Weekend Wrap-Up: Pirates Sinks Lower with $78.47 million, Takes 2017 With It
May 31, 2017
Memorial Day long weekend wasn’t as potent as expected as both new releases struggled. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales led the way with $78.47 million over four days. This marks the third year in a row where no film released on Memorial Day long weekend earned at least $100 million over four days. I’ve heard some talk that this means it is losing its importance as a long weekend. However, I think the actual answer is much simpler, as it is also the third weekend in a row where no wide releases have earned overall positive reviews. I don’t think the box office power of Memorial Day has dropped since X-Men: Days of Future Past came out. I just think the quality of films has dropped since then. Speaking of lack of quality, Baywatch was DOA earning just $27.71 million over five days and unlike Dead Men Tell No Tales, it likely won’t do significantly better internationally. Despite both new releases struggling, the holiday helped the overall box office grow 14% from last weekend to $141 million. Unfortunately, this was 14% lower than the same weekend last year. 2017 still maintains its lead over 2016, but that lead as slipped to 2.6% or $110 million at $4.46 billion to $4.35 billion.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales had the second weakest opening in the franchise earning $62.98 million / $78.47 million. Only the first film had a slower opening and that’s mainly because 14 years ago the market was a lot different than it is now. As far as its future is concerned, its reviews suggest a quick exit from theaters, but it earned an A minus from CinemaScore, so perhaps its word-of-mouth won’t be too bad.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 managed to score second place with $20.91 million / $27.19 million. It now has $340.51 million domestically, putting it ahead of the original film domestically, internationally, and worldwide.
It turns out moviegoers were not interested in 21 Jump Street at the beach, as Baywatch struggled with $18.50 million / $23.11 million over the weekend for a total opening of $27.71 million. Many were thinking it would earn more than that over its three-day weekend. Neither the reviews nor its B plus from CinemaScore will really help the situation.
Alien: Covenant was next with $10.61 million / $13.38 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $60.21 million. The film fell 71% during the three-day portion of the weekend, which was the worst in the top ten by far. I can’t imagine the franchise continuing at this point.
Everything, Everything rounded out the top five with $6.02 million / $7.67 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $23.02 million. The studio’s share is already more than it cost to make, so it just needs to chip away at the film’s advertising budget during the rest of its worldwide run to have a shot at breaking even on the home market.
The only sophomore film not in the top five was Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul. The film did have the best hold in the top ten down just 37% to $4.47 million over the three-day weekend and $6.12 million if you include Monday. Unfortunately, that is still only $15.30 million after two weeks of release, which is nowhere near enough to break even anytime soon.
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Comparisons
- Baywatch Comparisons
Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Alien: Covenant, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Baywatch, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, Everything, Everything, Alien, Pirates of the Caribbean