Box Office

The 5-day Independence Day holiday weekend went more or less as expected, although several films performed higher than many of the predictions had them making. Two newcomers, Despicable Me 3 and Edgar Wright’s new original film, Baby Driver, led the weekend, both overperforming (at least in their five-day earnings).

Another holiday weekend, another box office analysis. Set to lead the five-day weekend is the fourth installment in Universal and Illumination’s Despicable Me franchise, following the first two films and the Minions spin-off. Edgar Wright’s new film, Baby Driver, is also shaping up to lead the way after a solid start Tuesday evening.

The weekend before a long holiday held some surprises, and surprising success stories, at the box office. As expected, Transformers: The Last Knight had the smallest opening of the five films in the franchise, while Wonder Woman, 47 Meters Down, and indie rom-com The Big Sick scored big.

Transformers may be one of the most critically maligned film franchises in history but that hasn’t stopped its successful box office streak. To date, the five Michael Bay-directed films, have made a total of $3.78 billion worldwide, but it’s looking like this newest installment may start showing signs of audience fatigue. Plus, Wonder Woman is on track to become the highest-grossing film directed by a woman worldwide.

There were big surprises at the box office this weekend, with several movies performing far better than they were expected to, including All Eyez on Me, 47 Meters Down, and, once again, Wonder Woman and some performing… less so (like Rough Night).

After two weeks at the top, Wonder Woman will be de-throned this weekend by racing, talking vehicles in Pixar’s latest sequel, Cars 3. The film has a lot going for it to quickly rise to the top of the box office — it’s a family animated film from a trusted and admired company, and it’s also a continuation of an existing IP.

This weekend’s box office played out more or less as expected, with some minor surprises here and there. Take the weekend’s number one film, for example. Everyone knew it would be Wonder Woman, but it performed even better than it was predicted to — for the second weekend in a row.

The Mummy will be no match for Wonder Woman this weekend as it continues to ride the momentum of its success and positive buzz. In fact, The Mummy could put a damper on Universal’s planned “Dark Universe” before it even really begins depending on how it performs this weekend.

With an opening bigger than most projected, Wonder Woman secured not only an exciting weekend for fans but the biggest opening for a female director in history. Beyond numbers, however, Wonder Woman’s success this weekend has made a clear statement about female-led and directed films and the demand for them.

After a concerning marketing campaign, fans and critics have taken matters into their own hands to express their excitement for Wonder Woman — and with good reason and good results. The film is now eyeing an opening north of $85 million and perhaps even more than $100 million.

This year’s Memorial Day weekend was meant to end its four-day box office on par with last year’s but instead came short by more than $20 million. Whereas 2016’s top 12 movies for Memorial Day made $198.8 million total, this year’s top 12 made $173 million and that’s because of the underperformance of nearly every film, some worse than others.

Well, decently sized waves at the very least. Set to top the three-day holiday weekend with ease is the fifth installment in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and while it may not be receiving good reviews and plenty of people may lament its continued existence, Dead Men Tell No Tales, which brings back original cast members, is set to bring in $80 million, if not a little more.

The weekend went more or less as predicted — except with smaller numbers than expected, making for a particularly anti-climactic three-day box office. Alien: Covenant barely edged out Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in its opening weekend and Beauty and the Beast has become the tenth-highest film of all time.

The latest installment in the Alien franchise, Alien: Covenant, opens this weekend, helmed by original creator Ridley Scott, and is poised to knock Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 off its throne.

There were no huge surprises at the box office this weekend as Marvel Studios continued to dominate with its space opera sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. As for newcomers Snatched and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, they made little impact with their debuts as they underperformed and raked in less money at the box office than expected.

Despite Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘s continued domination of the box office this weekend, that isn’t where the excitement truly lies because in second and third place will be a close race between newcomer films Snatched and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

As predicted and after several weeks of a slump, this year’s box office received a much-needed boost from Disney and Marvel’s latest movie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

It’s the start of the summer movie season and with it comes a much-needed burst of energy into the otherwise lifeless box office as of late. The highly anticipated sequel to 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy opens tomorrow and there is no doubt it will crush its competitors at the box office. The big questions surrounding this film are just how high it will go… and for how long.

The weekend turned out to be just as tepid as expected in terms of numbers (in fact, it was one of the weakest weekends of 2017 to date), but where movies ended up falling, namely newcomers How to Be a Latin Lover and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion was something else entirely.

Even with stronger new films opening (and landing in the top five), it’s going to prove to be another lackluster three days at the domestic box office this weekend. One of the biggest surprises to keep an eye out for will be how Baahubali 2: The Conclusion performs when it bows in 450 theaters.

Things went more or less exactly as predicted at the box office this weekend — except no new film was able to contend with holdover films and break into the top five, including Unforgettable and Born in China. Overall, the 2017 box office is currently facing a slump in anticipation of the summer movie season.

Thanks to the tepid numbers opening films are going to bring in this weekend, the top three spots at the box office will go to holdovers The Fate of the Furious, The Boss Baby, and Beauty and the Beast. Plus, the period drama The Promise looks to open with less than $4 million on a $100 million budget.

The Fate of the Furious did something astonishing this weekend: it broke the international opening record and the worldwide opening record, beating both Jurassic World and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, respectively.

Cars will be the real heroes at the box office this weekend, as the eighth installment of The Fast & the Furious franchise, The Fate of the Furious, is expected to leave its competitors in the dust. Beauty and the Beast, however, continues to succeed on its own term as it reaches $1 billion.

As predicted, newcomer films Smurfs: The Lost Village and Going in Style were not able to top The Boss Baby or Beauty and the Beast‘s winning streak, but where the former struggled under the pressure, the latter rose above expectations.

The Boss Baby and Beauty and the Beast are not letting any new movies take their top spots at the box office this weekend. Despite the direct competition of Smurfs: The Lost Village, more people are going to opt for the decidedly better films — at least according to critics.

It wasn’t that Beauty and the Beast underperformed this weekend — far from it, actually — but simply that DreamWorks’ The Boss Baby far outperformed every expectation that had been put forth for it. Just how much of an overperformance was it? Some $15-20 million.

Disney’s current juggernaut Beauty and the Beast may have competition, but not nearly enough to knock it from the top. For the third weekend in a row, the enchanting tale as old as time is poised to take the top spot at the box office. Plus, will the controversy surrounding Ghost in the Shell keep it from performing well?

There were minor surprises at the box office this weekend but nothing to take away from the fact that Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is continuing to absolutely dominate, both domestically and internationally, even with Power Rangers’ surprising performance. Elsewhere, Get Out has finally surpassed Split.

No amount of action, popular IPs, or fun, charismatic leads in space will be able to knock Beauty and the Beast off its very high throne. And this is only the beginning for Disney, who has four more blockbusters opening this year: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.