Weekend Estimates: Equalizer more than Equals Mamma Mia
July 22, 2018
In a shocking turn of events, The Equalizer 2 overtook Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! over the weekend with $35.83 million. This is better than predicted and is better than the original managed. Its reviews are not great, but it earned an A from CinemaScore and it is aimed at a more mature target audience, so it should have better than average legs. We will have a better picture this time next week. Internationally, the film managed $3.3 million on 704 screens in 11 markets, including $2.2 million in Australia. The film first didn’t do great internationally, so while this is a 30% improvement, it is still nothing special.
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! won’t have better than average legs, not after that opening weekend. After earning $14.28 million on Friday, the film fell 23% on Saturday. This is the kind of result you expect from a Fanboy action film, not a movie aimed at more mature women. Over the full weekend, it pulled in $34.38 million, which is still a little better than expectations, but the small internal multiplier will likely result in shorter legs. The film did better internationally with $42.4 million in 43 markets. The film had big openings in the U.K. ($13.1 million); Australia ($5 million); and Germany ($4.5 million), all of which were bigger than its opening here, relatively speaking. It also did really well in a couple of Scandinavian countries: Sweden ($2.6 million) and Norway ($2 million).
It looks like Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation will just avoid a 50% drop-off with $23.15 million during its second weekend of release. This is a faster decline that the previous films in the franchise suffered, but it is still good enough to be a financial success. Meanwhile, the film cracked $100 million internationally and $200 million worldwide, including $37.7 million on 14,100 screens in 51 markets over the weekend.
Ant-Man and the Wasp held on much better than last weekend, down 45% to $16.13 million for a three-week total of $164.62 million. At this pace, the film should be able to get to $200 million domestically, with perhaps no push from Disney. Next weekend, the last major action film of the summer comes out and if this film can survive, its trailing legs should be rather long. Meanwhile, the film added $21.6 million internationally for a total of $188.9 million so far. It is in barely half of the international marketplace, so it is on pace for $400 million internationally and $600 million worldwide.
Incredibles 2 was next with $11.52 million over the weekend for a total of $557.34 million after six weeks of release. Granted, the film will have to deal with direct competition next weekend, but if it does hold on, then it will have a shot at $600 million domestically. The film is already at $383.1 million internationally and $940.4 million worldwide, while it still has approximately a quarter of the international marketplace left to open in. The film’s only major market of the weekend was South Korea, where it earned $8.6 million over the weekend for a total opening of $10.4 million. This is the best ever opening for a Pixar film in that market.
Unfriended: Dark Web avoided the Mendoza Line, but not by much, earning ninth place with $3.50 million in 1,546 theaters. Its reviews are just below the overall positive level, while it only managed a C from CinemaScore. Neither of those will really hurt the film’s word-of-mouth, but I don’t think theater owners will be interested in keeping the movie long enough for that to matter.
On the limited release front, Blindspotting did the best with $333,000 in 14 theaters for an average of $23,750. Far from the Tree was right behind on the theater average chart with $20,034 in one theater.
- Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! Comparisons
- The Equalizer 2 Comparisons
- Unfriended: Dark Web Comparisons
Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, Weekend Estimates, Incredibles 2, The Equalizer 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Mission: Impossible—Fallout, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies, Blindspotting, Far From the Tree, Unfriended: Dark Web, Hotel Transylvania