Weekend Wrap-Up: It Took a Trio of Hits for 2019 to Win
October 22, 2019
The weekend went about as well as expected, overall. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil didn’t open as well as expected, but Zombieland: Double Tap helped make up the difference. The overall box office was still down 6.5% from last weekend at $140 million; however, this was 5.3% higher than the same weekend last year and that is a much more important number. 2019 is still behind 2018’s pace by 5.3% or $500 million at $8.86 billion to $9.35 billion, but that’s not as bad as it has been this year.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil earned first place with $36.95 million. This isn’t too far below our predictions, but it is a disaster compared to the film’s $185 million production budget. Its reviews won’t help its legs, but it did earn an A from CinemaScore, so audiences clearly liked it more than critics did. Additionally, it is a family film that should get a boost from Halloween, so it isn’t all bad news. Maybe it will be a monster hit internationally and it will be a hit on Disney Plus.
Joker fell just 48% to 29.25 million over the weekend for a three-week total of $247.28 million. This is a faster decline than it had last weekend, but really, who cares? The film will reach $300 million with ease and it one of the biggest hits of all time.
Zombieland: Double Tap opened with $26.80 million, which is a little more than the original opened with. However, with weaker reviews and only a B plus from CinemaScore, it won’t have as long legs. Additionally, the film’s budget is significantly higher than its predecessor’s was, so it likely won’t be as profitable. That said, I do think it will be profitable in the end.
The Addams Family fell 46% during its second weekend of release to $16.32 million for a two-week total of $57.08 million. This is enough to remain on pace for $100 million domestically, assuming it gets a bounce from Halloween and doesn’t completely collapse afterwards.
Gemini Man fell 60% to just $8.31 million over the weekend for a two-week total of just $36.33 million. The film will almost certainly lose money and I don’t know if high-frame rate cinematography will be seen as viable if this keeps happening.
Jexi was the only entrant in the sophomore class not in the top five. It held on better than I thought it would, but it still fell 61% to just $1.20 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $5.72 million. Its theater average is just $516, so it will be all but gone by Friday.
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Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, Gemini Man, Zombieland: Double Tap, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, The Addams Family, Joker, Jexi