“Unforgettable” and Other New Movies Deliver Forgettable Opening Weekends
0Film | Weekend | Opening Weekend | Current Gross | |
The Fate of the Furious | $38.4m | $98.7m | $163.3m | |
The Boss Baby | $12.7m | $50.1m | $136.9m | |
Beauty and the Beast | $9.6m | $174.7m | $470.7m | |
Going in Style | $4.9m | $11.9m | $31.6m | |
Smurfs: The Lost Village | $4.8m | $13.2m | $33.4m |
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. Unforgettable in particular had a particularly poor showing. Overall, the 2017 box office is currently facing a slump in anticipation of the summer movie season, which will really go into effect when Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opens next week. Where April of last year made nearly $700 million domestically, this April is only at $278 million with less than two weeks left.
The Fate of the Furious, the eighth installment in the Fast and Furious franchise, came out on top for the second week in a row, dropping close to 60 percent, as is the norm for both this franchise and most action blockbusters. With its second-week intake, Fate has risen to become the fourth-highest movie in the franchise and has Fast Five in its sight to make it into the top three. But as has been the story since it opened last weekend, Fate‘s domestic total isn’t what Universal will be paying attention to; instead, all eyes remain on the foreign box office for the film, which has surged past $700 million. Globally, Fate is less than $100 million away from becoming the second film of the year to reach $1 billion and it will undoubtedly be one of the fastest films to get there, especially after the world records it broke last weekend. Will it reach those coveted heights by the end of next weekend? Only time will tell, but it certainly seems likely.
The next two films, The Boss Baby and Beauty and the Beast continue the same story they’ve both been telling since their premieres — they’re here to stay and continue raking in the money. The former has been open four weeks now, the latter six weeks, and both have managed to remain stubbornly in the top five each subsequent week. Disney’s live-action take on their 1991 animated classic is now past $1.1 billion, placing it in the top 20 of the all-time worldwide box office and is only $8 million away from overtaking Skyfall to reach the top 15. The Boss Baby, meanwhile, is now very close to breaking into DreamWorks Animation’s top 20 and while it wasn’t able to do so this weekend, just like Beauty and the Beast, it’s less than $10 million away from doing so.
Bringing up the rear are Going in Style and the animated family film Smurfs: The Lost Village, both in their third weeks. While neither made a tremendous amount, each just under $5 million, it was enough to fend off all newcomers. With these intakes, both films are now over $30 million domestically.
All the news films that opened over the weekend performed less than ideally, some expected and others less so. Disneynature’s newest Earth Day film, Born in China, opened just shy of its expected $5+ million opening. Warner Bros.’ Unforgettable had perhaps the most surprising opening weekend, making $4.7 million in its debut when it had once been looking at an opening closer to $10 million. However, none of these results, not even Free Fire‘s $994,431 opening, are as disappointing as The Promise. While it was expected to have a small premiere, and indeed it opened only a little over $4 million, seeing the actual numbers is less than inspiring, especially when considering its $100 million budget.
Ultimately, what’s certain right now is that the box office is ready for summer.
(Source: boxoffice.com, boxofficemojo.com. Figures represent numbers at time of writing, and may have changed.)
Anya Crittenton | Associate Editor