Saturday Update: Alien: Covenant led the way on Friday with an estimated $15.35 million opening day, including Thursday evening’s start. By comparison, that comes fairly close to Mad Max: Fury Road‘s $16.6 million first day two years ago, although 28.5 percent behind the $21.466 million opening day of Prometheus in June 2012. The studio is projecting a weekend of $40.2 million, which would easily be enough to put it in first place of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2‘s third frame.
Speaking of Guardians, the Marvel sequel added $8.804 million yesterday to bring its domestic haul up to $275.5 million. A second place finish with around $35 million appears likely based on that figure.
Everything, Everything debuted with $4.72 million in third place yesterday, eyeing a weekend tally in the vicinity of $11 million. Snatched added $2.275 million to begin its second frame, looking toward a $7.3 million sophomore showing. Meanwhile, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul scored $2 million yesterday as it heads toward an opening weekend around $7.2 million.
Key weekend projections are below. Studio estimates will be published tomorrow.
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alien: Covenant | $40,000,000 | — | 3,761 | — | $10,635 | $40,000,000 | 1 | Fox |
| 2 | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 | $35,000,000 | -46% | 4,347 | 0 | $8,052 | $301,737,474 | 3 | Disney |
| 3 | Everything, Everything | $11,000,000 | — | 2,801 | — | $3,927 | $11,000,000 | 1 | Warner Bros. |
| 4 | Snatched | $7,300,000 | -63% | 3,511 | 10 | $2,079 | $32,482,600 | 2 | Fox |
| 5 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul | $7,200,000 | — | 3,157 | — | $2,281 | $7,200,000 | 1 | 20th Century Fox |
| 6 | King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword | $6,500,000 | -58% | 3,702 | 0 | $1,756 | $26,851,221 | 2 | Warner Bros. |
| 7 | The Fate of the Furious | $3,000,000 | -44% | 2,287 | -780 | $1,312 | $219,710,300 | 6 | Universal |
| 8 | The Boss Baby | $2,600,000 | -42% | 2,071 | -840 | $1,255 | $165,952,550 | 8 | Fox / DreamWorks Animation |
| 9 | Beauty and the Beast | $2,300,000 | -52% | 1,792 | -380 | $1,283 | $497,679,049 | 10 | Disney |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | How to Be A Latin Lover | $1,700,000 | -56% | 948 | -175 | $1,793 | $28,958,810 | 4 | Lionsgate / Pantelion |
| 2 | Lowriders | $1,050,000 | -56% | 365 | 70 | $2,877 | $4,078,385 | 2 | BH Tilt |
| 3 | Gifted | $765,000 | -50% | 824 | -602 | $928 | $22,899,058 | 7 | Fox Searchlight |
| 4 | Smurfs: The Lost Village | $600,000 | -47% | 652 | -953 | $920 | $43,092,004 | 7 | Sony / Columbia |
| 5 | Born in China | $460,000 | -50% | 575 | -480 | $800 | $13,226,047 | 5 | Disneynature |
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Friday Report: Sources report this morning that Alien: Covenant launched with an estimated $4.2 million from Thursday night’s opening shows in around 3,000 theaters. Comparison are a bit thin at this point with the most relevant likely being Mad Max: Fury Road‘s $3.7 million start two years ago this month. That film, however, rode a wave of stellar reviews and word of mouth throughout opening weekend that helped it offset the usual trajectory of franchise sequels driven by fans.
For other comparisons, Independence Day: Resurgence posted a similar $4.0 million last summer. Prometheus took in $3.56 million back in June 2012, but that was strictly for midnight shows before the proliferation of 7pm launches.
Also, Everything, Everything scored $525,000 to begin its weekend. That comes in noticeably behind the $1.37 million start by Me Before You last summer, although generally within the realm of expectations for the low-budget young adult adaptation.
Meanwhile, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul took in $150,000 last night. The most relevant comparisons there would be Middle School and Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules with its early year opening in 2011, but neither reported pre-Friday grosses.
We’ll have further analysis and a better window into weekend projections with official Friday estimates from the studios on Saturday morning.
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