If the $39 million opening weekend of The Angry Birds Movie is any indication, you had better prepare your next few summers to be filled with adaptations of Fruit Ninja and Candy Crush. Family audiences turned out this weekend and helped give The Angry Birds Movie the third best opening weekend for a Sony animated movie (just behind the two Hotel Transylvania films). Whether the flick will have any staying power is another question but it’s undoubtedly a success. Meanwhile, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising made less than half of what the original made in its first three days, so it seems like audiences weren’t too keen on revisiting that particular gimmick. The reviews have leaned towards the positive side so this might be a movie we find ourselves revisiting in a few years.
The real winner (in its own special way) was Shane Black’s The Nice Guys. Even though it only placed fourth this weekend with around $11 million, it is getting lots of critical love and word-of-mouth will probably help it next weekend. But what really matters is that we got a movie that will easily withstand the test of time and go on to become its own cult classic. If you can, please go support it in the theater.
A few tidbits from the numbers:
- The Angry Birds Movie will likely end up as one of the top five highest grossing video game adaptations of all time, sharing the limelight with such bastions of cinema as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Let’s hope Warcraft changes that.
- Captain America: Civil War crossed $1 billion worldwide this weekend. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice — a film that is still running in theaters and was released almost two months ago — is struggling to get to $900 million. There’s a reason that Geoff Johns has been brought on to run a DC films division.
The Numbers Game
Each week, I will attempt to guess how much wide-release films will be making on their opening weekend. My guesses come from my heart and my gut. You’d think I’d use my brain but that makes far too much sense.
Since this is my first week at the bat, I’ve inherited estimates from this column’s former captain Nick Nunziata. Here’s hoping he did a terrible job so I look less terrible in comparison.
Last Week:
The Nice Guys
Nick’s Guess: $14,000,000
Actual: $11,270,000
Result: Close but a just a teeny bit too optimistic.
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
Nick’s Guess: $36,000,000
Actual: $21,790,000
Result: Nick overestimated the hunky magnetism of Zac Efron. A completely understandable mistake.
The Angry Birds Movie
Nick’s Guess: $45,000,000
Actual: $39,000,000
Result: Nick shot his bird a little too far.
This week:
Alice Through the Looking Glass
This has got to be one of the most unwanted sequels in recent memory. The 2010 Tim Burton film was something of an unexpected mega-hit so a sequel seemed unavoidable, but waiting six years has probably damaged desire for a return to this world. It doesn’t help that the 2010 film hasn’t maintained a strong legacy. After the disappointing performance of The Huntsman: Winter’s War, I think audiences have become somewhat savvy to these garish fantasy films. Or maybe they don’t care and only want to see Johnny Depp in a funny hat.
My guess: $62,000,000 (for the four day weekend)
Nick’s guess: $48,000,000
X-Men: Apocalypse
Oh boy. This is a tough one. On the one hand, the X-Men franchise has usually been pretty consistent when it comes to meeting expectations. However, Deadpool has changed the face of this series. Are audiences going to be as thrilled about this doomy adventure after the unhinged fun that the Merc with the Mouth brought to this universe? Reviews have been middling and it feels like audiences are ready for this world to reboot in a big way. Still, the movie has the Memorial Day weekend working in its favor. It also has the immensely enjoyable Captain America: Civil War hurting it by siphoning some of its viewers.
My guess: $91,000,000 (for the four day weekend)
Nick’s guess: $76,000,000
See you next week!
Source: Box Office Mojo
