Weekend Box Office: Ocean’s Strong, Hereditary Decent

Hereditary Trailer A24

As one old franchise takes a blow, it only makes sense another’s made something of a rebound(ish). Three new movies opened this weekend – two of them successful, one very not so. But we’ll get to that.

Debuting in first, Warner Bros.’ Ocean’s 8, the anticipated all-female ensemble/spin-off, stashed $41.61m from 4,145 venues ($10,012 per-theatre average). Without adjusting for inflation – in which case it comes in last here – Ocean’s 8’s debut ranks as the franchise’s best, just above 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve ($39.15m).

Compared to 2016’s Ghostbusters ($46.02m debut), Ocean’s 8 is playing -9.8% behind. Key difference here being Ghostbusters cost a rather high $144m to produce, whereas Warner’s made Ocean’s 8 for a smooth $70m. If Ocean’s were to play like Ghostbusters it’s targeting around $116m, while playing akin to 2007’s Ocean’s Thirteen (the previous movie in the series) gives it $135m. Given the lukewarm-to-positive reviews, plus some heavy competition in the form of Disney/Pixar’s Incredibles 2 this weekend and Universal’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (which just debuted internationally, more on that later) the weekend after, we can reasonably peg Ocean’s closer to that $116m figure. Still a solid performance, all things considered (mainly budget).

Overseas, Ocean’s 8 took flight in 16 markets, grossing $12.5m for a $54.11m global debut. Warner is taking a staggered release schedule here, giving the movie time to simmer. Top debuts for Ocean’s 8 are Australia ($4.7m), Mexico ($2.4m), and Brazil ($1.7m).

Solo

Falling to second, Disney/Lucasfilm’s Solo: A Star Wars Story added $15.75m in weekend no. 3, totaling $176.7m thus far. Solo’s -46.4% decline here isn’t sharp – still the lowest third weekend dip among neo-Star Wars flicks, but those had the benefit of the holiday season. It’s worth reiterating that Solo’s numbers themselves aren’t terrible and it should cross $200m, but it just cost way too much (reports hover around the $300m range, if you’re curious). Lesson to be had here, I suppose. We’ll see if Disney and company take it to heart.

Internationally, Solo nabbed $11.9m from 54 markets. Offshore cume is $136.74m and global stands at $313.44m. It’s unlikely Solo will reach $400m at this point, lest it breaks out in Japan. Top markets for Solo are the U.K. ($21.8m), China ($16.3m), Germany ($12m), Australia ($11m), and France ($9.3m).

In third, Fox’s Deadpool 2 had a fine hold, declining -39% to gross $14.15m in its fourth frame. Domestic tally for Mr. Wilson is $279.16m, pacing -10.4% behind the first Deadpool at the same point in release. Maintaining that trend sets Deadpool 2 on course for $325m. Maybe won’t get that high, though $300m is still a lock. On a brighter note, Deadpool 2’s the second-highest grossing movie in the X-Men universe (behind its predecessor), so it’s not like the movie’s hurting.

Overseas, Deadpool 2 grossed $18.5m from 79 markets for a $376.55m cume. Global for the $110m flick is $655.71m. Top markets for Deadpool 2 are the U.K. ($40.1m), South Korea ($31.4m), Australia ($22.4m), Russia ($20.3m), and Germany ($18.4m).

Debuting in fourth (but no slouch), A24’s Hereditary grossed $13.58m from 2,964 venues ($4,580 per-theatre average), the arthouse distributor’s highest opening yet. That record previously belonged to 2015’s The Witch, which earned $8.8m. Hereditary benefited from critical acclaim and by coming off as the most accessible (traditional, you could say) of A24’s horror films, versus the more esoteric nature of The Witch and last year’s It Comes at Night ($13.99m).

Following Witch’s pattern earns Hereditary a decent $39m tally, a reasonable figure (give or take a few million) to target, given it won’t face direct competition until Universal’s The First Purge in a few weeks. Not bad for a $10m horror. Overseas, Hereditary spooked up $3.47m from a small handful of markets, led by Mexico ($967k) and South Korea ($750k). Global is $17.04m.

The Avengers Infinity War

Rounding out the top five is Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War, declining a light -31.1% to add $7.24m in its seventh frame. Domestic tally for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is $655.14m, pacing +10.5% ahead of the first Avengers at the same point in release, suggesting a $688m+ final haul.

Internationally, Infinity War grossed $10.9m from 51 markets for a gargantuan $1.344 billion cume. Global is $1.999 billion and will have crossed the coveted $2 billion mark on Monday, becoming just the fourth movie in history to do so. Top markets for Infinity War are China ($368.4m), the U.K. ($95m), South Korea ($92.9m), Brazil ($65.8m), and Mexico ($59.9m).

Outside the top five, Global Road’s Hotel Artemis landed at #8, earning a lousy $3.23m from 2,407 hubs ($1,343 per-theatre average). Despite a game cast, merely okay reviews (and poor audience reception, from the looks of it) and a general lack of awareness contributed to Artemis fizzing out. There are no international numbers to report for the film.

 

HOLDOVERS

6. Adrift (STX) – $5.27 million (-54.6%), $21.96m cume
7. Book Club (Paramount) – $4.29 million (-39.1%), $56.96m cume
9. Upgrade (BH Tilt) – $2.38 million (-49.0%), $9.34m cume
10. Life of the Party (Warner Bros.) – $2.17 million (-38.2%), $50.33m cume

Noteworthy: Debuting in 48 international markets, Universal’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom grossed $151.1m, taking #1 in each territory. That compares favourably to 2015’s franchise sequel/reboot, which earned $158.6m in like-for-like markets and when accounting for exchange rates (thanks to Deadline for that breakdown). Top debuts for Fallen Kingdom are South Korea ($27.2m), the U.K. ($19.9m), France ($10m), Spain (9.5m), and Germany ($9.1m).

Some of the coverage you find on Cultured Vultures contains affiliate links, which provide us with small commissions based on purchases made from visiting our site. We cover gaming news, movie reviews, wrestling and much more.