Friday Estimates: Maleficent isn’t Evil, but it is far from Good
October 19, 2019
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil wasn’t expected to be a monster hit, but its previews gave reason to be optimistic. That optimism is gone as a result of Friday’s estimates. The film pulled in just $12.5 million on Friday, meaning it will have to have nearly as good legs as the original had just to avoid opening below the low end of expectations. That seems unlikely, especially with its weaker reviews, although it did manage the same A rating from CinemaScore. Maybe it will really bounce back today, but we won’t really know till the weekend estimates come out tomorrow.
Zombieland: Double Tap opened in second place with $10.55 million on Friday. Sony is projecting a $25 million to $26 million opening weekend based on this result, which is right in line with our prediction. The film’s reviews are fine. It earned a B plus from CinemaScore, which is also merely fine. Halloween should give it a boost, but I don’t expect it to stick around after November arrives.
Joker returned to normal with $8.61 million on Friday, putting it on pace for $28 million according to projections. This would be a roughly 50% decline from last weekend and while this is better than average, it is a much steeper decline than the film managed last weekend.
The Addams Family was next with $4.1 million on Friday putting it on pace for between $15 million and $16 million over the full weekend. This is a little lower than anticipated, and weak for a family film, but still enough to justify its upcoming sequel.
Gemini Man fell 69% from its opening Friday. Even if it bounces back on Saturday, it will still miss our $9 million prediction.
There are a couple of limited releases of note. Firstly, Parasite entered the top ten with $430,000 in 33 theaters. I’m not sure it will stay there fore long, as It: Chapter Two is right behind. Jojo Rabbit opened with $138,000 in just five theaters, meaning its theater average is $27,600 for Friday alone.
Filed under: Friday Estimates, Gemini Man, Zombieland: Double Tap, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, It: Chapter Two, The Addams Family, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Parasite (기생충)