticated premise, 62% of viewers were 25 and younger with 67% identifying as families.
On the international side, The Boss Baby launched a week earlier in a handful of territories to a sturdy $17.5 million. This weekend it added 29 nations and grossed an estimated $36 million with Mexico bowing with $6.5 million and France ranking third among top grossers with $5.3 million to a vibrant $5.9 million second weekend in Russia.
On the flipside, the live-action adaptation of anime Ghost in the Shell had been tipped to be competitive with box office of $28-$30 million. Studio exit demos reflected an audience that was 61% male with 76% of viewers aged 25 and older. Ghost was received more warmly overseas with a $40 million wave from 50 markets. Its top grossers were Russia at $5.3 million, a $4.2 million box office from South Korea and France adding $3.1 million.
While the hot topic at Cinemacon was earlier day-and-date of theatrical and home release of new movies via VOD, the issue of industry tracking services came under scrutiny as well. The current calendar has seen wildly off-kilter projections of new releases with a tilt toward undervaluing a movie’s appeal. The key tracking agencies have pointed red-faced to an inability to incorporate social media as a factor into their equations. One studio exec confidently asserted “they’ll fix it and get it right… but someone’s going to pay for what’s been happening.”
| Weekend (estimates) March 31 – April 2, 2017 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| The Boss Baby | Fox | 49.7 (13,160) | NEW | 3773 | 49.7 |
| Beauty and the Beast | BV | 47.5 (11,280) | -48% | 4210 | 395.4 |
| Ghost in the Shell | Par | 18.8 (5,470) | NEW | 3440 | 18.8 |
| Power Rangers | Lionsgate | 14.4 (3,910) | -64% | 3693 | 65 |
| Kong: Skull Island | WB | 8.9 (2,830) | -39% | 3141 | 147.9 |
| Logan | Fox | 6.2 (2,680) | -40% | 2323 | 211.9 |
| Get Out | Uni | 5.8 (3,140) | -34% | 1844 | 156.9 |
| Life | Sony | 5.6 (1,780) | -55% | 3146 | 22.3 |
| CHIPs | WB | 3.9 (1,590) | -49% | 2464 | 14.2 |
| The Zookeeper’s Wife | Focus | 3.3 (6,140) | NEW | 541 | 3.3 |
| The Shack | Lionsgate | 2.2 (1,520) | -44% | 1430 | 53.1 |
| The Lego Batman Movie | WB | .77 (950) | -63% | 812 | 172.7 |
| The Belko Experiment | High Top | .53 (1,120) | -72% | 473 | 9 |
| Hidden Figures | Fox | .41 (1,170) | -45% | 352 | 167.8 |
| T2: Trainspotting | Sony | .39 (2,810) | 1% | 140 | 1.2 |
| The Devotion of Subject X | China Lion | .33 (7,630) | NEW | 43 | 0.33 |
| Rogue One | BV | .24 (1,080) | -46% | 224 | 531.7 |
| John Wick: Chapter 2 | Lionsgate | .23 (1,080) | -58% | 210 | 91.2 |
| The Last Word | Bleecker Street | .21 (730) | -61% | 289 | 1.5 |
| Lion | Weinstein Co. | .20 (1,160) | -48% | 175 | 51.1 |
| Naam Shabana | Big Pictures | .16 (1,730) | NEW | 92 | 0.16 |
| Personal Shopper | IFC | 16 (1,070) | -25% | 150 | 0.79 |
| Sing | Uni | .14 (700) | -32% | 202 | 269.9 |
| Kedi | Oscilloscope | .14 (1,480) | -32% | 95 | 2 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $167.60 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | 31% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -14% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Raab de Radio | White Hill | .13 (6,330) | 21 | 0.13 | |
