By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Transformers: The Last Knight led weekend moviegoing in its debut with an estimated $45.3 million. The alleged franchise “finale” was anticipated to be a commercial powerhouse with competition steering clear of its path … including counterprogrammers.
Two exclusive newcomers arrived with a pow. The remake of southern gothic The Beguiled opened with $240,000 from four screens, and modern romance The Big Sick grossed a whopping $430,000 at five clubs. Bearing mixed reviews, indie head trip The Bad Batch was soft, with $92,100 from 30 playdates.
Among international day-and-dates, Indian newcomers had potent bows. Telugu DJ Duvvada Jagannadham opened to $1 million while Hindi Tubelight grossed $813,000. The films had comparable rankings in India where the latter was expected to lead largely on the box office power of star Salman Khan. Filipino romcom Can We Still Be Friends had a disappointing flirtation with $69,700.
Revenues for the pre-holiday frame topped $145 million and ebbed back 25% from last weekend. It was a comparable 24% decline from 2016 when the second weekend of Finding Dory easily trumped newcomer Independence Day: Resurrection with a $72.9 million box office to the freshman’s $41 million.
The fifth Transformers under the aegis of Michael Bay was expected to be a box office powerhouse, and The Last Knight was expected to open in the orbit $80 million. Its Wednesday $15 million opening reduced expectations below $70 million. And, naturally, the emphasis shifted to overseas performance.
Optimus Prime time debuted day-and-date in 41 overseas markets to an estimated $196 million including $123 million from China. Other top grossing markets included South Korea with $13 million, Russia grossing $9 million and $5.7 million in the U.K.
Studio exit demos identified the audience as 57% male with 51% aged 25 and older. Bucking a general trend, the film’s core crowd is getting younger and that could have a strong influence on endeavors under new stewardship.
| Weekend (estimates) June 23 – 25, 2017 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Transformers: The Last Knight | Par | 45.3 (11,120) | NEW | 4069 | 69.1 |
| Wonder Woman | WB | 25.2 (6,410) | -39% | 3933 | 318.4 |
| Cars 3 | BV | 25.1 (5,900) | -53% | 4256 | 99.8 |
| 47 Meters Down | Entertainment/VVS | 7.3 (2,960) | -35% | 2471 | 24.1 |
| All Eyez on Me | Lionsgate/VVS | 5.9 (2,380) | -78% | 2471 | 38.7 |
| The Mummy | Uni | 5.8 (1,950) | -60% | 2980 | 68.5 |
| Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead | BV | 5.1 (2,090) | -43% | 2453 | 159.9 |
| Rough Night | Sony | 4.5 (1,430) | -43% | 3162 | 16.5 |
| Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie | Fox | 4.3 (1,840) | -40% | 2328 | 65.7 |
| Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 | BV | 3.0 (2,050) | -41% | 1468 | 380.2 |
| Beatriz at Dinner | Roadside Attractions | 1.8 (3,600) | 152% | 491 | 3 |
| Megan Leavey | Bleecker/Elevation | 1.2 (1,260) | -51% | 971 | 10.5 |
| DJ Duvvada Jagannadham | Blue Sky | 1.0 (5,740) | NEW | 181 | 1 |
| The Book of Henry | Focus | .93 (1,440) | -35% | 646 | 3.1 |
| It Comes at Night | A24/Mongrel | .85 (1,040) | -67% | 819 | 13.1 |
| Tubelight | Yash Raj | .81 (2,380) | NEW | 342 | 0.81 |
| Baywatch | Par | .72 (1,490) | -55% | 480 | 56.6 |
| Paris Can Wait | Sony Classics | .59 (1,450) | -17% | 408 | 4.2 |
| The Big Sick | Lionsgate | .43 (86,730) | NEW | 5 | 0.43 |
