The movie industry’s waking nightmare known as the June 2019 box office is finally coming to a merciful end this weekend. Unfortunately, it is ending with another round of underwhelming box office business.
Leading the pack for a second straight week was Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 4, which cruised past the $200 million mark on Saturday while holding the decent starts for Warner’s Annabelle Comes Home and Universal’s Yesterday at bay.
Hollywood is hoping and praying that July offerings Spider-Man: Far From Home and The Lion King will help kickstart an industry whose business continues to lag behind 2018 numbers by a sizable margin.
Following last weekend’s $121 million start, Toy Story 4 showed some box office staying power as the acclaimed cartoon eased only 52% in its second round on 4,525 screens to earn an estimated $58 million. After only ten days, Toy Story 4 has brought in a big $237million. With schools out for the summer and strong word-of-mouth spreading among viewers, Toy Story 4 should be able to power its way to the $400 million mark –possibly more- by the end of its summer run.
Internationally, Woody and the gang added another $80 million this weekend to the Mouse House’s coffers, which now stand at $260 million. Mexico is the biggest market for the fourth Toy Story film with $50 million, followed by the United Kingdom’s $33 million and China’s $24 million.
For the second week in a row, a demonic dolly has opened in second place. Last week saw the return of Chucky and this week, it’s Annabelle’s turn.
The latest offering from Warner’s Conjuring franchise, Annabelle Comes Home, opened in 3,613 venues where it scared up a solid $20.3million for the Friday-to-Sunday frame and $31.2million since its Wednesday opening. While the opening numbers were the lowest to date in both the Annabelle and Conjuring franchises, the film’s low $35 million budget offsets any worries of it not being profitable.
Reviews were decent for the third Annabelle flick in five years. Annabelle 3 mustered a 70% approval from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, a 53/100 on Metacritic and an okay -for a horror film- “B-“ on CinemaScore. The previous Annabelle features each earned a “B” from the polling service.
Internationally, Annabelle Comes Home scared up $45 million this weekend. Top markets for the film were Mexico ($7 million) and Indonesia ($5 million).
Opening in third place with a melodic $17 million from 2,603 theaters was the Universal musical comedy Yesterday. The latest from Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle struck a cord with the public more than it did with critics. The Beatles-infused tale scored a so-so 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 55/100 on Metacritic. Viewers gave Yesterday a solid “A-“ on CinemaScore, which could help it become a midsummer box office sleeper. Overseas,Yesterday opened in limited release with $7.7 million.
Disney’s Aladdin coasted its way into fourth place with an estimated $9.3 million from 3,235 theaters. Down only 29%, Aladdin has earned a big $305 million in North America. Overseas, the magic carpet has flown even higher: $568.3million. This weekend, Aladdin became the biggest box office hit of Will Smith’s career, surpassing the $817 million pocketed by his 1996 blockbuster Independence Day.
Rounding out the top five was Universal’s animated feature The Secret Life of Pets 2 with an estimated $7 million. The domestic total for the cartoon sequel stands at $131.2 million. Internationally, the film has earned $98 million.
- MIB: International (Sony) $6.5 million (-39%); $65 million
- Avengers: Endgame (Disney) $5.5 million (+178%); $841 million
Disney’s reissue of Endgame into theaters worldwide helped push the Marvel blockbuster within $26 million of Avatar’s all-time global record.
- Child’s Play (2019) (UA) $4.2 million (-69%); $23.4 million
- Rocketman (Paramount) $3.8 million (-31%); $84.1 million
- John Wick: Chapter 3 (Lionsgate) $3.1 million (-22%) $161 million
Starting on Tuesday, it’s all about Spider-Man: Far From Home. The Sony/Marvel sequel kicked off its international run in the Far East this weekend with a massive $111 million and should do at least that much in North America during the upcoming week. Spidey will be joined by A24’s acclaimed horror film Midsommar, which will begin terrorizing viewers nationwide on Wednesday.
