'Finding Dory' #1 Again, Topping All Four of the Weekend's New Wide Releases Combined
Twenty six weeks into 2016 and Disney's year continues to impress as the studio has the #1 film at the weekend box office for the twelfth time. Finding Dory topped the weekend chart with one of the ten best second weekends of all-time as the animated feature has now grossed over $286 million domestically and nearly $400 million worldwide. As for the weekend's new wide releases, the results weren't quite as pretty as three out of the four struggled in a competitive marketplace. Independence Day: Resurgence was unable to match the opening weekend of its 20-year-old predecessor, Free State of Jones didn't capture the attention of its target audience and The Neon Demon wasn't able to come close to expectations. The only bright spot among the weekend's new wide releases was the "terror in the water" thriller The Shallows, which scored well with audiences and critics, all on a meager budget.
Taking the number one spot for a second weekend in a row is Disney's Finding Dory with an estimated $73.2 million, only a 45.8% drop from the film's record breaking opening weekend. This also marks the largest second weekend for an animated film and the eighth largest second weekend of all-time, ahead of the $72.6 million brought in by Captain America: Civil War earlier this year.
Dory is now up to $286.5 million domestically, already making it the 13th highest grossing animated release of all-time after just ten days in release.
Taking second was Fox's Independence Day: Resurgence, which carries a reported budget of $165 million and opened with an estimated $41.6 million. Coupled with negative reviews and a so-so "B" CinemaScore this one may have a tough time doing anything more than $100-110 million domestically. Demographically, Resurgence played to an audience that was 58% male vs 42% female, with 64% over the age of 25.
Similar to Universal's Warcraft, another $160+ million production that has struggled domestically, Resurgence will now be looking to international territories to sop up some of the red ink on the balance sheets. That said, the film did get off to a strong start this weekend, pulling in an estimated $101.4 million from 57 international markets for a $143 million global opening. China led the way with $37.3 million from 6,047 screens followed by Korea ($7.4m), UK ($7.3m), Mexico ($6.8m), Taiwan ($3.7m) and India ($3.5m).
The one film among this weekend's new releases that managed to impress was Sony's shark thriller The Shallows. Taking advantage of heavy buzz on social media and scoring the best reviews of the weekend's new releases, the Blake Lively starrer finished fourth with an estimated $16.7 million this weekend, nearly matching the film's reported $17 million budget. The audience breakdown was 46% male vs 54% female, with 50% under the age of 25. With opening day audiences awarding the film a "B+" CinemaScore, it could push toward a $42-45 million domestic run if not more.
Then we move to STX's Free State of Jones, a historical epic starring Matthew McConaughey carrying a reported budget of $50 million. The studio was looking for an opening in the low teens, but all the film was able to muster was an estimated $7.7 million from 2,815 theaters. For McConaughey this is the worst wide release opening he's seen since 2006's We Are Marshall, which opened with $6.1 million, but is a bit of a tough comparison given its Christmas weekend opening.
Next weekend will be a big test for Free State as the holiday weekend could aid its overall longevity. The film's audience was evenly split 50% male vs. female with 67% of opening weekend moviegoers over the age of 35. How it performs next weekend could prove the difference between an overall run that ends around $25-30 million or something that could potentially climb over $35 million. A summer release date is something of an anomaly for a film of this nature so we'll be keeping a close eye on its overall performance.
The last of the weekend's new wide releases is another disappointment as Broad Green's The Neon Demon was expected by some to open around $2-3 million from 783 theaters. Unfortunately, the Nicolas Winding Refn-directed feature was hardly able to top a half-million, pulling in an estimated $606,594. There's no other way to interpret these numbers than to say they are disappointing and move on.
Elsewhere, X-Men: Apocalypse topped $150 million domestically this weekend, making it the seventh highest grossing film in the X-Men franchise as it still lags behind the 2000 original. Also, Warcraft is now over $410 million worldwide and Lionsgate's Now You See Me 2 is now over $100 million internationally for a global cume of $159.7 million, though it still has a long way if it wants to match the original's $351.7 million worldwide haul.
A24's Swiss Army Man, which opened in three theaters this weekend and stars Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, was the weekend's per theater champion, bringing in $114,000 for a $38,000 PTA.
Other limited openings this weekend include The Orchard's Hunt for the Wilderpeople which brought in $85,336 from five theaters ($17,067 PTA) and Well Go's release of Johnnie To's Three in 18 theaters where it grossed $65,500 ($3,639 PTA).
Also, IFC released Todd Solondz's Wiener-Dog into two theaters where it brought in $27,020 ($13,510 PTA); Sony Classics' Eat that Question brought in $18,002 from two theaters ($9,001 PTA); and Cohen Media's Les Cowboys opened in four theaters with $14,283 ($3,571 PTA).