| The Boss Baby | Fox | .33 (1,360) | 1% | 241 | 173.1 |
| The Hero | Orchard | .30 (3,730) | 118% | 80 | 0.55 |
| Alien: Covenant | Fox | .32 (1,100) | -43% | 294 | 73.3 |
| The Beguiled | Focus | .24 (59,800) | NEW | 4 | 0.24 |
| My Cousin Rachel | Fox Searchlight | .19 (1,180) | -64% | 163 | 2.4 |
| Bon Cop Bad Cop 2 | Seville | .17 (3,640) | 12% | 47 | 4.5 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | 139.4 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | -24% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -25% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| The Exception | A24 | .13 (2,790) | 207% | 48 | 0.25 |
| The Bad Batch | Neon | 92,100 (3,070) | 30 | 0.09 | |
| Maudie | Mongrel/Sony Classics | 91,400 (3.150) | 38% | 29 | 2.4 |
| Can We Still Be Friends? | ABS | 69,700 (1,450) | 48 | 0.07 | |
| Un Sac de billes | Seville | 56,700 (3,540) | -19% | 16 | 0.18 |
| Churchill | Cohen/Mongrel | 71,500 (1,300) | -16% | 55 | 1.1 |
| Journey Through French Cinema | Cohen Media | 10,700 (3,570) | 3 | 0.01 | |
| The Ornithologist | Strand | 6,100 (3,050) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Vanamagan | ATMUS | 4,400 (380) | 12 | 0.01 | |
| L’Embarrass du choix | A-Z Films | 4,100 (680) | 6 | 0.01 | |
| Food Evolution | Abramorama | 3,500 (3,500) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography | Mongrel | 3,300 (1,650) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (January 2 – June 22, 2017) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Market Share | |||
| Buena Vista (8) | 1273 | 23.90% | |||
| Universal (10) | 930.4 | 17.50% | |||
| Warner Bros. (15) | 843.1 | 15.90% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (16) | 823.1 | 15.50% | |||
| Lionsgate (13) | 434.2 | 8.20% | |||
| Paramount (12) | 275.1 | 5.20% | |||
| Sony (9) | 186.1 | 3.50% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (4) | 63.1 | 1.20% | |||
| STX (5) | 50.6 | 0.95% | |||
| Focus (9) | 46.1 | 0.90% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (6) | 41.8 | 0.80% | |||
| Open Road (5) | 41.4 | 0.80% | |||
| A24 (6) | 34.5 | 0.65% | |||
| CBS (3) | 32.9 | 0.60% | |||
| Other * (180) | 238.8 | 4.50% | |||
| 5314.2 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.45% | |||||
| Top Limiited Releases (January 2 – June 22, 2017) | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Box Office | |||
| Baahubali 2: The Conclusion | Great India | 21,086,279 | |||
| The Lost City of Z | Bleecker/Elevation | 8,470,698 | |||
| I Am Not Your Negro | Magnolia/Mongrel | 7,123,919 | |||
| Silence * | Par | 6,826,130 | |||
| Lowriders | High Top | 6,179,955 | |||
| 20th Century Women * | A24/Elevation | 5,486,188 | |||
| Your Name | FunImation | 4,975,470 | |||
| Bon Cop Bad Cop 2 | Seville | 4,301,213 | |||
| Sleight | High Top | 3,930,990 | |||
| A United Kingdom | Fox Searchlight | 3,902,185 | |||
| Norman: Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer | Sony Classics | 3,750,919 | |||
| Raees | Zee Studios | 3,618,447 | |||
| Table 19 | Fox Searchlight | 3,614,896 | |||
| Their Finest | STX/Elevation | 3,603,484 | |||
| Paris Can Wait | Sony Classics | 3,580,347 | |||
| Dangal * | UTV | 3,197,854 | |||
| Colossal | Neon/Mongrel | 3,022,995 | |||
| Ballerina | Seville | 2,994,549 | |||
| 2017 Oscar Nominated Shorts | Magnolia | 2,835,355 | |||
| Kedi | Oscillosope | 2,735,234 | |||
| * does not include 2016 box office | |||||
