"Justice League" Opens at #1 Spot

[JamesG]

Justice League Stumbles in Domestic Debut as Wonder Delivers Wondrous Results
by Brad Brevet
November 19, 2017


Warner Bros. and DC Comics' Justice League struggled compared to expectations as it failed to top $100 million over the course of its three-day weekend.

Meanwhile, it was Lionsgate's Wonder that captured audience attention, debuting with an excellent $27 million, topping Thor: Ragnarok for a second place finish, positioning itself well for the holiday weeks ahead.

Additionally, A24's Lady Bird continued its impressive run in limited release as it makes way for a nationwide debut over Thanksgiving weekend.







With an estimated $96 million, Justice League managed to top the weekend, but fell short of the low end of expectations.

Despite bringing in $13 million from Thursday previews, which was $2 million more than Wonder Woman hauled in from preview screenings ahead of a $103.2 million debut, Justice League just couldn't crack the century mark, delivering the lowest opening for any of the films in DC's Extended Universe thus far.



Opening day audiences gave the film a "B+" CinemaScore and of that audience, 58% were male vs. 42% female and 69% were over the age of 25. It will be very interesting to see where the film goes from here as the four previous films in the DC Extended Universe have shown a variety of multipliers following their opening weekend.

In the end, we might be looking at a domestic run that could fall short of $200 million, though we're anticipating a finish just a bit over, similar to Godzilla's $200 million run in 2014 following its $93 million debut.



Internationally, the film brought in an estimated $185.5 million from 65 markets for a $281.5 million worldwide debut.

This makes it one of the top twenty-five worldwide openings all-time and the twentieth ranked international opening over, besting the $185.1 million overseas opening from The Avengers, though it should be noted The Avengers debuted in only 39 markets during its opening weekend as international and worldwide opening comparisons are rarely apples-to-apples.







In second place is Lionsgate's Wonder, Stephen Chbosky's adaptation of R.J. Palacio's #1 New York Times bestseller, with an estimated $27 million.

Strong reviews and group sales helped push the film well above industry expectations and audiences liked what they saw, awarding the film a rare "A+" CinemaScore.

We're expecting a strong couple of weeks ahead as the film looks to take advantage of the holidays to come as we're expecting this one to top $100 million domestically.







Disney and Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok falls to third place with an estimated $21.7 million in its third week in release. Justice League certainly took a chunk of its audience as it dipped over 60%.

Ragnarok's domestic cume now stands just shy of $250 million.



Internationally, Thor: Ragnarok added an estimated $24.1 million pushing the film's international cume to $490.7 million for a global tally that currently stands at $738.1 million, making it the ninth largest release of 2017 to date.

The film is still tracking +11% ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in the international marketplace and +17% ahead of Doctor Strange.







Paramount's Daddy's Home dropped 50% for a fourth place finish with an estimated $14.8 million.

Fox's Murder on the Orient Express dipped 52% to land in fifth with an estimated $13.8 million. Both films crossed $50 million domestically this weekend.







Just outside the top five, in sixth place, is Sony and AFFIRM's The Star. The faith-based animated feature delivered an estimated $10 million opening, which isn't exactly a stellar start, but the film did receive an "A" CinemaScore.

Looking ahead, The Star will look to play through the holidays, but it will have to battle for family eye balls as Pixar's Coco begins hitting theaters on Wednesday.







A24's Lady Bird impressed once again, delivering an estimated $2.5 million from 238 theaters (+201) for an eighth place finish.

The film has enjoyed a strong platform release, grossing $4.7 million domestically, and it will expand nationwide over the Thanksgiving holiday.







Just behind it is another strong player still in limited release, Fox Searchlight's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which brought in an estimated $1.1 million from just 53 locations (+49) in its second weekend.

Three Billboards will expand to ~425 theaters on Wednesday, November 22 and is looking at expanding to 750-1,000 locations by December 1 depending on how it plays into the future, though things are currently looking good for the Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award winner.







In limited release, Sony's Roman J. Israel, Esq. brought in an estimated $65,000 from four theaters ($16,250 PTA). The Denzel Washington starrer will expand next week, beginning on Wednesday, into ~1,500 theaters.

Additionally, GKIDs' The Breadwinner brought in an estimated $19,530 from three theaters ($6,510 PTA) in New York and Los Angeles. The film is looking to add several screens next Friday before a larger expansion on December 1.

And IFC's Sweet Virginia brought in an estimated $5,084 from one theater.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4346&p=.htm









November 17-19, 2017 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Justice League $96,000,000
2. Wonder $27,050,000
3. Thor: Ragnarok $21,786,000 / $247,382,170
4. Daddy's Home 2 $14,800,000 / $50,576,447
5. Murder on the Orient Express $13,800,000 / $51,728,362
6. The Star $10,000,000
7. A Bad Moms Christmas $6,890,000 / $50,912,155
8. Lady Bird $2,529,915 / $4,702,390
9. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri $1,115,000 / $1,549,225
10. Jigsaw $1,070,000 / $36,450,233