Saturday Update: Disney reports The Call of the Wild snagged a strong $8.049 million on opening day Friday, including Thursday night’s $1 million previews, claiming first place for the day. The Harrison Ford-led adaptation is well out-performing expectations as it topped the first days of similar films Dolittle ($6.21 million) and A Dog’s Way Home ($3.27 million). Our current estimates stand north of $26 million for opening weekend.
In fact, Call is officially in a too-close-to-call race for first this weekend as Sonic the Hedgehog remains on track for a healthy sophomore frame of its own with another $6.4 million on Friday, though that was down over 69 percent from opening day last Friday (Valentine’s Day). Sonic has tallied $86.7 million in its first eight days domestically and may still be the slight favorite to still win the weekend with $28 million or more.
Brahms: The Boy 2 opened to $2.2 million on Friday, in line with expectations. That’s comparable to the $2.34 million first day of Gretel and Hansel a few weeks back, as well as other recent horror/thriller titles. We’re estimating around $5.6 million for opening weekend.
Birds of Prey took fourth with another $1.92 million yesterday, down 69 percent from last Friday and bringing its domestic cume to $67.44 million after 15 days. Bad Boys for Life capped the top five with $1.565 million on Friday, now standing at $186.9 million domestically.
Meanwhile, Impractical Jokers: The Movie had a very encouraging start with nearly $950K earned on opening day from 357 locations (including $157,269 from 345 locations in Thursday night previews). That’s enough to crack the top ten despite its limited release. The film earned the highest per-theater-average of major film in release on Friday with $2,668 per location.
Last but not least, Emma. opened to $80K from 5 locations in platform release.
Early weekend estimates are below, to be followed by studio estimates on Sunday and final results on Monday.
Early Weekend Estimates (Domestic)
FRI, FEB. 21 – SUN, FEB. 23
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sonic The Hedgehog | $28,000,000 | -52% | 4,198 | 31 | $6,670 | $108,301,671 | 2 | Paramount |
| 2 | The Call Of The Wild | $27,500,000 | — | 3,752 | — | $7,329 | $27,500,000 | 1 | 20th Century Studios |
| 3 | Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) | $7,500,000 | -56% | 3,565 | -671 | $2,104 | $73,024,015 | 3 | Warner Bros. |
| 4 | Bad Boys For Life | $5,900,000 | -49% | 2,972 | -213 | $1,985 | $191,215,645 | 6 | Sony / Columbia |
| 5 | Brahms: The Boy II | $5,600,000 | — | 2,151 | — | $2,603 | $5,600,000 | 1 | STX Entertainment |
| 6 | 1917 | $4,800,000 | -41% | 2,725 | -359 | $1,761 | $152,387,469 | 9 | Universal Pictures |
| 7 | Fantasy Island | $4,300,000 | -65% | 2,784 | 0 | $1,545 | $20,287,070 | 2 | Sony Pictures |
| 8 | Parasite | $3,500,000 | -38% | 1,805 | -196 | $1,939 | $49,321,493 | 20 | NEON |
| 9 | Jumanji: The Next Level | $3,100,000 | -44% | 2,126 | -284 | $1,458 | $311,064,423 | 11 | Sony Pictures |
| 10 | The Photograph | $3,100,000 | -75% | 2,516 | 0 | $1,232 | $17,944,640 | 2 | Universal Pictures |
| 11 | Dolittle | $2,300,000 | -53% | 2,265 | -604 | $1,015 | $74,944,290 | 6 | Universal |
| 12 | Downhill | $1,500,000 | -68% | 2,311 | 10 | $649 | $7,472,260 | 2 | Fox Searchlight |
| 13 | The Gentlemen | $1,300,000 | -53% | 1,133 | -669 | $1,147 | $33,697,342 | 5 | STX Entertainment |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Impractical Jokers: The Movie | $2,700,000 | — | 357 | — | $7,563 | $2,700,000 | 1 | truTV |
| 2 | Las Píldoras De Mi Novio | $1,200,000 | — | 350 | — | $3,429 | $1,200,000 | 1 | Lionsgate / Pantelion Films |
| 3 | Knives Out | $1,200,000 | -44% | 949 | -205 | $1,264 | $163,839,187 | 13 | Lionsgate |
| 4 | Little Women | $760,000 | -51% | 633 | -402 | $1,201 | $107,002,271 | 9 | Sony Pictures |
| 5 | Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker | $540,000 | -61% | 558 | -434 | $968 | $514,103,372 | 10 | Disney |
| 6 | Frozen II | $500,000 | -41% | 424 | -292 | $1,179 | $476,576,353 | 14 | Disney |
| 7 | Jojo Rabbit | $485,000 | -51% | 385 | -99 | $1,260 | $32,747,604 | 19 | Fox Searchlight |
| 8 | Just Mercy | $320,000 | -59% | 423 | -423 | $757 | $35,461,640 | 9 | Warner Bros. |
| 9 | Spies in Disguise | $250,000 | -48% | 263 | -256 | $951 | $66,219,659 | 9 | 20th Century Fox |
| 10 | Ford v. Ferrari | $180,000 | -51% | 214 | -79 | $841 | $117,345,555 | 15 | 20th Century Fox |
| 11 | The Turning | $135,000 | -75% | 315 | -295 | $429 | $15,353,235 | 5 | Universal Pictures |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emma. | $250,000 | — | 5 | — | $50,000 | $250,000 | 1 | Focus Features |
| 2 | Bombshell | $65,000 | -49% | 80 | -48 | $813 | $31,640,800 | 11 | Lionsgate |
| 3 | Underwater | $45,000 | -2% | 85 | 8 | $529 | $17,175,207 | 7 | 20th Century Fox |
Friday Update: Disney reports this morning that The Call of the Wild earned $1 million from yesterday’s previews beginning at 6pm. That tops the $925K start by Dolittle last month, and nearly doubles the $535K start of A Dog’s Way Home earlier last year.
The Harrison Ford-led adaptation is on an early trajectory now to come in north of pre-release forecasts, and could even have a shot at $20 million for the weekend (though that it is not ours or the studio’s official estimate at this time).
Meanwhile, Brahms: The Boy 2 posted $375K from 1,800 locations yesterday. That registers a bit under Gretel and Hansel ($475K) and The Turning ($425K) earlier this year, translating to an opening weekend that will likely come in close to modest expectations.
Overall, Sonic the Hedgehog will easily retain the top spot in its sophomore frame following last weekend’s breakout debut.
More updates to follow throughout the weekend.
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