The general view going into this weekend was one that would do well overall but not a huge weekend with the slate of films opening. Did anyone think that Midway would come out on top? The film takes the spot with a $17.5 million debut while also grabbing an “A” CinemaScore. With this being a four-day weekend, it’ll take Monday easily to bring it over $20 million overall.
Falling short of expectations was Doctor Sleep which had projects in the $25 million range but landed at just $14.1 million. With a “B+” CinemaScore and an audience that leaned older and male for it, it’s likely going to fall short overall – especially with a 2 1/2 hour running time.
And still surprising is that Playing with Fire did as well as it did, coming in at just under $13 million. It was definitely a family film with families making up 61% of the audience, something that I wish we’d see more of if not for the restrictive pricing of tickets even for matinees. With a $29 million budget it still has a way to go but it’s faring better than some other productions.
Such as Last Christmas, which looks like it might have come just a bit too early. The film did $11.6 million in its debut and got a “B-” CinemaScore. It naturally played older and toward win with how it was marketed. It only got a limited international release int en markets where it brought in $3 million.
Looking at prior releases, Terminator: Dark Fate fell 63% in its second weekend to bring in just under $11 million, which gets it to the $48.4 mark – which in itself is $11 million less than what Terminator: Genisys did a few years ago. Boo.
Joker fell out of the top five this week just from the number of new opening films and it added another $9.2 million to its coffers, getting it to $313.4 domestic and just under $985 million worldwide. Suffice to say, it’ll just the $1 billion club this week.
This coming week has a few things going wide with Charlie’s Angels from Sony Pictures, The Good Liar from Warner Bros., and Ford v Ferrari from Twentieth Century. Additional films in limited release include The Warrior Queen of Jhansi Roadside Attractions, Everybody’s Everything from Gunpowder & Sky, Scandalous: The True Story of the National Enquirer from Magnolia Pictures, and Waves from A24.
