Articles

June 30, 2018
 

EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Jurassic World: Fallen KIngdom” Drops But Holds Lead, “Sicario 2″” & “Uncle Drew” Start OK

 

After a significantly lower start, JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM (Legendary/Perfect World/Universal) is having a sharper drop in its 2nd weekend than its predecessor.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Friday was down 70% from last week to $17.4M, compared to a 63% drop for the first Jurassic World on its 2nd Friday.  The number will stabilize over the weekend, but a 60% drop to $59M would put Kingdom on track for a $425M US total, down 35% from World.

INCREDIBLES 2 (Pixar/Disney) is holding about as well as Finding Dory (and from a higher starting place), down 44% to $13.4M on its 3rd Friday compared to 42% for Dory, for a weekend that should reach $42M on its way to a $550M US total, easily the #1 animated title in US history.

The decision to launch SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO (Black Label/Columbia/Sony) as a centerpiece summer opening seemed curious, given the modest success of the first Sicario ($46.9M in the US off a $12.1M wide opening) and the higher marketing costs of a June start.  But apparently this is what Black Label (which financed the film, with Sony as studio for hire) wanted, and the higher-profile date is paying off in the short run, with $7.5M on Friday, up 75% from the $4.3M first wide day for SicarioSoldado, though, is likely to be more front-loaded, particularly given lower ratings from critics and exit polls, and may have a $19M weekend, with a $7M differential from its predecessor that may not justify the increased marketing bill.  Sicario ultimately nearly quadrupled its wide opening weekend, and we’ll see if Soldado has that kind of stamina.

UNCLE DREW (Lionsgate) had a mild Friday opening with $6.2M, and will hope for a big weekend multiple from family matinee audiences that gets it to $18M on relatively moderate production and marketing costs.

OCEAN’S EIGHT (Village Roadshow/Warners), the only female-skewing title in the market, had a strong hold, down 33% on its 4th Friday to $2.3M, better than the 46% drop on the parallel day for Thirteen, the only other summer Ocean’s movie.  It may have an $8M weekend and get to $130M in the US, which would put it above Twelve and Thirteen (not adjusting for inflation).

TAG (New Line/Warners) is finding its audience, albeit at a low level, with a 32% drop on its 3rd Friday to $1.6M, for a $5.5M weekend that may push it above $50M in the US (still considerably below the $69M for Game Night).

DEADPOOL 2 (20th) is heading for the theatrical exit, but still holding well with a 34% drop on its 7th Friday to $1M, for a $3.5M weekend and a US total that should reach $315M.

The Indian-language SANJU (FIP) is doing well in a wide-ish limited release at 356 theatres with $775K on Friday and a weekend that may get to $2.5M.

In arthouse release, the documentary 3 IDENTICAL STRANGERS (Neon) is heading for a $28K weekend per-theatre average at 5, and LEAVE NO TRACE (Bleecker Street) may have a $19K weekend average at 9.

 

 



About the Author

Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."