Weekend Box Office (May 31 - June 2, 2019)

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND The Monsterverse movie franchise took over control of the box office with the release of its latest installment, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which debuted at number one with an estimated $49M. The figure was down 47% from the huge $93.2M opening of the 2014 Godzilla reboot and off 20% from the $61M of 2017's Kong: Skull Island. The latest Warner Bros. title averaged $11,934 this weekend from 4,108 playdates.

Reviews for KOTM were not too good but paying audiences have been more pleased with a respectable B+ grade from CinemaScore - same as the last two films in the series. The first three Monsterverse films have been building up to the big showdown pic Godzilla vs. Kong which is currently slated for release next spring in March on Friday the 13th. The first two films grossed over $500M global each with nearly $1.1 billion in combined box office.

The new Godzilla launched to $130M overseas this weekend including $70M from China which was not part of the first weekend for the two previous Monsterverse roll-outs. The global start is $179M with 73% from offshore.

After its muscular top spot debut over last week's holiday session, Disney's Aladdin held up quite well in its second weekend grossing an estimated $42.3M for a decline of 54%. Looking back at the major tentpoles opening on Memorial Day weekend over the last few years, Aladdin enjoyed the lowest sophomore drop since 2012's Men in Black 3. 60-65% was common for many of those films. Totals are now $185M domestic, $260.9M international, and $445.9M global with more to come from family audiences this summer. A final north of $750M is possible depending on how Japan does when it opens there next weekend.

The Elton John biopic Rocketman opened in third place with an estimated $25M from 3,610 locations for a sturdy $6,925 average. The R-rated film from Paramount has earned strong notices from critics and audiences alike with positive reviews plus an A- grade from CinemaScore. $580,000 of the gross came from early access screenings held on May 18 meant to generate advance buzz. Demos showed the audience to be 60% female and 75% over 35.

While the opening weekend was less than half of the $51.1M of the Freddie Mercury pic Bohemian Rhapsody from last November, that film was an abnormally large blockbuster for the musical and biopic genres soaring to over $900M. The road ahead could be promising for Rocketman thanks to solid word-of-mouth and limited options for older adults in the weeks ahead.

Octavia Spencer's new suspense thriller Ma opened admirably in fourth place with an estimated $18.3M from 2,808 theaters. Averaging a solid $6,503 per site, the R-rated fright pic from Universal connected with moviegoers looking for a summer scare while also earning mixed reviews from critics.

Former number one John Wick: Chapter 3 dropped 55% to an estimated $11.1M in its third round boosting Lionsgate's cume to a strong $125.8M - the best for this franchise. Overseas grosses are now $95.9M putting global at $221.7M with Part 4 opening in May 2021.

Another previous chart-topper followed as Avengers: Endgame fell from the top five in its sixth weekend sliding 55% to an estimated $7.8M. Disney watched its incredible domestic haul rise to $815.5M as number two all-time. A final of around $835M seems likely. International grosses climbed to $1.9 billion led by China's mammoth $629.1M putting the worldwide take at a stunning $2.71 billion.

Falling 50% was Pokemon Detective Pikachu to an estimated $6.7M putting Warner Bros. at $130.6M overall and global at $392.1M. The high school comedy Booksmart has been loved by critics, but only liked by paying audiences, and dropped 52% in its second weekend to an estimated $3.3M. UA has banked $14.4M to date.

Brightburn tumbled 71% in its sophomore session to an estimated $2.3M giving Sony only $14.2M thus far. Rounding out the top ten was the comedy The Hustle with an estimated $1.3M, down 64%, and a sum of $33.2M.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $167.1M which was up 72% from last year when Solo stayed at number one with $29.4M; but down 7% from 2017 when Wonder Woman debuted on top with $103.3M.


Get earlier box office updates and analysis by following BoxOfficeGuru.com on Twitter.

Watch the NEW trailer for Annabelle Comes Home.

# Title May 31 - Jun 2 May 24 - 26 % Chg. Theaters Weeks AVG Cumulative Distributor
1 Godzilla: King of the Monsters $ 47,776,293 4,108 1 $ 11,630 $ 47,776,293 Warner Bros.
2 Aladdin 42,840,544 91,500,929 -53.2 4,476 2 9,571 185,537,718 Disney
3 Rocketman 25,725,722 3,610 1 7,126 25,725,722 Paramount
4 Ma 18,099,805 2,808 1 6,446 18,099,805 Universal
5 John Wick: Chapter 3 11,085,459 24,587,676 -54.9 3,604 3 3,076 125,738,271 Lionsgate
6 Avengers: Endgame 8,037,491 17,200,742 -53.3 3,105 6 2,589 815,726,275 Disney
7 Pokemon Detective Pikachu 6,953,882 13,416,259 -48.2 3,147 4 2,210 130,890,093 Warner Bros.
8 Booksmart 3,301,392 6,933,620 -52.4 2,518 2 1,311 14,339,576 UA
9 Brightburn 2,455,683 7,845,658 -68.7 2,607 2 942 14,353,235 Sony
10 The Hustle 1,320,842 3,579,312 -63.1 1,407 4 939 33,216,444 UA
11 A Dog's Journey 1,114,385 4,140,285 -73.1 1,674 3 666 18,838,855 Universal
12 The Intruder 800,836 2,300,968 -65.2 807 5 992 34,198,002 Sony
13 Dumbo 597,546 1,082,515 -44.8 230 10 2,598 113,583,428 Disney
14 Shazam 487,179 287,054 69.7 337 9 1,446 139,177,579 Warner Bros.
15 The Biggest Little Farm 435,324 524,923 -17.1 275 4 1,583 1,841,509 Neon
16 Long Shot 334,770 1,603,576 -79.1 477 5 702 29,904,463 Lionsgate
17 Uglydolls 221,608 642,297 -65.5 296 5 749 19,588,805 STX
18 Poms 207,644 653,818 -68.2 374 4 555 13,213,810 STX
19 Captain Marvel 188,866 408,279 -53.7 162 13 1,166 426,200,299 Disney
20 The Curse of La Llorona 181,393 495,942 -63.4 167 7 1,086 54,270,638 Warner Bros.
Top 5 145,527,823 $ 154,551,264 -5.8
Top 10 167,597,113 173,109,025 -3.2
Top 20 172,166,664 178,735,621 -3.7
Top 20 vs. 2018 172,166,664 104,769,189 64.3

Last Updated: June 2, 2019 at 1:50PM ET

©1997 - 2019 Box Office Guru