Weekend Estimates: The Curse of La Llorona Haunts w/ $20M+; Shazam! Adds $16M+; Breakthrough ($16M+ 5-Day) Opens Strong

Saturday Update: Warner Bros. reports this morning that The Curse of La Llorona is coming in slightly ahead of weekend forecasts with an estimated $11.8 million opening day on Friday, including Thursday night earnings. That’s more than 42 percent ahead of Truth or Dare‘s $8.3 million first day last April, although that film didn’t open on Good Friday when many were out of school and work. Weekend projections remain fluid until a clearer sense of how frontloaded the first day proves to be, but topping $20 million for the weekend now appears likely.

Shazam! is holding on strong with another $6.155 million in the bank yesterday, bringing its 15-day tally to $110.2 million. A third frame north of $16 million is the target.

Breakthrough continued its opening with $3.811 million on Friday, bringing the three-day cume to $7.3 million. The faith-based drama has lived up to expectations over the long Easter frame and looks to be aiming for $13.5 million this weekend. That would net around $17 million for its overall five-day start.

Last among the openers, Disneynature’s Penguins continues to perform slightly below expectations with $901K on Friday. That gives the pic $1.85 million after three days in release. We’re expecting around $2.5 million or slightly more for the weekend, aiming for a $3.5 million five-day bow.

Early weekend estimates are below with updated studio estimates to follow on Sunday.

Early Weekend Estimates (Domestic)
FRI, APR. 19 – SUN, APR. 21

WIDE (1000+)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 The Curse of La Llorona $23,000,000 3,372 $6,821 $23,000,000 1 Warner Bros. / New Line
2 Shazam! $16,500,000 -33% 4,183 -123 $3,945 $16,500,000 3 Warner Bros.
3 Breakthrough $13,500,000 2,824 $4,780 $17,006,925 1 20th Century Fox
4 Captain Marvel $8,500,000 -1% 2,653 -322 $3,204 $399,426,133 7 Disney
5 Little (2019) $8,400,000 -45% 2,667 0 $3,150 $29,329,410 2 Universal Pictures
6 Dumbo $6,900,000 -27% 3,225 -481 $2,140 $101,354,910 4 Walt Disney Pictures
7 Pet Sematary $4,500,000 -54% 3,146 -439 $1,430 $49,233,075 3 Paramount Pictures
8 Missing Link $4,500,000 -24% 3,437 24 $1,309 $13,107,241 2 United Artists Releasing
9 Us (2019) $4,000,000 -41% 2,264 -504 $1,767 $170,181,620 5 Universal Pictures
10 Hellboy $3,600,000 -70% 3,303 0 $1,090 $19,396,271 2 Lionsgate / Summit
11 After (2019) $2,700,000 -55% 2,138 0 $1,263 $10,635,149 2 Aviron Pictures
12 Penguins $2,600,000 1,815 $1,433 $3,551,757 1 Disney / Disneynature
13 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World $775,000 4% 1,062 240 $730 $159,045,140 12 Universal / DreamWorks Animation

LIMITED (100 — 999)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Kalank $1,500,000 320 $4,688 $2,010,185 1 FIP
2 Five Feet Apart $690,000 -55% 709 -764 $973 $45,142,093 6 CBS Films
3 Unplanned $650,000 -63% 839 -563 $775 $17,267,243 4 Pure Flix
4 Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral $135,000 -60% 196 -279 $689 $72,971,234 8 Lionsgate

PLATFORM (1 — 99)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 No Manches Frida 2 $57,000 -68% 73 -62 $781 $9,164,474 6 Lionsgate / Pantelion Films
2 The Aftermath $45,000 -72% 85 -149 $529 $1,557,256 6 Fox Searchlight
3 Fast Color $40,000 25 $1,600 $40,000 1 Lionsgate
4 Ash is Purest White $12,000 -55% 15 -9 $800 $12,000 6 Cohen Media Group
5 Faith, Hope & Love $5,031 -40% 5 -2 $1,006 $187,268 6 ArtAffects Entertainment
6 Girls of the Sun $4,500 -42% 10 2 $450 $4,500 2 Cohen Media Group

Friday Report: Warner Bros. reports this morning that The Curse of La Llorona began its opening weekend with an estimated $2.75 million from Thursday night’s first shows. That comes in far ahead of Truth or Dare‘s $750K start in mid-April last year, while topping the recent Pet Sematary remake ($2.3 million) and Escape Room ($2.345 million). It should be noted, however, that none of those films opened directly ahead of a holiday. Due to many being out of work and school on Good Friday today, comparisons are skewed with a significant amount of front-loaded expected ahead of Saturday.

Meanwhile, Breakthrough added a strong $1.548 million on Thursday, down just 18 percent from opening day on Wednesday. The faith-based drama has tallied $3.436 million in two days as it heads into the weekend.

Last but not least, Penguins added $456K yesterday for an updated two-day domestic cume of $956K heading into its first weekend.

More updates throughout the weekend.