OPENINGS: THE LION KING (Disney) was expected to be the crown jewel in Disney’s recreations of its animated classics, and despite sharply mixed reviews, it delivered with a $185M opening weekend–and that studio estimate includes a fairly conservative number for Sunday, so it could go higher in finals. If it stays at $185M, it will be the #9 opening in US history (it would hit #8 if it goes above Age of Ultron‘s $191.3M), and it’s already the biggest of the Disney remakes, toppling Beauty & The Beast‘s $174.8M. The only other major family movies of the summer are Dora and the Lost City of Gold on August 9 and Angry Birds Movie 2 on August 14, so Lion King has weeks of open landscape ahead, and should top $500M in the US. Overseas, it’s at $346M after a $269,4M weekend in all major markets except Japan (a huge market for the genre), Hong Kong and Italy, and should end up well above $1B worldwide. Counting Marvel’s partnership with Sony on Spider-Man: Far From Home, Disney now has a piece of all top half-dozen of 2019’s openings, and it still has Frozen 2 and Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker ahead.
THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE (Bleecker Street) decided to expand from 7 theatres to the fringes of wide release at 550, and the attempt at counterprogramming had little impact, with a $1.1M weekend that translated into a $1900 per-theatre average. (Lion King‘s theatres averaged $39.2K.)
HOLDOVERS: The weekend’s biggest holdover news was for a film that only earned $1.2M in the US on Friday-Sunday and $300K overseas. That was enough to push AVENGERS: ENDGAME (Marvel/Disney) atop the biggest record of them all (not adjusted for inflation), as the highest-grossing film of all time worldwide with $2.790.2B, passing Avatar‘s $2.789.7B. (Avatar is still #1 overseas, and The Force Awakens retains the title in the US.) Fittingly, the announcement was made as part of Marvel’s Comic-Con unveiling of the “Phase 4” projects of its cinematic universe, as the behemoth plans to engulf Blade, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, not to mention streaming TV, over the next few years.
Thinking of Marvel, SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (Columbia/Sony) dropped 54% to $21M in its 3rd weekend, and should reach $360M in the US, behind only the original Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 in the US. However, Far From Home is already the #1 Spidey movie worldwide, after a $37.2M weekend that put its international total at $651.1M, shortly to become the 9th MCU production to reach $1B worldwide.
TOY STORY 4 (Pixar/Disney) was barely dented by the arrival of The Lion King, down just 30% to $14.6M in its 5th weekend, as it continues to head toward $400M+ in the US. It’s at $483.9M overseas after a $25.8M weekend, with Germany still to open, and will get past $900M worldwide.
CRAWL (Paramount) had a fairly good Weekend 2 for a horror movie, down 50% to $6M, and might reach $35M in the US. It has $9.9M overseas after a $2.7M weekend in 21 territories.
YESTERDAY (Universal) is proving to have real staying power in the US, down just 24% to $5.1M in its 4th weekend, and on its way to $70M. Unfortunately, it’s showing much less appeal overseas, where it’s at $40.6M after a $4.3M weekend in 39 markets. Still, there should be some moderate profit here.
STUBER (20th/Disney) fell 51% to $4M in its 2nd weekend, and may not get past $25M in the US. It also has $2.8M overseas.
ALADDIN (Disney) is still holding well in its 9th weekend, down 38% to $3.8M, and may hit $350M in the US. With $648.8M overseas after a $9.2M weekend, it’s poised to hit $1B worldwide in the next week or so.
ANNABELLE COMES HOME (New Line/Warners) lost 53% to $3.7M in its 4th weekend, and has a chance of getting to $75M in the US. It’s close to $200M worldwide, with $129.6M overseas after a $7.4M weekend in all major markets except Japan.
MIDSOMMAR (A24) fell 56% to $1.6M in its 3rd weekend, and won’t get much past $25M in the US, which would put it at the level of A24’s Ex Machina and The Witch. It hasn’t yet opened overseas.
LIMITED RELEASE: THE FAREWELL (A24) expanded impressively to 35 theatres with a $33.5M per-theatre weekend average, slightly above Lady Bird‘s $32.5K average at 37. DAVID CROSBY: REMEMBER MY NAME (Sony Classics) opened at 4 with a mild $10K average. MAIDEN (Sony Classics) widened to 84 with a $3000 average. WILD ROSE (Neon) averaged $1300 at 195. MARIANNE & LEONARD: SONGS OF LOVE (Roadside), now at 55, averaged $2200. SWORD OF TRUST (IFC, also on VOD/streaming) averaged $5200 at 12.
NEXT WEEKEND: Summer’s best hope for an adult-oriented breakout hit is Quentin Tarantino’s ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD (Columbia/Sony), which should be helped by a lack of weekend competition.
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