OPENINGS: Even with a big Mother’s Day bump of 24% (the same as last year’s Snatched), the $18.5M weekend for LIFE OF THE PARTY (New Line/Warners) is the lowest of Melissa McCarthy’s starring career, and even lower than Snatched‘s $19.5M. The Mother’s Day bump means that next weekend’s drop will likely be dramatic, and if Party follows the Snatched model, it may not even reach $45M in the US, another low for McCarthy and a significant loss on production/marketing costs around $100M.
BREAKING IN (Universal) cost much less to produce than Life Of the Party, so with an $16.5M opening it has a better chance to at least approach breakeven, although it may not have much traction overseas.
HOLDOVERS: AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (Marvel/Disney) will soon find out what real competition looks like, but this weekend was again without significant challenge, and it had a 46% Weekend 3 drop to $61.8M, matching the 3rd weekend percentage drop of The Avengers and better than the 50%/54% drops for Ultron and Captain America: Civil War, although not quite at the 40% level of Black Panther. Infinity War could reach $675M in the US. The more important news of its weekend, though, was its arrival in China, where its $200M opening was, depending on which currency is used for comparison, the #1-3 opening there ever. Infinity War is now at $1.6B worldwide, and next week will pass Jurassic World as the #4 title in history, the only question remaining being whether it can become the 4th movie (after Avatar, Titanic and The Force Awakens) to hit $2B.
OVERBOARD (MGM/Pantelion/Lionsgate) is also benefiting from a Mother’s Day bump, giving it a mild 31% Weekend 2 drop to $10.1M, and still on track for $45M in the US.
A QUIET PLACE (Paramount) isn’t even including a holiday bump in its calculations, and yet it’s still down a spectacularly low 17% in its 6th weekend to $6.4M, and now looks like it will top $180M in the US. It’s also crossed $100M overseas.
I FEEL PRETTY (Voltage/H Brothers/STX) is yet another female-led property enjoying Mother’s Day with a 27% drop in its 4th weekend to $3.7M, and it might make its way to $50M in the US, a bit better than Snatched‘s $45.9M.
RAMPAGE (New Line/Warners) dropped 27% to $3.4M on its 5th weekend thanks to big Fri/Sat business, but it still seems likely to run out of gas before reaching $100M. Overseas, however, it’s at $307.4M, about half of that from China.
TULLY (Fox Searchlight) is also looking for a strong Mother’s Day, and estimating a mild 32% drop on its 2nd weekend to $2.2M, which still won’t get it much beyond $10M in the US.
BLACK PANTHER (Marvel/Disney) is now available for home viewing, but down just 41% in Weekend 13 to $1.9M, as it methodically climbs toward $700M in the US. Its overseas total is $645.2M.
LIMITED RELEASE: RBG (Magnolia) managed a berth in the weekend’s Top 10 at just 180 theatres, with a $6500 per-theatre average, once again comparable to the $7200 average I Am Not Your Negro had for the same studio at 115. It seems very capable of matching or even topping that film’s $7.1M US total. The Spanish-language NOTHING TO LOSE (Swen) averaged $9400 at 69 theatres. DISOBEDIENCE (Bleecker Street) widened to 101 with a $4300 average. THE RIDER (Sony Classics) was a notch below, averaging $2700 at 85. LET THE SUNSHINE IN (IFC) averaged $3300 at 33. Newcomers THE SEAGULL (Sony Classics) and BEAST (Roadside) both averaged a modest $13K, respectively at 6 theatres and 4.
NEXT WEEKEND: Infinity War‘s reign comes to an end, and the summer movie season begins in earnest, with the arrival of DEADPOOL 2 (20th). The older-female-skewing BOOK CLUB (Paramount) and family comedy SHOW DOGS (Global Road) might as well have been retitled “Counterprogramming.” Limited releases include POPE FRANCIS: A MAN OF HIS WORD (Focus/Universal), FIRST REFORMED (A24), and ON CHESIL BEACH (Bleecker Street).
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