By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Not truly turb0charged, but way out in front, The Fate of the Furious cruised to an estimated $38.6 million to lead in its second weekend. A clutch of new releases proved disappointing overall, though Disney’s annual wildlife doc Born in China (opening on Earth Day) was comparatively okay with a $5 million debut.
The rest of the national debuts were below par with distaff revenge thriller Unforgettable bowing with $4.7 million, and the Armenian genocide romantic drama The Promise struggling to $4.1 million. Also grim was the Blair Witch-like Phoenix Forgotten at $1.8 million.
In limited wide release, neither violent romp Free Fire nor stoner comedy Grow House found footing, with respective openings of $1 million and $294,000. There was good response for Filipino romcom Can’t Help Falling in Love at $343,000, but a pancake return of $51,500 for Indian import Noor. In Quebec, French comedy hit Raid dingue failed to translate with a box office of $65,700.
Among exclusive newcomers, only the documentary Citizen Jane: Battle for the City registered a pulse with a $38,400 tally from two planned communities.
Revenues for the frame approached $110 million and dipped a sizeable 37% from the prior weekend. It was a more modest 16% decline from 2016 when the second weekend of The Jungle Book led with $61.5 million. In the bridesmaid slot The Huntsman: Winter’s War debuted to $19.4 million.
While none of the new titles were anticipated to make potent bows, overall results were unusually tepid. Tracking favored Unforgettable with projections in the $7-$8 million range. The official studio response was “very disappointing.” Its exit demos identified the limited crowd as 61% female with 77% aged 25 and older.
The top newcomer was Born in China , which bowed in China last year and finished its run with $9.5 million. Focusing on pandas in the wild, the studio’s annual Earth Day release recalls Disney’s venerable Wildlife Adventures and proved to be one of the series most potent openings.
Much was anticipated for The Promise considering its subject matter and the filmmaker’s earlier success with Hotel Rwanda. Early previews and downbeat critical response damped expectations. Exit demos were unavailable at deadline.
Weekend (estimates) April 21 – 23, 2017 | |||||
Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
The Fate of the Furious | Uni | 38.6 (9,110) | -61% | 4329 | 163.5 |
The Boss Baby | Fox | 12.6 (3,410) | -21% | 3697 | 136.9 |
Beauty and the Beast | BV | 9.8 (2,960) | -28% | 3315 | 470.9 |
Going in Style | WB | 5.0 (1,640) | -21% | 3038 | 31.7 |
Born in China | BV | 5.0 (3,300) | NEW | 1508 | 5 |
Smurfs: The Lost Village | Sony | 4.8 (1,750) | -29% | 2737 | 33.3 |
Unforgettable | WB | 4.7 (1,950) | NEW | 2417 | 4.7 |
Gifted | Fox Searchlight | 4.6 (2,300) | 48% | 1986 | 10.8 |
The Promise | Open Road/eOne | 4.1 (1,810) | NEW | 2251 | 4.1 |
The Lost City of Z | Bleecker Street | 2.1 (3,470) | 1838% | 614 | 2.3 |
Phoenix Forgotten | Cinelou/D Films | 1.8 (1,110) | NEW | 1633 | 1.8 |
Get Out | Uni | 1.7 (1,740) | -44% | 965 | 170.3 |
The Case for Christ | Pure Flix/Mongrel | 1.6 (1,270) | -43% | 1247 | 11.4 |
Kong: Skull Island | WB | 1.5 (1,280) | -43% | 1203 | 164 |
The Zookeeper’s Wife | Focus/Elevation | 1.4 (1,390) | -29% | 1033 | 13.2 |
