Saturday Update: Universal’s Pacific Rim: Uprising scored $10.362 million on opening day Friday, including Thursday evening grosses. That’s generally in line with pre-release expectations as the sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 film came in 29 percent behind its predecessor’s first day and about 15 percent ahead of last week’s Tomb Raider Friday showing. Uprising should easily claim the first place spot this weekend with a $25-27 million frame, unseating five-time champ Black Panther.
As is important to note, Uprising‘s most important play is in overseas markets, and the film is off to a healthy start in that regard. Universal estimates this morning that its weekend in China alone will net $65 million. Internationally, they estimate $120.5 million (including China) for the weekend, giving the film an overall global weekend estimate of $145.8 million.
Speaking of Panther, the Marvel epic eased 41 percent from last Friday to $4.386 million yesterday. With $618.64 million in the domestic bank, the film will overtake Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($619.9 million) and The Avengers ($623.4 million) for fifth place on the all-time list on Saturday, making it not only the biggest earner in Marvel Cinematic Universe history, but the top-grossing comic book release of all-time (not accounting for inflation). This weekend should net around $16 million.
I Can Only Imagine displayed incredible holding power with a 39 percent drop from last week’s opening day to $3.791 million on Friday, giving it $28.3 million in just eight days of play. With Easter ahead, we expect strong holds throughout the next week-plus. Its sophomore frame could ring up another $14 million-plus.
Tomb Raider slipped 68 percent from opening day to $2.85 million yesterday, facing stiff competition from Pacific Rim and losing many premium format screens. With $34.2 million earned in eight days, look for a second weekend tally around $9.8 million.
Sherlock Gnomes rounded out the top five on Friday with a $2.8 million opening day. That comes in a bit below expectations, but with only 15 percent of schools out on Friday and Spring Break ahead for many in the country, Paramount expects a healthy multiplier in the long run. This weekend could yield around $12.5 million at its current pace.
Meanwhile, Love, Simon posted a solid hold with $2.355 million yesterday (down 49 percent from opening day) and an eight-day tally of $18.25 million. Strong word of mouth could help the film grab around $8 million this weekend, per studio estimates.
The remaining three openers were bunched together in the bottom three spots of the top ten: Paul, Apostle of Christ fell shy of our pre-release tracking reports with a $1.66 million opening day (largely softened by its atypical location count from Sony faith-based films and heavy competition from the breakout of I Can Only Imagine); Midnight Sun and Unsane were generally on par with expectations, posting $1.48 million and $1.356 million opening days, respectively. Early weekend estimates for all three (Paul‘s coming officially from Sony) are in the chart below.
Last but not least, Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs posted $555,585 from 27 locations on opening day in limited release. That represents a $20,577 per-screen average, another successful debut driven by the Anderson faithful. Comparisons to his past films aren’t particularly relevant at this stage since The Grand Budapest Hotel opened in just four theaters four years ago ($260,447 opening day), while The Fantastic Mr. Fox also debuted in four locations ($71,614 opening day).
Boxoffice and select studios’ early weekend estimates are below. Check back tomorrow for updated weekend estimates from the studios.
