Weekend Box Office (April 28 - 30, 2017)

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND Tom Hanks is all set to explore career lows with his new film The Circle which co-stars Emma Watson who this spring scored the year's first billion dollar megahit with Beauty and the Beast. The PG-13 tech industry thriller has generated only modest interest and is not a major priority right now for consumers. Plus the last weekend of April is generally one of the slowest of the year with ticket buyers saving their cash for the summer blockbusters about to be unleashed starting a week later. The cast and a good trailer should spark some interest. But reaching notable heights seems beyond reach. STX goes out in over 3,000 theaters and may see roughly $9M this weekend.

Lionsgate rolls out the gigolo comedy How to be a Latin Lover into more than 1,000 locations. The PG-13 film will try to connect with Latino audiences but also go after a broader crowd too with a cast that features Hollywood stars. Buzz is only moderate and an opening weekend of around $4M could occur.

A notable entry hitting moderate national release is the Indian epic adventure Baahubali 2 - The Conclusion, the sequel to the 2015 hit which remains one of the highest grossing films from India at the North American box office. The fan base is huge and dedicated plus advance sales have been red hot all week. Around 500 theaters are expected to open the pic and multiple versions exist in the languages of Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi plus about 45 IMAX screens are even on board. Shows begin on Thursday afternoon with cinemas charging extra high prices for the first day, often $25-30 per ticket, and as high as $42.75 for IMAX. That will fuel the grosses for the four-day period putting Baahubali 2 into the national top ten, maybe even reaching the Top 5.

Also hitting theaters in all major markets is the street magician drama Sleight opening in over 500 locations from BH Tilt. Reviews have been mixed.

Universal has no expectation of giving up the number one spot this weekend. For a third session in a row, the action tentpole The Fate of the Furious looks to seize the top position as a 45% drop would lead to a take of about $21M. That would boost the domestic total to $194M while the global gross shoots past the $1 billion mark just as its predecessor did. China leads the world with $336M and counting, and the final market of Japan launches this weekend.

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Watch the trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.


LAST YEAR Far out ahead for the third time was Disney's The Jungle Book which topped the charts with $43.7M on the final weekend before the summer movie season kicked off. Second place also went to a holdover as The Huntsman: Winter's War brought in $9.6M. New films Keanu and Mother's Day followed with $9.5M and $8.4M, respectively, and Barbershop: The Next Cut rounded out the top five with $6.1M.

LAST WEEKEND's TOP 20

Last Updated: April 27, 2017 at 3:25PM ET

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