Power Rangers | Lionsgate | 1.4 (1,060) | -51% | 1292 | 83.1 |
Free Fire | A24/Elevation | 1.0 (950) | NEW | 1070 | 1 |
Logan | Fox | 1.0 (1,300) | -49% | 754 | 223.4 |
Ghost in the Shell | Par | .88 (960) | -64% | 913 | 39.1 |
Colossal | Neon | .57 (2,710) | 24% | 211 | 1.3 |
Their Finest | STX | .55 (3,130) | 59% | 176 | 1.1 |
Life | Sony | .47 (640) | -25% | 730 | 29.3 |
Can’t Help Falling in Love | ABS | .34 (4,900) | NEW | 70 | 0.34 |
Your Name | FunImation | .33 (1,970) | -55% | 169 | 4.1 |
Grow House | Rocky Mountain | .29 (470) | NEW | 624 | 0.29 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $104.70 | 104.7 | |||
% Change (Last Year) | -16% | ||||
% Change (Last Week) | -37% | ||||
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
Manje Bistre | White Hill | .27 (4,530) | -59% | 59 | 1.2 |
Maudie | Mongrel | .18 (6,500) | 258% | 28 | 0.28 |
Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall … | Sony Classics | .13 (7,430) | 35% | 18 | 0.27 |
A Quiet Passion | Music Box/Mogrel | 77,400 (5,530) | 69% | 14 | 0.16 |
Tommy’s Honor | Roadside Attractions | 73,400 (820) | -65% | 89 | 0.41 |
Raid dingue | Kino/A-Z Films | 65,700 (1,830) | 36 | 0.07 | |
Frantz | Music Box/Mongrel | 73,300 (1,090) | -46% | 67 | 0.8 |
Noor | B4U | 51,500 (730) | 71 | 0.05 | |
Citizen Jane: Battle for the City | IFC | 38,400 (19,200) | 2 | 0.04 | |
Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki | MUBI | 14,600 (2,430) | 6 | 0.01 | |
Slack Bay | Kino | 6,900 (3,450) | 2 | 0.01 | |
Let It Fall | ABC | 2,400 (1,200) | 2 | 0.01 | |
Domestic Market Share (January 2 – April 20, 2017) | |||||
Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Market Share | |||
Universal (9) | 759.5 | 22.10% | |||
Buena Vista (4) | 609.9 | 17.70% | |||
20th Century Fox (12) | 569.9 | 16.60% | |||
Warner Bros. (11) | 440.1 | 12.80% | |||
Lionsgate (10) | 362.9 | 10.60% | |||
Paramount (10) | 192.9 | 5.60% | |||
Sony (8) | 156.4 | 4.60% | |||
Weinstein Co. (3) | 62.9 | 1.80% | |||
Open Road (4) | 34.1 | 1.00% | |||
CBS (2) | 32.6 | 0.95% | |||
STX (4) | 29.6 | 0.85% | |||
Focus (7) | 27.8 | 0.80% | |||
Fox Searchlight (5) | 21.2 | 0.60% | |||
A24 (2) | 19.1 | 0.50% | |||
Roadside Attractions (3) | 17.8 | 0.55% | |||
Other * (105) | 102.6 | 3.00% | |||
3439.3 | 100% | ||||
* none greater than 0.35% | |||||
Top Domestic Titles (January 2 – April 20, 2017) | |||||
Title | Distributor | Box Office | |||
Beauty and the Beast | BV | 461,124,384 | |||
Logan | Fox | 222,428,262 | |||
The Lego Batman Movie | WB | 173,972,739 | |||
Get Out | Uni | 168,638,145 | |||
Hidden Figures * | Fox | 166,322,889 | |||
Kong: Skull Island | WB | 162,423,946 | |||
Split | Uni | 137,853,380 | |||
The Fate of the Furious | Uni | 124,896,220 | |||
The Boss Baby | Fox | 124,241,870 | |||
La La Land * | Lionsgate | 116,690,917 | |||
Fifty Shades Darker | Uni | 114,534,596 | |||
Rogue One * | BV | 107,594,089 | |||
Sing * | Uni | 103,754,500 | |||
John Wick: Chapter 2 | Lionsgate | 91,846,388 | |||
Power Rangers | Lionsgate | 81,687,052 | |||
A Dog’s Purpose | Uni | 64,059,050 | |||
The Shack | Lionsgate | 56,430,689 | |||
Lion * | Weinstein Co. | 45,466,197 | |||
The Great Wall | Uni | 45,254,751 | |||
xXx: Return of Xander Cage | Par | 45,092,492 | |||
* does not include 2016 box office |