The Weekend Report

The girls were back in town as the debut of Ocean’s 8 topped weekend moviegoing with an estimated $41.5 million. Shocker Hereditary exceeded expectations with $12.9 million to rank fourth and dystopian Hotel Artemis opened to a blah $3.1 million. All three new releases were propelled by female performers.

Telugu Kaala opened strong with $993,000 and South Korean Believer was off to a good start of $129,000 from 32 venues following a $30 million tally at home. In exclusive and limited there was nostalgia in the ‘hood as the Fred Rogers biodoc Won’t You Be My Neighbor? debuted to $464,000 from 29 cardigans. Tuneful family lark Hearts Beat Louder that opened to $77,400 from four engagements.

Ocean’s 8 maintained the franchise’s core appeal of relying on star personality. Banter, antics and twists provided the heist yarn with a better than anticipated opening of $36 million to $38 million. Exit demos identified the audience as 69% female with 69% aged 25-years and older.

Ocean’s 8 also dipped its toe in the international marketplace in 16 territories to an estimated $12 million. Top markets included Australia with $4.7 million, Mexico grossing $2.6 million and Brazil opening to $1.7 million.

Revenues for the session hovered around $120 million and saw a decent uptick from the prior weekend. It was still an 18% decline from 2017 when the second weekend of Wonder Woman led with $58.5 million and the debut of The Mummy took the bridesmaid slot with $31.7 million.

The big noise overseas was the debut of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which debuted in 48 territories and grossed as estimated $151 million. The film set new benchmarks for the franchise in several territories including studio best ever launches in Korea and Hong Kong. Its top grossing venues were South Korea with $27 million, the UK with a $20 million box office, France grossing $10 million and Russia adding $8 million. It opens in the U.S. on June 22 with additional foreign markets yet to open that include China, Japan, Australia, Mexico and Brazil.

Despite buzz from a Sundance screening Hereditary tracked on the high end of genre debuts in the area of $8-$10 million. But as stirring critical response flowed in, expectations rose and its fortunes climbed largely on attracting a crowd that normally would eschew a graphic haunted house movie. Its opening weekend audience was 52% male with 75% 34  nd younger.

Expectations were grim for Hotel Artemis, which managed to underwhelm pundits’ crystal ball of a $4-$5 million start. Its opening crowd was 54% male and 63% 25 and older.

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