The box office had its best weekend yet this year. The three new releases took the box office by storm, bringing in over $130 million on their own. Having a diverse menu for audiences to pick from seemed to benefit everybody. The LEGO Batman Movie was the obvious winner but it actually might have taken some damage from Fifty Shades Darker and John Wick: Chapter 2. Both of those movies performed incredibly, especially for sequels to lower budget productions.
To be fair, Fifty Shades Darker was never going to match the gargantuan success of the first film. It brought in only a little more than half of the original’s opening weekend, so the law of diminishing returns is in full effect. That wasn’t the case with John Wick: Chapter 2. This sequel brought in more than double what the first one did in its opening weekend. By next weekend, it will have made more than the original movie did during its entire theatrical run. Good news for those of us itching for John Wick: Chapter 3!
The Numbers Game
Each week, I will guess how much wide-release films will be making on their opening weekend. My estimates come from my heart and my gut. You’d think I’d use my brain, but that makes far too much sense. For those who have been following this column, I’ll be doing these guesses alone now. I want to thank my prognosticating partner, Nick Nunziata, for making this an enjoyable game every week. I’ll miss him.
Last Week:
The LEGO Batman Movie
My Guess: $60,000,000
Nick’s Guess: $53,000,000
Actual: $55,635,000
Result: A definite win for LEGO fans, Batman fans, and Nick.
Fifty Shades Darker
My Guess: $34,000,000
Nick’s Guess: $27,000,000
Actual: $46,797,825
Result: WOW. This exploded. Is it any surprise that two guys had no idea how popular this would be?
John Wick: Chapter 2
My Guess: $22,000,000
Nick’s Guess: $25,000,000
Actual: $30,015,000
Result: Still a win for Nick. Glad his last guesses beat me.
This week:
The Great Wall
Matt Damon fights giant monsters in a film directed by Zhang Yimou? There’s no way this won’t be enjoyable on some level. Unfortunately, American audiences don’t often come out for big Asian action films. It’s a sad truth. Plus, The Great Wall has already brought in over $220 million in foreign markets. US dollars are clearly a second thought. Marketing hasn’t helped either but that might be because this isn’t set to make a whole bunch in the States.
My guess: $29,000,000
Fist Fight
Raunch-coms are always hard to predict. Some of them blow up and some of them disappear, regardless of how good or bad they actually are. Fist Fight looks pretty funny and could potentially grab from multiple demographics thanks to its two lead actors. But, it might suffer from some strong holdovers and the fact that marketing has stayed fairly safe, with the exception of a good red-band trailer.
My guess: $20,000,000
A Cure for Wellness
Original horror has been flourishing in 2017. Could A Cure for Wellness continue that trend? The studio was gutsy enough to pay for a Super Bowl spot for the film, so it certainly has some awareness out there. But even then, this looks like a purposefully and unavoidably weird movie. Will that turn a big swath of the audience off?
My guess: $18,000,000
See you next week, box office buddies!
Source: Box Office Mojo