Next weekend Disney will be looking for another pot of gold at the end of the rainbow when they release Steven Spielberg's The BFG into over 3,200 theaters. The widest new release next weekend will be Warner Bros' The Legend of Tarzan, opening in over 3,450 theaters, and Universal will deliver The Purge: Election Year into 2,700 theaters.
For a look at this weekend's estimated results click here and we'll be updating the charts with weekend actuals on Monday afternoon.
Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo and author Brad Brevet at @bradbrevet.
Taking the number one spot for a second weekend in a row is Disney's Finding Dory with an estimated $73.2 million, only a 45.8% drop from the film's record breaking opening weekend. This also marks the largest second weekend for an animated film and the eighth largest second weekend of all-time, ahead of the $72.6 million brought in by Captain America: Civil War earlier this year.
Dory is now up to $286.5 million domestically, already making it the 13th highest grossing animated release of all-time after just ten days in release.
Taking second was Fox's Independence Day: Resurgence, which carries a reported budget of $165 million and opened with an estimated $41.6 million. Coupled with negative reviews and a so-so "B" CinemaScore this one may have a tough time doing anything more than $100-110 million domestically. Demographically, Resurgence played to an audience that was 58% male vs 42% female, with 64% over the age of 25.
Similar to Universal's Warcraft, another $160+ million production that has struggled domestically, Resurgence will now be looking to international territories to sop up some of the red ink on the balance sheets. That said, the film did get off to a strong start this weekend, pulling in an estimated $101.4 million from 57 international markets for a $143 million global opening. China led the way with $37.3 million from 6,047 screens followed by Korea ($7.4m), UK ($7.3m), Mexico ($6.8m), Taiwan ($3.7m) and India ($3.5m).
The one film among this weekend's new releases that managed to impress was Sony's shark thriller The Shallows. Taking advantage of heavy buzz on social media and scoring the best reviews of the weekend's new releases, the Blake Lively starrer finished fourth with an estimated $16.7 million this weekend, nearly matching the film's reported $17 million budget. The audience breakdown was 46% male vs 54% female, with 50% under the age of 25. With opening day audiences awarding the film a "B+" CinemaScore, it could push toward a $42-45 million domestic run if not more.
Then we move to STX's Free State of Jones, a historical epic starring Matthew McConaughey carrying a reported budget of $50 million. The studio was looking for an opening in the low teens, but all the film was able to muster was an estimated $7.7 million from 2,815 theaters. For McConaughey this is the worst wide release opening he's seen since 2006's We Are Marshall, which opened with $6.1 million, but is a bit of a tough comparison given its Christmas weekend opening.
Next weekend will be a big test for Free State as the holiday weekend could aid its overall longevity. The film's audience was evenly split 50% male vs. female with 67% of opening weekend moviegoers over the age of 35. How it performs next weekend could prove the difference between an overall run that ends around $25-30 million or something that could potentially climb over $35 million. A summer release date is something of an anomaly for a film of this nature so we'll be keeping a close eye on its overall performance.
The last of the weekend's new wide releases is another disappointment as Broad Green's The Neon Demon was expected by some to open around $2-3 million from 783 theaters. Unfortunately, the Nicolas Winding Refn-directed feature was hardly able to top a half-million, pulling in an estimated $606,594. There's no other way to interpret these numbers than to say they are disappointing and move on.
Elsewhere, X-Men: Apocalypse topped $150 million domestically this weekend, making it the seventh highest grossing film in the X-Men franchise as it still lags behind the 2000 original. Also, Warcraft is now over $410 million worldwide and Lionsgate's Now You See Me 2 is now over $100 million internationally for a global cume of $159.7 million, though it still has a long way if it wants to match the original's $351.7 million worldwide haul.
A24's Swiss Army Man, which opened in three theaters this weekend and stars Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, was the weekend's per theater champion, bringing in $114,000 for a $38,000 PTA.
Other limited openings this weekend include The Orchard's Hunt for the Wilderpeople which brought in $85,336 from five theaters ($17,067 PTA) and Well Go's release of Johnnie To's Three in 18 theaters where it grossed $65,500 ($3,639 PTA).
Also, IFC released Todd Solondz's Wiener-Dog into two theaters where it brought in $27,020 ($13,510 PTA); Sony Classics' Eat that Question brought in $18,002 from two theaters ($9,001 PTA); and Cohen Media's Les Cowboys opened in four theaters with $14,283 ($3,571 PTA).
Next weekend Disney will be looking for another pot of gold at the end of the rainbow when they release Steven Spielberg's The BFG into over 3,200 theaters. The widest new release next weekend will be Warner Bros' The Legend of Tarzan, opening in over 3,450 theaters, and Universal will deliver The Purge: Election Year into 2,700 theaters.
For a look at this weekend's estimated results click here and we'll be updating the charts with weekend actuals on Monday afternoon.
Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo and author Brad Brevet at @bradbrevet.
