'Zootopia' Scores Disney Animation's Largest Opening Ever
Audiences flocked to see Disney's Zootopia as it scored Walt Disney Animation Studios' largest three-day opening ever. Meanwhile the weekend's other two new wide releases, London Has Fallen and Tina Fey's war comedy Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, took second and fourth position respectively while Deadpool reached a milestone achievement.
Zootopia took in an estimated $73.7 million this weekend from 3,827 theaters ($19,258 PTA), which tops the previous March animated opening record set by The Lorax ($70.2m) and makes it the ninth largest animated opening ever. It also gives Disney four of the top three slots on the March chart, a worthy achievement though all three remain a long way from the $152.5 million opening of The Hunger Games back in 2012. In IMAX the film brought in $5.2 million from 366 screens, the second best animated IMAX opening behind only Toy Story 3's $8.4 million.
To go along with Zootopia's opening, the film maintains a 98% score on RottenTomatoes and received an "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences. All of which bodes very well for its hold over the coming weeks as the next wide release animated feature isn't until Ratchet & Clank on April 29.
In addition to the film's strong domestic performance, Zootopia played well in its fourth weekend in international release where its cume has grown to $158.8 million, giving it a $232.5 million global cume to date. New territories this weekend included China ($24m), Russia ($7.9m) and Germany ($6.2m).
Coming in second, London Has Fallen performed just as expected, bringing in $21.7 million to go along with an "A-" CinemaScore. London's predecessor, Olympus Has Fallen, also scored an "A-" CinemaScore, though it did fare better with the critics, which will make London's run one to keep an eye on. Olympus enjoyed a 3.25 multiplier, turning its $30.3 million opening into an overall $98.9 million domestic run. Can London follow the same course and finish around $70 million domestically, or will it be play similar to White House Down and finish around $60-62 million?
Coming in fourth is Paramount's Whiskey Tango Foxtrot with an estimated $7.6 million from 2,374 theaters and a "B" CinemaScore. Budgeted at $35 million, this is well below the $10-12 million the studio was hoping for, but just a shade below Mojo's $8 million projection. Looking ahead, depending on how it holds over next weekend, a domestic run around $18-20 million appears to be where it's heading. The film played to an audience that was 89% over the age of 25 and broken down 44% male vs 56% female.
In other news, Deadpool became only the third R-rated movie to ever cross the $300 million mark as it brought in an estimated $16.4 million this weekend bringing its overall cume to $311.1 million. After passing Man of Steel during the week to become the fourth highest grossing superhero origin feature of all-time, it is now only $7.3 million behind Iron Man for third place on the same chart.
Looking at last weekend's new releases, Eddie the Eagle held on just fine with a 49% drop and estimated $3.1 million weekend, but both Gods of Egypt and Triple 9 dropped over 60% with estimated $3.5 million and $2.1 million weekends respectively.
Following last weekend's Oscars, Best Picture winner Spotlight added over 500 theaters and brought in an estimated $1.8 million for a 149% increase compared to last weekend. An impressive result considering the film is already available on DVD and Blu-ray. Its theatrical cume now climbs to $41.6 million, currently making it the second lowest grossing Best Picture winner in the last 38 years, right behind last year's winner Birdman.
In limited release, Fox's The Other Side of the Door played similarly to the studio's release of The Pyramid in 2014. The horror feature opened in 546 theaters and brought in an estimated $1.2 million.
Broad Green released Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups into four theaters where the film brought in an estimated $56,688, for a $14,172 per theater average. No exact word yet on just how wide Broad Green intends to take this one over the long run, but it will be expanding over the coming weeks. For a look at the theaters it will soon be playing in click here.
Next weekend, 10 Cloverfield Lane will lead the charge in over 3,200 theaters along with The Brothers Grimsby in over 2,000 theaters, Focus' The Young Messiah in 1,600 theaters and the Lionsgate release of The Perfect Match in around 850 theaters.
You can check out the complete chart of weekend estimates right here and we'll have weekend actuals for you 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.
Zootopia took in an estimated $73.7 million this weekend from 3,827 theaters ($19,258 PTA), which tops the previous March animated opening record set by The Lorax ($70.2m) and makes it the ninth largest animated opening ever. It also gives Disney four of the top three slots on the March chart, a worthy achievement though all three remain a long way from the $152.5 million opening of The Hunger Games back in 2012. In IMAX the film brought in $5.2 million from 366 screens, the second best animated IMAX opening behind only Toy Story 3's $8.4 million.
To go along with Zootopia's opening, the film maintains a 98% score on RottenTomatoes and received an "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences. All of which bodes very well for its hold over the coming weeks as the next wide release animated feature isn't until Ratchet & Clank on April 29.
In addition to the film's strong domestic performance, Zootopia played well in its fourth weekend in international release where its cume has grown to $158.8 million, giving it a $232.5 million global cume to date. New territories this weekend included China ($24m), Russia ($7.9m) and Germany ($6.2m).
Coming in second, London Has Fallen performed just as expected, bringing in $21.7 million to go along with an "A-" CinemaScore. London's predecessor, Olympus Has Fallen, also scored an "A-" CinemaScore, though it did fare better with the critics, which will make London's run one to keep an eye on. Olympus enjoyed a 3.25 multiplier, turning its $30.3 million opening into an overall $98.9 million domestic run. Can London follow the same course and finish around $70 million domestically, or will it be play similar to White House Down and finish around $60-62 million?
Coming in fourth is Paramount's Whiskey Tango Foxtrot with an estimated $7.6 million from 2,374 theaters and a "B" CinemaScore. Budgeted at $35 million, this is well below the $10-12 million the studio was hoping for, but just a shade below Mojo's $8 million projection. Looking ahead, depending on how it holds over next weekend, a domestic run around $18-20 million appears to be where it's heading. The film played to an audience that was 89% over the age of 25 and broken down 44% male vs 56% female.
In other news, Deadpool became only the third R-rated movie to ever cross the $300 million mark as it brought in an estimated $16.4 million this weekend bringing its overall cume to $311.1 million. After passing Man of Steel during the week to become the fourth highest grossing superhero origin feature of all-time, it is now only $7.3 million behind Iron Man for third place on the same chart.
Looking at last weekend's new releases, Eddie the Eagle held on just fine with a 49% drop and estimated $3.1 million weekend, but both Gods of Egypt and Triple 9 dropped over 60% with estimated $3.5 million and $2.1 million weekends respectively.
Following last weekend's Oscars, Best Picture winner Spotlight added over 500 theaters and brought in an estimated $1.8 million for a 149% increase compared to last weekend. An impressive result considering the film is already available on DVD and Blu-ray. Its theatrical cume now climbs to $41.6 million, currently making it the second lowest grossing Best Picture winner in the last 38 years, right behind last year's winner Birdman.
In limited release, Fox's The Other Side of the Door played similarly to the studio's release of The Pyramid in 2014. The horror feature opened in 546 theaters and brought in an estimated $1.2 million.
Broad Green released Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups into four theaters where the film brought in an estimated $56,688, for a $14,172 per theater average. No exact word yet on just how wide Broad Green intends to take this one over the long run, but it will be expanding over the coming weeks. For a look at the theaters it will soon be playing in click here.
Next weekend, 10 Cloverfield Lane will lead the charge in over 3,200 theaters along with The Brothers Grimsby in over 2,000 theaters, Focus' The Young Messiah in 1,600 theaters and the Lionsgate release of The Perfect Match in around 850 theaters.
You can check out the complete chart of weekend estimates right here and we'll have weekend actuals for you 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.
