Weekend Wrap-Up: Infinity War Helps 2018 Take on Guardians

May 15, 2018

Avengers: Infinity War

The weekend was better than expected, for the most part. All of the holdovers, including the number one film, Avengers: Infinity War, held on better than we predicted, while one of the two new releases also opened faster. Life of the Party was the only film in the top five that didn’t beat expectations. Overall, the box office still slipped 19% from last week, down to $137 million. However, this is 1.2% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2018 maintains a strong 5.2% / $210 million lead over 2017 at $4.24 billion to $4.03 billion.

Infinity War fell 46% to $62.08 million over the weekend for a three-week total of $548.09 million. The film became the second fastest to reach $500 million and did the same for $550 million on Monday. It also climbed into the top ten on the All-Time Domestic chart and won’t have difficulty reaching the top five before it is all done. That said, it really looks like it will have to settle for second place on the 2018 domestic chart, behind fellow MCU monster hit, Black Panther.

Life of the Party missed expectations with $17.89 million during its opening weekend. This is weaker than the openings of Tammy or The Boss; however, it might have better legs than those two films had. Its reviews are significantly better, while it earned a B from CinemaScore, compared to C pluses for the other two films. That said, it will need help to cover its $30 million production budget domestically, while its international chances are limited. Films like this rarely translate well into other languages.

Breaking In was right behind with $17.63 million. This film cost just $6 million to make, so the studio has already covered its entire production budget. The advertising budget was at least double that, likely triple that. That said, unless the film has terrible legs, it should break even by its initial push into the home market at the latest. As for its legs, its reviews are not good and it only managed a B from CinemaScore, but this is still good enough to be very profitable.

Overboard held on better than expected, down just 33% to $9.86 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $29.36 million. $50 million domestically is now quite possible.

A Quiet Place rounded out the top five with $6.46 million over the weekend for a total of $169.61million after six weeks of release.

The next best sophomore class film was Tully, which fell to eighth place with $2.25 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $6.99 million. Granted, it was only down 31% from its opening weekend, but this is enough to assure a quick exist from theaters, as its theater average was just $1,659 this past weekend. Bad Samaritan had it much worse, down 70% to just $510,000 over the weekend for a two-week total of $3.08 million. Its theater average is just $330, so I would be surprised it if is playing in more than a few hundred theaters on Friday.

Weekend Box Office Chart

- Life of the Party Comparisons
- Breaking In Comparisons

Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, Black Panther, Overboard, Avengers: Infinity War, Life of the Party, A Quiet Place, Tully, Bad Samaritan, Breaking In, Marvel Cinematic Universe