A sluggish quartet of new arrivals proved to be no match for Captain Marvel this weekend at the North America box office, which earned more than double the combined debut numbers of Five Feet Apart, Wonder Park, No Manches Frida 2 and Captive State.
While the box office is starting to show more signs of life –this weekend was up 3% in comparison to one year ago at this time-, the overall year is still struggling by 19% to catch up with 2018’s record numbers. That gap should continue to erode as highly anticipated features such as Us, Dumbo and Shazam! begin to arrive over the next few weeks.
Until then, it is all about Carol, Nick and Goose. In its second weekend on 4,310 screens, Captain Marvel decreased its box office altitude by 55% to capture a still-heroic $69.3 million. After ten days of release, Marvel’s domestic total is a super $266.2 million.
In comparison to other March blockbusters, Marvel’s $69.3 million second weekend is only surpassed by the $90 million pocketed by Beauty and the Beast two years ago. Captain’s 55% dip in business was identical Avengers: Infinity War’s sophomore dip but slightly more than Black Panther (-44.7%) and Thor: Ragnarok (-53.5%).
With no direct competition until Warner’s Shazam! arrives on April 5th, Captain Marvel should have no trouble flying its way to a final domestic haul north of $400 million. With Avengers: Endgame just around the corner, anticipation for that future blockbuster could push Marvel‘s tally even higher.
Marvel added $119.7 million to its international total this weekend, which now stands at $494 million. The top five Marvel markets have been China ($132 million), Korea ($36 million), the United Kingdom ($31 million), Brazil ($24 million) and Mexico with $22 million. With $760 million already in the bank, the billion-dollar mark should be passed within the next two weeks.
Landing far back in second place with a thud was Paramount’s expensive cartoon Wonder Park with an estimated $16 million from 3,838 theaters. The troubled $100 million production –director Dylan Brown was fired 14 months ago over inappropriate behavior-, was vilified by critics. They gave Wonder Park an awful 30% approval on Rotten Tomatoes and a 46/100 on Metacritic. Even ticket buyers were lukewarm on the animated feature, giving it a “B+” on CinemaScore.
The low-budget Lionsgate/CBS Films teen flick Five Feet Apart opened in third place with an estimated $13.1 million from 2,803 screens. The $7 million production didn’t click with the press –53% on Rotten Tomatoes, 52/100 on Metacritic-, but it did score with its target audience. They gave Five Feet Apart an “A” on CinemaScore.
The arrival of Wonder Park didn’t seem to have much of an impact on How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. In its fourth weekend, the acclaimed Universal/Dreamworks sequel scored an estimated $9.3 million from 3,727 theaters. Down only 36%, The Hidden World has earned $135.6 million domestically and an additional $331 million internationally.
Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral rounded out the top. The Lionsgate release eased 35% on 2,350 screens -the best hold of any film in the top ten this weekend- to earn an estimated $8 million. After three weeks, A Madea Family Funeral has pocketed $59 million and is looking to finish with approximately $75 million.
- No Manches Frida 2 (Pantelion) $3.9 million
Opening on only 472 screens, the follow up to 2016’s No Manches Frida had the second biggest per screen average in the top ten.
- Captive State (Focus) $3.1 million
The latest from Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt had a disastrous opening on 2,548 screens. The dreadful “C-” rating from CinemaScore was nothing to write home about, either.
- LEGO Movie 2 (Warner) $2.1 million (-45%); $101 million
- Alita: Battle Angel(Fox) $1.9 million (-41%); $81.8 million
- Green Book (Universal) $1.27 million (-49%); $82.6 million
Next weekend sees the arrival of the latest thriller from Jordan Peele, Us. The acclaimed Universal release arrives on 3,600 screens Thursday night and has a very good chance at taking the number one spot away from Captain Marvel next weekend.
