The Weekend Report

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 remained dominant in the marketplace with an estimated second weekend of $63.3 million. In the distance were the session’s two incoming national releases. Mother’s Day comedy adventure Snatched bowed to $17.4 million while King Arthur: Legend of the Sword put the morte in the fabled monarch with a $14.8 million debut.

The limited wide release of Iraqi War-set The Wall received a stony response of $933,000. Considerably more appealing was Lowriders, which grossed $2.4 million from a slim initial exposure on 295 screens.

In international day-and-date releases, holidays in India brought a wave of new product, but the only film that connected with audiences was Punjabi Lahoriye, which grossed $353,000 from 56 engagements. In Canada, the sequel to that nation’s top-grossing local film Bon Cop Bad Cop 2 arrived with a sturdy $1.3 million despite an 11-year gestation.

The exclusive freshmen class saw encouraging starts for biopic Stefan Zweig and Cate Blanchett’s one-woman show Manifesto. The biggest noise came from Paris Can Wait, the quiet rom-com road trip fiction debut of octogenarian Eleanor Coppola that grossed $97,800 from four boites.

Revenues for the frame topped $130 million, a 34% slide from last weekend. It was a marginal 1% improvement from 2016 (not Mother’s Day) when the second weekend of Captain America: Civil Wars led with $72.6 million with top newcomer Money Monster slotting third with $14.8 million.

Neither of the frame’s newcomers was expected to flex significant commercial muscle but even so slid below expectations. The big casualty was the hyped revision of the Arthurian saga that was anticipated to open in the 20s but was hammered down, earning negative reviews as well as a wave of negativity on social media.

On the domestic front Legend of the Sword had an audience that was 59% male with 77% aged 25 and older. It had more upbeat response overseas with a 51-territory launch that grossed an estimated $30 million. Curiously, the UK was not among the opening markets. Top-grossing countries were China with $6 million, and Russia with $5.2 million.

Snatched wasn’t supposed to out-gross King Arthur with tracking suggesting an opening in the range of $18-$20 million. But the chemistry between Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn (absent from the screen since 2002) as mother-daughter and genuine yucks proved stronger than Excalibur. It not unsurprisingly tilted female with 77% of viewers and had 72% of ticket buyers 25  and older. The 18-to-34 corridor accounted for 51% of the weekend crowd. The film also had a small international exposure of nine territories with an additional box office of a little bit more than $3 million.

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