Weekend Wrap-Up: April’s Conclusion was a Wild Weekend

May 1, 2017

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion

The weekend box office was a wild one with two limited releases in the top five, How to be a Latin Lover and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. The Fate of the Furious remained in first place with $19.94 million, which is better than expected. Unfortunately, the overall box office was still weak down 8.3% from last weekend to just $99 million. Worse still, this is 8.9% lower than the same weekend last year. 2017’s lead over 2016 took a bit of a hit, but still has a 5.1% or $180 million lead, $3.66 billion to $3.48 billion.

The Fate of the Furious completed its Hat Trick with $19.94 million over the weekend for a three-week total of $193.27 million. The film is on pace to nearly match its $250 million domestically, while it has already surpassed $1 billion worldwide.

Despite playing in just 1,118 theaters, How to be a Latin Lover earned second place with $12.25 million. It only earned mixed reviews, but there is room to grow next weekend. Additionally, Eugenio Derbez’s previous hit here, Instructions Not Included, also expanded during its second weekend of release, so there’s precedent here and it could turn out to be a rather large hit.

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion was the biggest surprise in the top five earning $10.35 million in just 219 theaters. This is more than its predecessor, Baahubali: The Beginning, earned in total during its domestic run back in 2015. There are only two reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but both are positive. Unfortunately, Bollywood films almost never have good legs, so it might struggle to get significantly past $20 million domestically. That said, this is a huge total for an Indian film.

The Boss Baby slipped to fourth place with $9.37 million over the weekend for a total of $148.79 million after a month of release. It is doing even better internationally and should break even very soon.

The Circle only managed fifth place with $9.03 million during its opening weekend, despite playing in over 3,000 theaters. The reviews are dreadful at just 17% positive, while it only managed a D plus from CinemaScore. Its legs will likely be terrible, while theater owners will be looking to drop it sooner rather than later.

Beauty and the Beast was knocked out of the top five with $6.83 million over the weekend for a total of $480.53 million after a month and a half of release. It remains on pace for $500 million and we will be keeping track of its journey there.

The last film to talk about is Sleight, which only managed 14th place with $1.70 million in 565 theaters. Its reviews are better than any film in the top ten, but its theater average is low enough that there won’t be many theater owners looking to book the film in the coming weeks.

There are a ton of films in the sophomore class, so we will have to do this quickly. Unforgettable was the only one able to remain in the top ten earning 10th place with $2.41 million over the weekend for a total of $8.95 million after two weeks of release. Its theater average is below $1,000, so it will disappear from theaters very fast. Born in China was right behind with $2.39 million over the weekend for a ten-day total of $8.82 million. I really thought this film would have better legs. The Promise plummeted 65% to $1.44 million over the weekend for a running tally of $7.07 million. This movie is an expensive bomb. Phoenix Forgotten fell to 20th place with $742,000 / $3.10 million. It likely cost very little to make, which is the only good news. Finally, Free Fire fell to 26th place with $249,000 over the weekend for a total of just $1.66 million after two weeks of release. It does have the potential to become a cult classic, but even if it does, it still might not break even.

- Weekend Box Office Chart

- The Circle Comparisons
- How to be a Latin Lover Comparisons

Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, The Boss Baby, Unforgettable, Free Fire, Beauty and the Beast, The Fate of the Furious, The Circle, The Promise, Sleight, How to Be a Latin Lover, Born in China, Phoenix Forgotten, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, Eugenio Derbez