Weekend Box Office (May 3 - 5, 2019)
THIS WEEKEND Box office records continued to get smashed as the unstoppable juggernaut Avengers: Endgame became the fastest film in history to break the $2 billion global mark doing it after a mere 11 days crushing the old record of 47 days set by Avatar back in 2010. That film's all-time record of $2.78 billion is also in jeopardy right as its long-awaited sequel is prepping for its release next year.
Endgame dropped 59% from its record-smashing opening weekend capturing another $145.8M this weekend, according to studio estimates. It was bigger than Infinity War's 56% decline from this same time last year, but given more upfront demand this time, the larger drop was expected. Recent sophomore falls for MCU films kicking off summer at this time of year were 56% for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in 2017 and 60% for Captain America: Civil War in 2016 so Endgame is in understandable territory.
The new Avengers posted the second largest sophomore weekend gross of all-time behind only the $149.2M of 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens which had help from the Christmas holidays. The cume for Endgame after 10.5 days of release is now a colossal $619.7M allowing it to soar to the number nine spot on the all-time domestic list nestled in between a pair of other recent mega-hits from Disney - Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($620.2M) and Incredibles 2 ($608.6M). The Mouse House now claims seven of the top ten domestic hits of all time with five of those being released in just the past year and a half.
By Wednesday of this week, Endgame should surpass Titanic to enter the all-time top five and then beat Infinity War by Friday. It's on its way to a possible final in the $875-900M range finishing as the second biggest domestic hit of all-time behind Force Awakens.
The Revenge-on-Thanos film has kept up astonishing numbers around the world with another $282.2M from overseas territories this weekend for a global frame of $428M. The international cume rose to a stunning $1.57 billion led by China's $575.8M where it is already the top-grossing Hollywood film ever. The global haul is now $2.19 billion making Endgame the second largest worldwide box office hit of all-time behind only Avatar.
What is the global trajectory for Avengers: Endgame? It may end the week at roughly $2.35 billion thru Thursday, then rise to around $2.55 billion after the third weekend. On or about May 20th is when Endgame should surpass Avatar's all-time $2.78 billion record. A final global tally of nearly $3 billion is likely.
In the shadow of Endgame it was hard for any other film to grab much attention, but three new wide releases tried their best.
Sony went after adults looking for thrills with its film The Intruder which bowed to an estimated $11M from 2,222 theaters for a good $4,950 average. The PG-13 film did not impress critics but instead sold itself on its creepy trailers.
Adults looking for R-rated humor came out in moderate numbers for the Charlize Theron-Seth Rogen comedy Long Shot which debuted to an estimated $10M from 3,230 sites for a mild $3,104 average. The Lionsgate pic fared well with critics, but competition was fierce given the broad appeal of the pop culture phenomenon Endgame. Long Shot hopes for legs with people finding it as Avengers interest erodes.
There were not too many takers for the new animated film Uglydolls which opened in fourth place with soft results. The STX release grossed an estimated $8.5M from 3,652 locations as an alternative for parents with younger children but the weak $2,330 average showed that interest was low. Reviews were lackluster. As an official China co-production, this PG-rated toon could find itself with higher results when it opens there this summer.
Spending its ninth weekend in the top ten (eight of them in the top five) the comic book sensation Captain Marvel took in an estimated $4.3M, off 49%, for a stellar new cume of $420.8M which puts it up to number 24 on the all-time domestic list. The release of Endgame has given this one some new life in recent weeks.
Fox's Breakthrough followed dropping 42% (smallest decline in the top ten) to an estimated $3.9M for $33.2M overall. The horror pic The Curse of La Llorona collected an estimated $3.5M, down 57%, putting Warner Bros. at a good $48.1M domestic and $103.5M worldwide.
The DCEU super hero comedy Shazam was next with an estimated $2.5M falling 56% for a cume to date of $135.2M domestic and $355.6M worldwide. The comedy Little fell 58% to an estimated $1.5M giving Universal a sum of $38.6M. Rounding out the top ten was Disney's family adventure Dumbo which grossed an estimated $1.4M, off 59%, banking $109.7M to date in North America and $338.7M globally.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $192.4M which was up 21% from last year when Avengers: Infinity War stayed at number one with $114.8M; and up 4% from 2017 when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opened on top with $146.5M.
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This column is updated three times each week: Thursday (upcoming weekend's summary), Sunday (post-weekend analysis with estimates), and Monday night (actuals). Opinions expressed in this column are those solely of the author.
Last Updated: May 5, 2019 at 1:00PM ET
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