Weekend Wrap-Up: Guardians Matches Original’s Hold Earning $65.26 million
May 16, 2017
As expected, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 crushed the competition this weekend earning more than Snatched and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’s combined openings. However, it held on better than expected down 55% to $65.26 million. The overall box office still fell by 30% from last weekend to $136 million. This is 3.8% higher than the same weekend last year. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 held on better than Captain America: Civil War did during its sophomore stint, but it was strong depth that helped 2017 win the year-over-year comparison. It didn’t win by much, so the overall lead still shrunk to 3.4% at $4.07 billion to $3.93 billion, but any lead is good news.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 remained in first place with $65.26 million, giving it a ten-day total of $248.42 million. It fell almost exactly as much as the first Guardians of the Galaxy, which wasn’t expected, as sequels usually have worse legs than the original film in a franchise. Then again, historically we haven’t had franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Given its reviews, the film has a slim shot at $400 million, but $375 seems like a more reasonable goal to aim for.
Snatched matched expectations perfectly with $19.54 million. This isn’t a bad start for a film that cost just $42 million to make; however, if it performs like Amy Schumer’s first film, Trainwreck, it won’t do well internationally and that will really hurt it financially. Its reviews will also hurt it financially, but maybe it will do well enough on the home market to become a financial success.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword only managed third place with $15.37 million during its opening weekend. This is a disaster for a film that cost $175 million to make. The film’s reviews are only 26% positive, so that will likely result in a sharp decline this coming weekend and a significant loss in theater count the weekend after that.
The Fate of the Furious landed in fourth place with $5.40 million over the weekend for a total of $215.13 million after a month of release. This will be the film’s last weekend in the top five, but it is truly a monster hit, so falling out of the top five won’t be a big deal.
Beauty and the Beast remained in the top five for one more week with $4.81 million for a running tally of $494.14 million after nearly two months of release. It will get to $500 million domestically, perhaps as soon as this time next week.
There was one more new release in the top ten, Lowriders. This film earned seventh place with $2.40 million in just 295 theaters. Usually films that open in select cities struggle, so this is even more impressive. The film’s reviews are mixed, so that won’t help its legs. That said, this start is strong enough that it should encourage more studios to make films aimed at Hispanics.
- King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Comparisons
- Snatched Comparisons
Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Beauty and the Beast, The Fate of the Furious, Snatched, Lowriders, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Guardians of the Galaxy, Amy Schumer