Sunday Update: While still marking a resounding success, updated estimates for Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! have come in significantly lower than Universal’s projections on Saturday morning, leading to what is now projected to be a surprising first place upset for Equalizer 2. Read here for our updated coverage.
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Saturday Update: Nearly ten years after its predecessor’s fantastic run, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! delivered on optimistic expectations with an estimated $14.277 million opening day in first place. Opening day was 45 percent over the first film’s $9.865 million and 13 percent ahead of its 2018 inflation-adjusted $12.586 million. Universal estimates this morning that the weekend tally will approach $39 million, delivering a first place debut — a daily and weekend position that the original 2008 film was never able to enjoy due to opening as a counter-programmer on the same weekend as The Dark Knight.
The Equalizer 2 generated a strong opening day of $13.555 million in second place, marking the latest hit for Denzel Washington in his first sequel. Yesterday’s figure was 8.5 percent ahead of its predecessor’s $12.495 million opening in September 2014. Sony estimates the film will earn $33.21 million through Sunday’s end, which would come in on the high end of pre-release expectations.
Hotel Transylvania 3 ($6.7 million), Ant-Man and the Wasp ($4.493 million), and Incredibles 2 ($3.154 million) rounded out the top five yesterday while Unfriended: Dark Web opened in ninth place with $1.396 million.
Meanwhile, Blindspotting opened with $143,000 from 14 locations yesterday, resulting in a very healthy $10,214 per-theater average.
Preliminary weekend estimates are below, including official studio projections from Fox, Global Road, Sony, and Universal. Updated studio estimates to follow on Sunday.
Early Weekend Estimates (Domestic)
FRI, JUL. 20 – SUN, JUL. 22
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again | $39,000,000 | — | 3,317 | — | $11,758 | $39,000,000 | 1 | Universal Pictures |
| 2 | The Equalizer 2 | $33,210,000 | — | 3,388 | — | $9,802 | $33,210,000 | 1 | Sony / Columbia |
| 3 | Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | $21,775,000 | -51% | 4,267 | 0 | $5,103 | $89,714,268 | 4 | Sony / Columbia |
| 4 | Ant-Man and the Wasp | $15,300,000 | -47% | 3,778 | -428 | $4,050 | $163,798,292 | 3 | Disney |
| 5 | Incredibles 2 | $11,000,000 | -32% | 3,164 | -541 | $3,477 | $556,815,440 | 6 | Disney |
| 6 | Skyscraper | $10,640,000 | -57% | 3,822 | 40 | $2,784 | $46,429,120 | 2 | Universal Pictures |
| 7 | Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom | $10,280,000 | -37% | 3,381 | -314 | $3,041 | $383,181,505 | 5 | Universal |
| 8 | The First Purge | $4,600,000 | -51% | 2,331 | -707 | $1,973 | $59,811,365 | 3 | Universal Pictures |
| 9 | Unfriended: Dark Web | $3,300,000 | — | 1,546 | — | $2,135 | $3,300,000 | 1 | OTL Releasing |
| 10 | Sorry To Bother You | $2,600,000 | -38% | 1,050 | 245 | $2,476 | $10,029,204 | 3 | Annapurna Pictures |
| 11 | Sicario: Day of the Soldado | $1,810,000 | -53% | 1,448 | -558 | $1,250 | $47,015,653 | 4 | Sony / Black Label |
| 12 | Ocean’s 8 | $1,600,000 | -45% | 1,002 | -616 | $1,597 | $135,664,512 | 7 | Warner Bros. |
| 13 | Uncle Drew | $1,500,000 | -53% | 1,237 | -465 | $1,213 | $40,002,474 | 4 | Lionsgate / Summit |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tag (2018) | $695,000 | -46% | 581 | -401 | $1,196 | $52,837,783 | 6 | Warner Bros. |
| 2 | Deadpool 2 | $445,000 | -43% | 373 | -215 | $1,193 | $317,092,440 | 10 | Fox |
| 3 | Avengers: Infinity War | $400,000 | -36% | 294 | -81 | $1,361 | $676,833,522 | 13 | Disney |
| 4 | Solo: A Star Wars Story | $230,000 | -44% | 208 | -107 | $1,106 | $212,404,307 | 9 | Disney |
| 5 | Sanju | $210,000 | -59% | 112 | -111 | $1,875 | $7,620,868 | 4 | FIP |
| 6 | Book Club | $153,000 | -47% | 241 | -70 | $635 | $68,166,184 | 10 | Paramount Pictures |
| 7 | A Quiet Place | $70,000 | -16% | 108 | -24 | $648 | $187,740,159 | 16 | Paramount |
| 8 | Black Panther | $20,000 | 44% | 154 | 126 | $130 | $699,926,862 | 23 | Disney |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blindspotting | $380,000 | — | 14 | — | $27,143 | $380,000 | 1 | Lionsgate / Summit |
| 2 | Show Dogs | $20,577 | -51% | 83 | -37 | $248 | $20,577 | 10 | Global Road Entertainment |
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Friday Report: Universal’s Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! is off to a strong start this weekend with $3.4 million in Thursday night revenue. That came from 7pm shows at 2,850 locations. Given the usual caveats for comparisons to Thursday night performers, that figure matches the $3.4 million of Ghostbusters two years ago, while coming in just behind the $4.0 million of Ocean’s 8 earlier this summer — the latter film debuting a few hours earlier on Thursday. Respectively, those titles grossed $46 million and $41.6 million opening weekends.
Sony’s Equalizer 2 is off to a positive start all its own as Denzel Washington’s first career sequel posted $3.1 million yesterday. Those shows began at 4pm in 2,934 theaters. The sequel’s most relevant/recent comp is likely to be Sicario: Day of the Soldado, which earned $2.0 million from opening night shows at 7pm on its way to a $19 million weekend.
Thursday night earnings for Unfriended: Dark Web were not yet available at the time of this story’s publishing.
For the weekend, it’s expected that Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation will round out the top three, but it’s possible for it to be in a close race for second with fellow Sony title Equalizer 2.
For additional pre-weekend analysis and tracking, check out our earlier weekend forecast. For continued updates throughout the weekend, follow the Boxoffice team on Twitter.
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