This is a year of broken records (the good kind, damn you). It only makes sense that a production powerhouse like Pixar joins the fray. Elsewhere, the weekend’s two other releases – there were other releases, yes – didn’t set the world on fire.
Taking first, Disney/Pixar’s Incredibles 2 earned a gigantic $182.69m from 4,410 hubs ($41,426 per-theatre average), easily the biggest debut ever for an animated movie (and a PG-rated movie), surpassing 2016’s Finding Dory ($135.06m) by +26.1%. It’s also the eighth-largest opening in movie history and the fourth-largest summer debut.
While Incredibles 2 was chalked up as a contender to take Dory’s throne, nobody anticipated such huge figures. In retrospect, it makes decent sense – the first Incredibles back in 2004 is arguably the only Pixar movie which people actively craved a sequel to (helped by the first movie ending on a cliffhanger), nostalgia is all the rage these days, and superheroes are pretty popular. Stir in glowing reviews and here we are. If Incredibles follows Finding Dory’s pattern (3.6x multiple), we’re seeing a $657m+ final haul. Remarkably, that’d mark Disney’s third $600m grosser this year. If Incredibles follows Toy Story 3’s performance (3.76x multiple), it gets $686m. We’ll see how it legs out in the coming weeks. The movie’s first real competition is this weekend’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, though Pixar’s 2015 flick Inside Out co-existed fine with the first Jurassic World, so there may be hope for all parties yet.
Internationally, Incredibles 2 powered up $53.14m from 25 markets in a staggered rollout. Top markets for the superhero family are Mexico ($12.1m), Australia ($7.9m), Russia ($5.4m), and Argentina ($3m).
In second, Warner Bros.’ heist flick Ocean’s 8 fell -54.4% in its sophomore frame, gathering $18.97m. Domestic cume is $78.59m, pacing +10.4% ahead of 2004’s Ocean’s Thirteen, the last movie in the franchise. Ocean’s has been performing solidly, especially when bearing in mind its relatively responsible $70m production cost. Barring total collapses over the coming weeks, Ocean’s 8 is on course for somewhere over/under $120m.
Overseas, Ocean’s 8 grossed $19.3m from 36 markets for a $36.8m cume. Global for the ensemble is $115.39m. Top markets are Australia ($7.7m), South Korea ($5.1m), Mexico ($4.6m), Brazil ($3.3m), and France ($2m).
Opening in third, Warner Bros.’ R-rated comedy Tag wasn’t it (I hate myself), but it wasn’t an outright failure either. Tag grossed $14.95m from 3,382 venues ($4,420 per-theatre average), an unimpressive figure helped by the movie’s $28m budget. R-rated comedies have passed their zenith, at least for now, and Tag came off as boilerplate fare. Reception was lukewarm to somewhat positive, given the critic-audience disparity on Rotten Tomatoes. If Tag follows the performance of 2015’s Vacation, another Ed Helms joint, it gets around $60m. That seems unlikely – peg this closer to $40m-$50m.
Overseas, Tag opened in 7 markets, catching $1.38m. Global is $16.33m. The two top openings for Tag belonged to Australia ($833k) and New Zealand ($180k).
In fourth, Disney/Lucasfilm’s Solo: A Star Wars Story eased a decent -36.5% for $10m in weekend no. 4. Domestic total is $193.77m and the movie should eclipse $200m by the end of this week. Still, the movie’s far from green pastures, given its exorbitant costs (around $300m, depending on which reports you take to) and the fact it still hasn’t matched the opening weekend of last December’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($220.01m). There’s a fine chance it won’t ever match that number. Disappointing all around (the movie’s not even bad, seriously).
Overseas, Solo continued to be something of a non-presence compared to your typical tentpole, taking $5.2m from 47 markets for a $147.1m cume. Global is $340.87m with no chance of hitting $400m at this point. Top markets for Solo are the U.K. ($23.7m), China ($16.6m), Germany ($13.5m), Australia ($12m), and France ($10.5m).
Rounding out the top five, Fox’s Deadpool 2 declined -38.6% in its fifth weekend, grabbing $8.68m for a $294.56m cume. Mr. Wilson ought to hit $300m in due time, with somewhere around $320m a reasonable endpoint. Nearly triple its $110m budget, to boot.
Internationally, Deadpool 2 took $9.8m from 76 markets. Overseas and global hauls are $395.13m and $689.69m, respectively. Top markets are the U.K. ($42.2m), South Korea ($30.9m), Australia ($26.1m), Mexico ($21.9m), and Russia ($21.2m, pending update).
Outside the top five, Sony’s blaxploitation Superfly was neither super nor fly at #6, grossing $6.87m from 2,220 venues ($3,095 per-theatre average) over its 3-day debut and $9.01m over its 5-day. Fact of the matter is there wasn’t any buzz for this one, not helped by meh reception. Look for this to close at around $20m.
HOLDOVERS
7. Hereditary (A24) – $6.86 million (-49.5%), $27.02m cume
8. Avengers: Infinity War (Disney) – $5.44 million (-24.8%), $664.35m cume
9. Adrift (STX) – $2.2 million (-58.3%), $26.91m cume
10. Book Club (Paramount) – $1.83 million (-57.4%), $61.98m cume
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