"Solo: A Star Wars Story" Gets #1 for 2nd Weekend

[JamesG]

Solo isn't Flying So High, Delivering Soft Memorial Day Weekend Debut
by Brad Brevet
May 27, 2018


Disney and Lucasfilms's Solo: A Star Wars Story topped the Memorial Day holiday weekend box office, but the film fell well short of expectations, raising a few valid questions.

Was it too soon to release another Star Wars movie five months after the last installment and was the competition just too stiff from the likes of Deadpool 2 and Disney's own Avengers: Infinity War?







With an estimated $83.3 million over the three-day weekend, Solo: A Star Wars Story is the weekend's #1 film and while Disney is currently anticipating a $101 million, the question remains as to whether it will be able to bring in enough to reach $100 million over the four-day holiday frame.

Disney entered the weekend projecting a performance anywhere from $130-150 million for the four-day weekend and with a reported $300 million price tag before prints and advertising this weekend's performance is extremely disappointing.




While competition from Deadpool 2 and Avengers: Infinity War certainly played a role in Solo's struggles, the small, five month window between the December release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Solo didn't help matters.

Disney released the previous three Star Wars films in December, giving each a year's worth of breathing room, this was the first attempt at a summer start and had the price tag and expectations not been so high perhaps the smaller performance wouldn't appear to be such an issue, but as it stands this would appear to be a failure from a theatrical standpoint.




One caveat to that point is the live-action blockbuster landscape is relatively wide open between now and June 22 when Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom hits theaters. While Solo, Avengers and Deadpool will continue to fight for holdover audiences, should Solo hold on well next weekend it could slightly improve its position domestically.

At this time, however, a $205-230 million domestic performance looks likely and its international debut isn't helping matters. Internationally, Solo brought in a meager $65 million from virtually the entire international marketplace with Japan left as the lone major market yet to see release.







Fox and Marvel's Deadpool 2 finished in second place with an estimated $42.7 million, dropping a hefty 66% in its second weekend. The film is expected to deliver a $53.5 million four-day weekend pushing its domestic cume a couple million shy of $220 million.

Internationally, Deadpool 2 nearly topped Solo in its second weekend with an estimated $57 million, pushing the film's overseas cume just shy of $280 million for a global tally totaling $487.1 million. The film opens in Japan on June 1.







Disney and Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War finished in third, bringing in an estimated $17 million for the three-day. The film is looking at a $21 million four-day performance which will push its domestic cume over $627 million and move it up two spots on the all-time domestic chart, landing in sixth just ahead of 2012's The Avengers ($623.3m).

Internationally, Infinity War added $32.5 million for an international total that now stands at $1.283 billion and a global cume topping $1.9 billion, maintaining its position as the fourth largest global release of all-time.







Finishing in fourth is Paramount's Book Club with an estimated $9.4 million for the three-day and looking at a solid $12 million for the four-day weekend.

The film continues to play well to its target demographic, as its domestic cume pushes toward $35 million after 11 days in release.







Rounding out the top five is Warner Bros. and New Line's Life of the Party with an estimated $5.1 million for the three-day weekend and looking at a four-day performance around $6.5 million for a domestic cume just over $40 million after 18 days in release.







Outside the top five, Global Road's Show Dogs fell much harder than expected. The family-friendly feature dipping 49% in its second weekend, pulling in an estimated $3 million for the three-day and expected to deliver $4.1 million for the holiday frame.

The film's domestic cume will end just a bit shy of $12 million after eleven days in release.







Paramount's A Quiet Place finished ninth with an estimated $2.2 million for the three-day and $2.7 million for the four-day, pushing its domestic cume over $180 million.

Additionally, the film brought in another $4.7 million internationally this weekend as its worldwide cume has now topped $310 million.







In tenth position is Magnolia's documentary RBG, this weekend delivering an estimated $1.1 million for the three-day weekend and looking at a four-day performance around $1.25 million for a domestic cume nearing $6 million.

This makes RBG Magnolia's third highest grossing release of all-time with a chance it tops 2017's I Am Not Your Negro ($7.1m) to become the studio's all-time highest grossing title.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4402&p=.htm









May 25-27, 2018 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Solo: A Star Wars Story $83,325,000
2. Deadpool 2 $42,700,000 / $207,407,352
3. Avengers: Infinity War $16,494,000 / $621,688,638
4. Book Club $9,450,000 / $31,834,516
5. Life of the Party $5,115,000 / $39,102,348
6. Breaking In $4,055,000 / $35,643,385
7. Show Dogs $3,078,235 / $10,672,960
8. Overboard $3,000,000 / $41,494,413
9. A Quiet Place $2,230,000 / $179,993,607
10. RBG $1,120,000 / $5,636,638

[JamesG]

Solo Slumps in Second Weekend While RBG and Overboard Reach Studio Milestones
by Brad Brevet
June 3, 2018


There were no big surprises this weekend as Disney and Lucasfilms's Solo: A Star Wars Story suffered a steep drop following a disappointing debut and the week's new releases made hardly a dent.

STX's Adrift led the way, though fell short of expectations, while BH Tilt's micro-budgeted feature Upgrade delivered solid results based on its budget and expectations.