Early Weekend Estimates (Domestic)
FRI, MAR. 23 – SUN, MAR. 25
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pacific Rim Uprising | $26,500,000 | — | 3,708 | — | $7,147 | $26,500,000 | 1 | Universal |
| 2 | Black Panther | $16,000,000 | -40% | 3,370 | -464 | $4,748 | $630,258,236 | 6 | Disney |
| 3 | I Can Only Imagine | $14,400,000 | -16% | 2,253 | 624 | $6,391 | $38,879,491 | 2 | Roadside Attractions |
| 4 | Sherlock Gnomes | $12,500,000 | — | 3,662 | — | $3,413 | $12,500,000 | 1 | Paramount / MGM |
| 5 | Tomb Raider | $9,800,000 | -59% | 3,854 | 0 | $2,543 | $41,118,108 | 2 | Warner Bros. |
| 6 | Love, Simon | $8,000,000 | -32% | 2,434 | 32 | $3,287 | $23,895,601 | 2 | 20th Century Fox |
| 7 | A Wrinkle in Time | $7,600,000 | -53% | 3,423 | -557 | $2,220 | $73,442,607 | 3 | Walt Disney Pictures |
| 8 | Paul, Apostle of Christ | $5,100,000 | — | 1,473 | — | $3,462 | $5,100,000 | 53 | Sony Pictures Entertainment |
| 9 | Midnight Sun | $4,200,000 | — | 2,173 | — | $1,933 | $4,200,000 | 1 | Open Road |
| 10 | Game Night | $3,900,000 | -30% | 1,866 | -820 | $2,090 | $60,553,535 | 5 | Warner Bros. |
| 11 | Unsane | $3,600,000 | — | 2,023 | — | $1,780 | $3,600,000 | 1 | Bleecker Street |
| 12 | Peter Rabbit | $2,350,000 | -55% | 2,071 | -654 | $1,135 | $106,616,715 | 7 | Sony / Columbia |
| 13 | Red Sparrow | $2,100,000 | -54% | 1,482 | -1101 | $1,417 | $43,896,000 | 4 | 20th Century Fox |
| 14 | The Strangers: Prey At Night | $1,900,000 | -60% | 1,480 | -984 | $1,284 | $1,900,000 | 3 | Aviron Pictures |
| 15 | Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle | $800,000 | -51% | 1,022 | -534 | $783 | $401,618,450 | 14 | Sony / Columbia |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annihilation | $870,000 | -50% | 478 | -609 | $1,820 | $31,388,405 | 5 | Paramount Pictures |
| 2 | The Greatest Showman | $650,000 | -43% | 478 | -259 | $1,360 | $170,898,688 | 14 | Fox |
| 3 | The Shape of Water | $230,000 | -71% | 236 | -522 | $975 | $63,258,155 | 17 | Fox Searchlight |
| 4 | Star Wars: The Last Jedi | $110,000 | -37% | 150 | -61 | $733 | $619,975,809 | 15 | Disney |
| 5 | Coco | $105,000 | -43% | 144 | -33 | $729 | $209,347,528 | 18 | Disney |
| 6 | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri | $96,500 | -64% | 125 | -157 | $772 | $54,116,738 | 24 | Fox Searchlight |
| 7 | The Hurricane Heist | $87,000 | -92% | 128 | -2155 | $680 | $5,988,958 | 3 | Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures |
| 8 | Early Man | $46,000 | -34% | 126 | -18 | $365 | $8,241,955 | 6 | Lionsgate |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isle of Dogs | $1,700,000 | — | 27 | — | $62,963 | $1,700,000 | 1 | Fox Searchlight |
| 2 | Winchester | $48,000 | -4% | 90 | -1 | $533 | $25,052,646 | 8 | Lionsgate / CBS Films |
| 3 | Hostiles | $28,000 | -46% | 50 | -52 | $560 | $29,762,046 | 14 | Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures |
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Update: Universal reports this morning that Pacific Rim: Uprising earned a solid $2.35 million from Thursday night’s opening shows at 7pm in 2,850 theaters. That comes in 35 percent behind last year’s Power Rangers as well as the original 2013 Pacific Rim, each of which earned $3.6 million on Thursday evening. The sequel remains on target for a domestic opening in the mid-$20 million range as part of its global launch.
Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane opened to $300,000 last night, which is identical to the $300,000 earned by A Cure for Wellness last year.
Meanwhile, Sherlock Gnomes and Paul, Apostle of Christ did not hold Thursday night screenings. Numbers for Midnight Sun were not yet available at the time of this report but will be added over the weekend as they are confirmed.
Reigning champ Black Panther took in $2.1 million on Thursday overall, bringing its domestic cume to $614.2 million. The film will likely yield first place to Uprising for the first time in six weekends at the domestic box office. Globally, Marvel’s blockbuster phenom stands at $1.207.2 billion through Thursday.
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