Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” (Disney) is the #1 film for its third week with $54 million and $494 million domestic so far. That’s a headline story, but the bigger news is the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s massive bestseller “It Ends with Us” (Sony) . A romantic drama that deals with spousal abuse resonated with audiences worldwide, opening to an astounding $50 million in the U.
S. and Canada. Another title made the wrong kind of headlines.
“Borderlands” (Lionsgate) , based on a very popular 2009 game, debuted at only $8.8 million. A $25 million romantic drama squarely targeted for women outperformed a $115 million videogame adaptation by nearly 6x.
Cinemascore for “It Ends” is A-; for “ Borderlands ,” D+. Expectations for “It Ends” were modest, perhaps $50 million domestic after an opening in the mid-teens, but it’s now a contender for the month’s top film; its best competition arrives next week with “Alien: Romulus” (Disney). “Borderlands” was expected to outperform with around $60 million, but as previously mentioned, failed to do so and then some.
Last weekend, early shows for “It Ends” began to sell out. Even then, many suggested it could be front-loaded by Hoover’s mega-fans. Not so.
Nor does this appear to be an American phenomenon with initial foreign results of $30 million, with most top markets still to open. Let’s recap: A $25 million film with 84 percent female attendees grossed $50 million without the benefit of premium-screen ticket prices, or even strong reviews. On a day when the U.
S. Women’s basketball team’s victory had millions cheering, when a female presidential candidate is drawing huge crowds, it might be part of a bigger picture. With fewer screens and standard ticket prices, “It Ends” actually had a better per-theater average than “Deadpool.
” Of course, the latter film is operating on another scale altogether: It’s about to cross $500 million domestic and is already over $1 billion worldwide. In its third weekend, the gross is $1 million better than “Barbie” at the same point last year and is $45 million ahead at the same point of its run. Disney is battling itself for the year’s #1 film.
Pixar’s “Inside Out” has reached $636 million and is #7 for the weekend. $660 million or so will be the number for “Deadpool” to beat. The strength of current business is evident with decent holds for long-run successes.
“Twisters” (Universal) at #3 was off only 34 percent, “Despicable Me 4” (Universal), concurrent to PVOD release down 30 percent, and “Inside Out 2” dropped 27 percent. All very impressive. “Trap” (Warner Bros.
) in its second weekend dropped 47 percent, standard or a bit better. But with less than $7 million, it dropped to #6. “Harold and the Purple Crayon” (Sony) fell 48 percent, eighth at $3.
1 million. Neon took ninth and tenth with two genre entries. “Cuckoo” from Germany (an acquisition) is #9 with $3 million in 1,503 theaters, while their sleep hit “Longlegs” holds on at #10, now at $71 million.
Total box office looks like around $159 million, a nice jump of 36 percent over last year. Year to date results remain steady at off 16 percent. “ Didi ” (Focus) and “Sing Sing” (A24), two promising slow expansions backed by strong reviews, both continued decent showings.
“Didi” expanded more quickly and added $650,000 in 200 theaters. “Sing Sing,” now in 39 theaters, did $227,000. (For comparison, “Didi” last weekend in 47 theaters did $452,000).
Both will expand further next week. Sundance and Cannes-playing “Good One,” the first release from Metrograph Pictures, had a promising debut with $30,000 in three New York/Los Angeles locations. The Top 10 1.
Deadpool & Wolverine (Disney) Week 3; Last weekend #1 $54,175,000 in (-44%) 4,330 (+100) theaters; PTA (per theater average): $12,512; Cumulative: $494,331,000 2. It Ends with Us (Sony) NEW – Cinemascore: A-; Metacritic: 54; Est. budget: $40 million $50,000,000 in 3,611 theaters; PTA: $13,847; Cumulative: $50,000,000 3.
Twisters (Universal) Week 4; Last weekend #2 $15,000,000 (-34%) in 3,664 (-345) theaters; PTA: $4,094; Cumulative: $222,270,000 4. Borderlands (Lionsgate) NEW – Cinemascore: D+; Metacritic: 27; Est. budget: $115 million $8,800,000 in 3,125 theaters; PTA: $2,816; Cumulative: $8,800,000 5.
Despicable Me 4 (Universal) Week 6; Last weekend #4; also on PVOD $8,000,000 (-30%) in 3,009 (-367) theaters; PTA: $2,659; Cumulative: $313,130,000 6. Trap (Warner Bros.) Week 2; Last weekend #3 $6,725,000 (-47%) in 3,181 (no change) theaters; PTA: $2,114; Cumulative: $28,676,000 7.
Inside Out 2 (Disney) Week 8; Last weekend #5 $4,956,000 (-27%) in 2,200 (-415) theaters; PTA: $2,253; Cumulative: $636,457,000 8. Harold and the Purple Crayon (Sony) Week 2; Last weekend #6 $3,100,000 (-48%) in 3,325 (no change) theaters; PTA: $932; Cumulative: $12,889,000 9. Cuckoo (Neon) NEW – Cinemascore: C+; Metacritic: 60; Est.
budget: $7 million $3,013,000 in 1,503 theaters; PTA: $2,004; Cumulative: $3,013,000 10. Longlegs (Neon) Week 5; Last weekend #7 $2,000,000 (-53%) in 2,150 (-582) theaters; PTA: $1,527; Cumulative: $71,252,000 Other specialized/independent titles Films (limited, expansions of limited) are listed by week in release, starting with those opened this week; after the first three weeks, only films with grosses over $5,000 are listed. Metacritic scores and initial film festivals recorded when available.
Good One (Metrograph) NEW – Metacritic: 85; Festivals include: Sundance, New Directors/New Films, Cannes 2024 $30,013 in 3 theaters; PTA: $10,004 The Conversation (Rialto) REISSUE $17,000 in 5 theaters; PTA: $3,400 Kneecap (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 2 $103,426 in 204 (-499) theaters; PTA: $507; Cumulative: $819,650 War Game (Submarine Deluxe) Week 2 $16,732 in 5 theaters; PTA: $3,346; Cumulative: $35,601 CatVideoFest 2024 Week 2 $102,230 in 55 (-51) theaters; PTA: $1,861; Cumulative: $428,561 Army of Shadows (Rialto) REISSUE Week 2 $9,200 in 1 theater; PTA: $9,200; Cumulative: $27,994 Didi (Focus) Week 3 $650,000 in 200 (+153) theaters; PTA: $3,250; Cumulative: $1,626,000 Widow Cliquot (Vertical) Week 4 $67,500 in 81 (-16) theaters; Cumulative: $771,954 Sing Sing (A24) Week 5 $226,965 in 39 (+21) theaters; PTA: $; Cumulative: $821,862 Daddio (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 7; also on PVOD $7,103 in 10 (-1) theaters; Cumulative: $947,149 Janet Planet (A24) Week 8 $11,177 in 16 (-5) theaters; Cumulative: $774,451.
