Weekend Wrap-Up: Furious Slows and New Releases Stall, Leaving Box Office short by $60 million
April 25, 2017
As expected, The Fate of the Furious dominated the weekend box office chart. It held up a little better than expected with $38.41 million over the weekend; however, this was still over 60% lower than its opening weekend and the overall weekend fell over $60 million or 36% from last weekend for a total of $107 million. A lot of the blame can be pushed onto the new releases, as none of them earned a spot in the top five. Born in China was the best of the new releases earning sixth place with $4.79 million. Year-over-year, 2017 was 16% lower than 2016, but fortunately, 2017 still has an impressive $200 million lead over 2016 at $3.53 billion to $3.33 billion.
Despite weaker reviews, The Fate of the Furious held on a little better than the average for the recent installments in the Fast and the Furious franchise. It still fell 61% to $38.41 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $163.30 million. It will become the second biggest installment in the franchise with more than $200 million domestically and $1 billion worldwide. Since the movie cost about $400 million, including advertising, and it is earning a disproportionate amount in China, it will need all $1 billion to break even. Anything above that at the worldwide box office, plus its home market profits, will help pay for the production of Fast and Furious 9.
The Boss Baby held on a little better than expected with $12.71 million over the weekend for a total of $136.95 million after four weeks of release. The film will remain in the top five for at least one more week and is on pace for $170 million domestically. There’s no way the studio isn’t positively overjoyed about this result.
Beauty and the Beast was expected to earn just under $9 million over the weekend, but instead finished with $9.66 million for a six-week total of $470.79 million. Its theater average is still nearly $3,000, so most theater owners won’t be too quick to drop it this weekend and it should be at least a semi-wide release by the time June starts.
Going in Style rose a spot to fourth place with $4.91 million over the weekend for a three-week total of $31.67 million. The film cost $25 million to make, so this is a good run so far. Granted, the film’s theater average is low enough that it will start losing theaters at an accelerated rate, but it could last long enough to reach $50 million domestically making it a midlevel hit.
Smurfs: The Lost Village was next with $4.88 million over the weekend for a total of $33.42 million after two weeks of release. The film only cost $60 million to make and it has earned $100 million internationally, so it isn’t a flop. That said, it isn’t a box office hit either.
Born in China opened in sixth place with $4.79 million. It was playing in just 1,508 theaters, so its theater average was clearly the best of the new releases. It also earned the best reviews at 82% and its target audience tends to not rush out to theaters, so it could have relatively good legs.
Unforgettable missed the Mendoza Line with just $4.79 million in 2,417 theaters for an average of just $1,980. The reviews won’t help its legs and theater owners will be looking to drop it as soon as they are contractually able to, so it will be nearly out of theaters entirely by the end of May.
Gifted expanded a little more earning eighth place with $4.56 million over the weekend for a total of $10.77 million after three weeks of release. The film became just the second limited release of 2016 to reach $10 million domestically. The first was The Zookeeper’s Wife.
The Promise only managed ninth place with $4.10 million in 2,251 theaters. It too missed the Mendoza Line during its opening weekend with an average of just $1,820. It is not the worst new release of the week, but its reviews are not good enough to help the film’s legs.
The Lost City of Z rounded out the top ten with $2.15 million over the weekend for a total of $2.30 million. While the film certainly has room to grow and its reviews suggest it will have good word of mouth, its theater average is low enough that it might be hard to find significantly more theaters to open in.
Phoenix Forgotten just missed the top ten with $1.82 million in 1,633 theaters. It missed the Mendoza Line by a mile. Furthermore, its reviews are exactly 50% positive, so maybe it will find an audience on the home market.
Free Fire was the worst new release of the week earning just $994,000 in 1,070 theaters. Its reviews are 66% positive, so it really should have done better than this. The only good news for A24 is it likely cost very little for them to buy the distribution rights, so they likely won’t lose a lot of money. And who knows, maybe it will become a cult hit on the home market. It certainly has that potential.
- Unforgettable Comparisons
- Born in China Comparisons
- The Promise Comparisons
- Free Fire Comparisons
- Phoenix Forgotten Comparisons
Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, The Lost City of Z, Smurfs: The Lost Village, The Boss Baby, Unforgettable, Free Fire, Beauty and the Beast, The Fate of the Furious, The Promise, Going in Style, The Zookeeper’s Wife, Gifted, Born in China, Phoenix Forgotten, Fast and the Furious