By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Aimless: Nul Points
Despite a sharp sophomore drop Solo: A Star Wars Story held the lead in weekend movie going with an estimated $29.5 million. A trio of new national releases failed to create more than a ripple with Adrift at least providing a respectable start with $11.5 million in third position. The paranoid thriller Upgrade actually exceeded expectations with a $4.4 million start while the stunt hijinx of Action Point pancaked with a grim $2.3 million debut.
In the niches several Indian imports generated potent openings including the Hindi Veere di Wedding that bowed to $1.28 million from 121 venues and the Punjabi franchise Carry on Jatta 2 grossing $443,000 on 60 screens. The Dominican comedy Sanky Panky 3 also had reason to smile with a $169,000 box office. Exclusive debuts were dominated by the true life crime saga American Animals with a $133,000 tally from four sites.
Revenues for the session generated about $108 million and dipped 43% from the three-day portion of the Memorial weekend holiday. It was a scintilla deeper at 44% from 2017 when debuts of Wonder Woman and Captain Underpants opened respectively to $103.2 million and $23.8 million.
Despite largely positive reviews Adrift arrived on the low end of pundit predictions with some tracking pegging it at $14 million on the high end. The fact-based yarn of a couple that sailed into Hurricane Raymond back in 1983 and “survived crippling odds” had a familiar quality. On the one hand strong word-of-mouth was an asset and on the down side its appeal was largely muted by the feeling one had seen this story before … several times.
Upgrade also got the critical thumbs up but lacked the marketing support that might have elevated it to breakout success. Tracking suggested a debut in the range of $2.6 million to $2.8 million and though it significantly over-performed, the film failed to reach a level that would secure screens as the likes of Ocean’s 8 and Incredibles and Mission: Impossible sequels arrive at the multiplex.
Lastly it was a total blowout for the Jackass flavored Action Point that did the limbo of albeit low predictions in the area of $6 million or $7 million. Exit demos revealed that the film reached its target audience with an audience that was 67% male and 50% aged 25-years and older. However, that section of the audience majorly opted for other forms of entertainment to quench their weekend appetite.
Weekend (estimates) June 1 – 3, 2018 | |||||
Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
Solo: A Star Wars Story | BV | 29.5 (6,730) | -65% | 4381 | 149.1 |
Deadpool 2 | Fox | 23.5 (5,640) | -46% | 4161 | 254.8 |
Adrift | STX/VVS | 11.5 (3,810) | NEW | 3015 | 11.5 |
Avengers: Infinity War | BV | 10.4 (2,920) | -40% | 3570 | 642.9 |
Book Club | Par | 6.7 (2,120) | -33% | 3169 | 47.2 |
Upgrade | Focus | 4.4 (3,040) | NEW | 1457 | 4.4 |
Life of the Party | WB | 3.4 (1,370) | -36% | 2511 | 46.3 |
Breaking In | Uni | 2.8 (1,660) | -35% | 1682 | 41.3 |
Action Point | Par | 2.3 (1,120) | NEW | 2032 | 2.3 |
Overboard | Lionsgate | 2.0 (1,620) | -37% | 1228 | 45.5 |
A Quiet Place | Par | 1.7 (1,500) | -29% | 1156 | 183.5 |
Show Dogs | Global Road/eOne | 1.5 (650) | -54% | 2327 | 14.6 |
Veere di Wedding | Zee Studios | 1.3 (10,580) | NEW | 121 | 1.3 |
RBG | Magnolia | 1.0 (2,380) | -20% | 432 | 7.8 |
Rampage | WB | .6 (1,210) | -28% | 502 | 95.1 |
First Reformed | A24 | .44 (4,860) | 51% | 91 | 1 |
Carry on Jatta 2 | White Hill | .44 (7,380) | NEW | 60 | 0.44 |
Super Troopers 2 | Fox Searchlight | .31 (2,270) | -49% | 138 | 30.4 |