| Guru | Blue Sky | .13 (1,450) | 91 | 0.13 | |
| Kavan | Prime Media | .12 (2,310) | 51 | 0.12 | |
| Wilsom | Fox Searchlight | .11 (360) | -66% | 311 | 0.6 |
| Northern Lights: A Journey to Love | ABS | .10 (1,860) | 56 | 0.1 | |
| A Uniied Kingdom | Fox Searchlight | 85,500 (990) | -54% | 86 | 3.7 |
| I Am Not Your Negro | Magnolia | 83,100 (1,690) | -29% | 49 | 6.8 |
| Frantz | Music Box | 83,600 (2,260) | 75% | 37 | 0.18 |
| The Sense of an Ending | CBS | 82,400 (940) | -70% | 88 | 1.2 |
| Raw | Focus | 69,800 (1,660) | -9% | 42 | 0.3 |
| The Prison | Well Go | 63,900 (2,780) | 23 | 0.06 | |
| Song to Song | Broad Green | 61,300 (650) | -55% | 95 | 0.33 |
| Rajakumara | Jolly Hits | 55,200 (1,020) | 54 | 0.06 | |
| Donnie Darko (reissue) | Arrow | 47,600 (2.270) | 21 | 0.05 | |
| From Here or to Go? | Chai | 36,600 (1,260) | 29 | 0.04 | |
| Cezanne and I | Magnolia | 13,700 (6,850) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Carrie Pilby | Orchard | 13,300 (2,220) | 6 | 0.01 | |
| La Fille de Brest | A-Z Films | 13,200 (1,890) | 7 | 0.01 | |
| The Blackcoat’s Daughter | A24 | 11,900 (460) | 26 | 0.01 | |
| David Lynch: The Art of Life | Janus | 11,200 (11,200) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| The Death of Louis XIV | Cinema Guild | 6,900 (6,900) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Despite the Falling Snow | CARU | 5,100 (510) | 10 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (January 2 – March 30, 2017) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Market Share | |||
| Universal (8) | 615.2 | 21.80% | |||
| Buena Vista (4) | 495.8 | 17.60% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (12) | 428.9 | 15.20% | |||
| Warner Bros. (10) | 379.8 | 13.50% | |||
| Lionsgate (10) | 324.7 | 11.50% | |||
| Paramount (10) | 156.2 | 5.60% | |||
| Sony (7) | 114.3 | 4.10% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (3) | 62.2 | 2.20% | |||
| Open Road (3) | 33.7 | 1.20% | |||
| CBS (2) | 32.4 | 1.20% | |||
| STX (3) | 29 | 1.00% | |||
| A24 (2) | 18.9 | 0.65% | |||
| Roadside Attractions (2) | 17.5 | 0.60% | |||
| Focus (6) | 15.7 | 0.55% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (4) | 14.6 | 0.50% | |||
| Other * (81) | 77.7 | 2.80% | |||
| 2816.6 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.4% | |||||
| Top Limited Releases (January 2 – March 30, 2017) | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Box Office | |||
| Silence * | Par | 6,826,130 | |||
| I Am Not Your Negro | Magnolia | 6,702,377 | |||
| 20th Century Women * | A24/Elevation | 5,443,976 | |||
| Raees | Zee Studios | 3,618,447 | |||
| A United Kingdom | Fox Searchlight | 3,615,965 | |||
| Table 19 | Fox Searchlight | 3,600,071 | |||
| Dangal * | UTV | 3,197,854 | |||
| Ballerina | Seville | 2,851,723 | |||
| 2017 Oscar Nominated Shorts | Magnolia | 2,835,355 | |||
| The Salesman | Cohen/Elevation | 2,320,460 | |||
| Un Padre no Tan Padre | Lionsgate | 2,156,047 | |||
| Paterson * | Bleecker Mongrol | 1,953,679 | |||
| Badrinath Ki Dulhania | Fox Intl | 1,934,699 | |||
| Everybody Loves Somebody | Lionsgate | 1,915,789 | |||
| Kedi | Oscillosope | 1,875,054 | |||
| * does not include 2016 box office | |||||
