Weekend Box Office (April 5 - 7, 2019)

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND The DC Extended Universe was back and launched a new character with Shazam which opened at number one with an estimated $53.5M from 4,217 locations for a solid $12,675 average. Previews two weeks ago contributed $3.3M so the running cume is $56.8M.

That is on the low side for DC and Marvel super hero movies, however this is a lesser known character and was not marketed as being part of a larger epic storyline like recent films Captain Marvel and Aquaman. Reviews were very positive for Shazam and audiences were in agreement as evidenced by the A grade from CinemaScore and the scant 4% dip on Saturday when 10-20% would be more common for this genre.

Despite being a very American character, Shazam scored big in its wide international roll-out grossing a hefty $102M for a global cume to date of $158.8M. China led the way with $30.9M which was weaker than many other comic flicks. Also its holiday Friday accounted for half of the entire weekend as the daily grosses fell sharply on Saturday and Sunday with word of mouth being shaky there. But with a reported budget in the $80-90M range, Shazam has a shot at breaking $400M at the global box office in the end and, of course, will spawn sequels.

Paramount scored a strong opening weekend for its horror remake Pet Sematary which launched 30 years after the 1989 hit which also came out in April. The new R-rated terror fest bowed to an estimated $25M from 3,585 locations for a sturdy $6,974 average. Reviews were quite positive which helped spark interest among fright fans.

The pricey Disney family film Dumbo took a huge dive in its second weekend falling a disturbing 60% to an estimated $18.2M for third place. The big-budget take on the studio classic has only excited so many people in the target audience collecting only $76.3M to date from North America. Overseas markets have contributed $137.5M for a worldwide sum of $213.8M so far.

Horror sensation Us scared up another $13.8M this weekend, according to estimates, declining by 58% in its third round. Universal has crossed the $150M mark with the domestic cume now up to $152.4M.

In her fifth weekend of release, Captain Marvel grossed an estimated $12.7M dipping a reasonable 39%. Disney and Marvel have now amassed $374.1M from North America which puts the Carol Danvers pic into the all-time Top 40 list at number 39 and counting. Overseas markets have kicked in $663.5M putting the global cume for 2019's biggest blockbuster at $1.04 billion heading to a remarkable finish of $1.1B.

The new Taraji P. Henson drama The Best of Enemies debuted to an estimated $4.5M from 1,705 locations for a mild $2,639 average. Earning mixed reviews, the race relations film played 63% female and 79% over 25. The CinemaScore grade was an A, but overall interest was soft.

The high school drama Five Feet Apart followed with an estimated $3.7M, down 40%, giving CBS Films and Lionsgate a solid $41.6M to date. The Pure Flix pic Unplanned expanded its theater count by almost half and grossed an estimated $3.2M while still dropping by a big 50% pushing the total to $12.5M.

Down 59% was the toon Wonder Park with an estimated $2M giving Paramount $42M to date. Fellow animated entry How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World rounded out the top ten with an estimated $2M in its seventh weekend. Universal and DreamWorks Animation have banked $156.7M domestically and $508.1M worldwide.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $138.6M which was off 2% from last year when A Quiet Place debuted at number one with $50.2M; but up 30% from 2017 when The Boss Baby stayed on top with $26.4M.


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Last Updated: April 7, 2019 at 12:25PM ET

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