I Feel Pretty | STX/eOne | .30 (940) | -43% | 315 | 48.3 |
Ready Player One | WB | .25 (930) | 17% | 271 | 136.1 |
Black Panther | BV | .24 (860) | -49% | 284 | 699.1 |
The Rider | Sony Classics | .24 (1,060) | 27% | 224 | 1.7 |
Disobedience | Bleecker Street | .21 (1,320) | -50% | 158 | 3.1 |
Kasal | ABS | .19 (4,370) | -36% | 43 | 0.66 |
Sanky Panky 3 | Caribbean | .17 (6,040) | NEW | 28 | 0.17 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $102.60 | ||||
% Change (Last Year) | -44% | ||||
% Change (Last Week) | -43% | ||||
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
How Long Will I Love U | Well Go | .16 (5,120) | -20% | 32 | 0.5 |
Pope Francis – A Man of His Word | Focus | .15 (540) | -52% | 273 | 1.6 |
On Chesil Beach | Bleecker Street | .14 (1,620) | 52% | 89 | 0.35 |
American Animals | Orchard | .13 (33,300) | 4 | 0.13 | |
The Seagull | Sony Classics | .12 (2,380) | 11% | 52 | 0.52 |
Beast | Roadside Attractions | 92,700 (1,010) | -50% | 92 | 0.63 |
The Gospel According to Andre | Magnolia | 83,400 (3,970) | 74% | 21 | 0.17 |
Let the Sunshine In | IFC | 78,900 (1,160) | -28% | 68 | 0.7 |
2001: A Space Odyssey (reissue) | WB | 66,800 (13,360) | -26% | 5 | 0.56 |
Bhavesh Joshi Superhero | Eros | 43,100 (980) | 44 | 0.04 | |
La chute de Sparte | Filmoption | 41,300 (1,210) | 34 | 0.04 | |
Officer | CineGalaxy | 34,500 (580) | 59 | 0.03 | |
How to Talk to Girls at Parties | A24 | 32,700 (320) | 158% | 103 | 0.05 |
Tout le monde debout | A-Z Films | 25,700 (1,120) | 23 | 0.03 | |
Rajugadu | Aditya | 25,500 (470) | 54 | 0.03 | |
In Emma’s Footsteps | Candlelight | 19,800 (1,980) | 10 | 0.02 | |
Hibiscus & Ruthless | M2S | 11,900 (11,900) | 1 | 0.01 | |
Yo Soy Pepito | Plus Enertainment | 11,200 (1,600) | 7 | 0.01 | |
A Kid Like Jake | IFC | 1 | 0.01 | ||
Domestic Market Share (January 2 – May 31, 2018) | |||||
Distributor (releases) | Box Office (millions) | Market Share | |||
Buena Vista (7) | 1678.4 | 34.30% | |||
20th Century Fox (9) | 607.8 | 12.40% | |||
Warner Bros. (17) | 533.5 | 10.90% | |||
Universal (9) | 398.9 | 8.20% | |||
Sony (10) | 392.3 | 8.00% | |||
Paramount (6) | 305.7 | 6.30% | |||
Lionsgate (9) | 151.6 | 3.10% | |||
Fox Searchlight (4) | 138.4 | 2.80% | |||
STX (5) | 109.1 | 2.20% | |||
Roadside Attractions (5) | 98.5 | 2.00% | |||
Focus (6) | 74.1 | 1.50% | |||
Entertainment (3) | 51.6 | 1.10% | |||
MGM (2) | 37.1 | 0.75% | |||
Neon (4) | 25.8 | 0.55% | |||
CBS (1) | 23.5 | 0.45% | |||
Aviron (1) | 22.9 | 0.45% | |||
Other * (183) | 243.8 | 5.00% | |||
4893 | 100% | ||||
* none greater than 0.4% | |||||
Top Limited Releases (January 2 – May 31, 2018) | |||||
Title | Distributor | Box Office | |||
Padmaavat | Viva | 12,159,664 | |||
The Death of Stalin | IFC/Elevation | 8,532,417 | |||
RBG | Magnolia | 6,775,859 | |||
Rangasthalam | Creative | 3,632,267 | |||
2018 Oscar Nominated Shorts | Magnolia | 3,508,777 | |||
The Leisure Seeker | Sony Classics/eOne | 3,176,346 | |||
Disobedience | Bleecker Street | 2,841,242 | |||
La Boda de Valentina | Lionsgate | 2,816,208 | |||
Mahanati | Nirvana | 2,661,938 | |||
Raazi | Zee Studios | 2,599,545 | |||
Agnyaathavaasi – Prince in Exile | Blue Sky | 2,586,699 | |||
You Were Never Really Here | Amazon/Elevation | 2,501,161 | |||
Mary and the Witch’s Flower | Gkids | 2,418,404 | |||
La Bolduc | Seville | 2,263,821 | |||
A Fantastic Woman | Sony Classics | 2,020,988 | |||
Detective Chinatown 2 | WB | 1,983,984 | |||
Pandas | Imax/WB | 1,710,899 | |||
Pad Man | Sony | 1,670,192 | |||
Operation Red Sea | Well Go | 1,543,547 | |||
The Rider | Sony Classics | 1,499,939 | |||
* does not include 2017 box office |