If there was a "big" surprise it came by way of Paramount's Action Point, which wasn't expected to do much to begin with, but flopped to the tune of just $2.3 million from 2,032 theaters. Meanwhile, a couple milestones were reached for both Magnolia and Pantelion on the backs of strong runs for both RBG and Overboard respectively.







With an estimated $29.29 million, Disney and Lucasfilms's Solo: A Star Wars Story dipped 65% this weekend, a result that was to be expected following the film's steady decline during the week after its disappointing debut last weekend. The film's domestic cume ended the weekend just shy of $150 million.

Internationally, Solo brought in an estimated $30.3 million for an overseas total that now stands at $115.3 million and a global cume totaling $264.2 million.







Fox and Marvel's Deadpool 2 delivered a second place finish with an estimated $23.3 million, pushing the film's domestic cume just shy of $255 million as it enters its third week in release.

Additionally, the film climbed back to the top of the international charts this weekend, bringing in an estimated $41.5 million, pushing its overseas cume to $344 million for a global tally just shy of $600 million, moving into the top 150 all-time.







In third, STX's survival drama Adrift brought in an estimated $11.5 million from 3,015 locations. This puts the debut performance for the $35 million production on par with pre-weekend comps including McFarland, USA and Everything, Everything and just ahead of The Mountain Between Us.

One difference between those films and Adrift, however, is Adrift's "B" CinemaScore compared to the "A-" earned by Mountain and Everything, as well as the "A" for McFarland. All told, Adrift could struggle to reach $30 million domestically as it must contend with a continued barrage of summer releases.







Disney and Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War brought in an estimated $10.37 million, landing in fourth position as it kicks off its sixth weekend in release with a domestic cume that now stands at $642.8 million.

Internationally, the film added another $24.3 million this weekend, pushing its overseas cume to $1.33 billion for a global tally that is now just $35 million shy of becoming only the fourth film to have ever topped $2 billion worldwide.







Paramount's Book Club rounded out the top five with an estimated $6.8 million, pushing the film's domestic cume to $47 million after 17 days in release.







Just outside the top five we find BH Tilt's Upgrade with an estimated $4.46 million debut.

The micro-budgeted feature surpassed Mojo's pre-weekend expectations as it took advantage of the best reviews among the new titles this weekend and is on track for a solid run, possibly topping $10 million.







It isn't until ninth place that we find Paramount's Action Point.

Led by Johnny Knoxville, the $19 million production brought in a mere $2.3 million from 2,032 theaters, ranking among the worst openings ever for a film debuting in 2,000+ locations.







Rounding out the top ten is Overboard, which brought in an estimated $1.975 million for a domestic total of $45.5 million, topping the $44.46 million for Instructions Not Included to become the highest grossing release for Lionsgate's Pantelion label.







Outside the top ten, Magnolia's documentary RBG grossed an estimated $1.1 million this weekend from 432 theaters, pushing the film's domestic gross to $7.87 million.

This makes RBG Magnolia's highest grossing domestic release of all-time, topping 2017's I am Not Your Negro ($7.1 million), which went on to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary.







In limited release, The Orchard and MoviePass teamed to release American Animals, which the two partnered to buy North American rights for $3 million following its Sundance debut.

The film debuted with a healthy $140,629 this weekend from four theaters in New York and Los Angeles for a strong $35,157 per theater average and it will continue to expand throughout the month.

Additionally, IFC's A Kid Like Jake opened in one theater with an estimated $9,063 and FilmRise's Breath brought in an estimated $5,700 from one location.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4404&p=.htm









June 1-3, 2018 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Solo: A Star Wars Story $29,296,000 / $148,888,692
2. Deadpool 2 $23,325,000 / $254,652,438
3. Adrift $11,510,000
4. Avengers: Infinity War $10,371,000 / $642,869,932
5. Book Club $6,800,000 / $47,316,748
6. Upgrade $4,458,000
7. Life of the Party $3,455,000 / $46,300,630
8. Breaking In $2,815,000 / $41,346,015
9. Action Point $2,315,000
10. Overboard $1,975,000 / $45,523,194

[TMC]

Mild language warning

“Solo: A Star Wars Story” is a flop. That happens, any film series can have the occasional misfire. What is worrisome for Disney here, is that Solo isn’t just a fluke. Four pictures into their reign over Star Wars, the clear and unmistakable picture emerging is that of a downward trend. What this trajectory suggests, is that the public confidence in Star Wars is waning, and that the brand is in a state of decline.

In this postmortem analysis, @AndreEinherjar will give his take on how things could spiral this far out of control, and what measures can be done to fix it. In so doing, he will begin by establishing how the original Star Wars trilogy became the institution it is regarded as, how Star Wars won the hearts and minds of generation upon generation since, and why Disney bought it in the first place.

Then he’ll describe how under Disney and Kathleen Kennedy’s Lucasfilms, the audience for Star Wars has been contracting; before explaining why this happening, and the turmoil behind the scenes because of it.

Finally, suggestions for how they can course correct to get out of the quagmire Star Wars currently finds itself in will be provided.