Weekend Box Office (May 4 - 6, 2018)

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND With the snap of a finger more box office records crumbled to dust as Avengers: Infinity War scored a terrific second weekend while still in complete control of the worldwide marketplace. In North America, the Marvel giant grossed an estimated $112.5M, dropping 56% from its record-breaking debut, to propel the cume to a staggering $450.8M after only 10 full days of play becoming the top-grossing movie ever from the month of April.

The decline was in the same vicinity as recent MCU films which also kicked off the summer movie season. Second weekend drops over the last few years were 56% for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 from last year, 60% for 2016's Captain America: Civil War, and 59% for Avengers: Age of Ultron from 2015. Should Infinity War follow the same trajectory that Guardians did, it would end up with $706M. But the new Thanos pic has the advantage of limited direct competition in the third weekend so it could very well hold up a little better.

Infinity War also generated the second biggest second weekend gross of all time edging out the $111.7M of Black Panther from just three months ago and trailing only the $149.2M of Star Wars: The Force Awakens during the Christmas holiday frame in 2015. The new Avengers zoomed up the all-time domestic blockbusters chart this weekend to land at number 15 right behind Ultron's $459M. By Saturday, it should crush the $500M mark and enter the all-time Top 10. Infinity War and Black Panther may very well deliver to Marvel and Disney back to back $700M+ domestic hits.

Global domination was in play again for Infinity War which captured another $162.6M this weekend from 54 overseas markets including a record-breaking $17.6M opening weekend in Russia. The new Marvel moneymaker is already the top grossing movie of all-time in Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines, and is the second highest grossing Hollywood film ever in India behind only The Jungle Book.

The international cume smashed through the $700M mark becoming the first film in 2018 to do so. The latest numbers put the new Avengers at $713.3M overseas and $1.16 billion worldwide without any sales from China. That market is expected to deliver an explosive debut when it arrives next weekend as pre-sales are already red hot there. Ultron did $235.5M and Civil War did $190.4M, but Thanos is expected to top those numbers by the end of the run in that lucrative market giving Infinity War a clear shot at reaching a $2 billion finish.

Marvel reached another box office milestone this weekend as the 19-film Marvel Cinematic Universe broke the $16 billion mark in combined global grosses. The latest numbers through this weekend are now $6.42 billion domestic and $9.59 billion international with an even 40/60 split. That's a stunning average of $843M per film! The total will soar past $17.5 billion by the end of this summer as Infinity War plays on and July brings Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Leading the way for all the other films in the marketplace was the new comedy remake Overboard which enjoyed a fantastic start opening in second place with an estimated $14.8M. MGM and Lionsgate went out in 1,623 theaters but averaged a muscular $9,088 per site powered by a diverse audience. The debut beat out the $12.3M bow of star Eugenio Derbez's How To Be a Latin Lover from a year ago, which also opened at number two nationwide. The audience breakdown was 61% female and 83% over 25 and the A- CinemaScore indicates that good word of mouth should allow the PG-13 comedy to be a popular choice next weekend for Mothers Day and beyond. Negative reviews were mostly ignored by moviegoers.

Still showing great legs was the low-budget thriller A Quiet Place with an estimated $7.6M in its fourth frame, sliding only 31% for the lowest decline among all wide releases. With a massive $159.9M, the sleeper hit is now Paramount's highest grossing film since Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation from the summer of 2015. The $17M-budgeted hit has taken in an additional $95.4M from overseas markets for a robust $255.3M global total.

Amy Schumer's latest comedy I Feel Pretty continues to fare well dropping 40% to an estimated $4.9M for a new cume of $37.8M for STX. The Warner Bros. actioner Rampage followed with an estimated $4.6M, down 36%, putting the Dwayne Johnson pic at $84.8M domestic. The international sum rose to $293.1M led by China's big $150.8M with global now at $377.9M.

Jason Reitman's new film Tully generated little interest in its debut opening to an estimated $3.2M from 1,353 locations for a weak $2,354 average. Reviews were good for the Charlize Theron starrer but the R-rated Focus release never built up too much consumer heat. This is the director's fourth consecutive film to underwhelm at the box office.

The amazing box office run of Black Panther continued. Just days away from its in-home digital release, the Marvel megahit collected another $3.1M from those who wanted to experience the Wakanda adventure in a theater. Off just 34% in its 11th consecutive weekend in the top ten, Panther boosted its domestic total to $693.1M on track to become only the third film in history to hit the magical $700M mark after Avatar in February 2010 and Star Wars: The Force Awakens in January 2016. The T'Challa pic has amassed $1.34 billion across the world and is currently still the year's biggest domestic and global blockbuster.

Falling 42% was the horror entry Truth or Dare with an estimated $1.9M putting Universal at $38.2M. Next was the comedy sequel Super Troopers 2 which dropped 51% to an estimated $1.8M giving Fox $25.4M to date. Barely making it into the top ten was the new thriller Bad Samaritan which secured the most screens among the weekend's new releases, but posted the most dismal performance. The R-rated film grossed an estimated $1.8M from 2,007 sites for a puny average of just $876 for Electric Entertainment.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $156.1M this weekend which was down 15% from last year when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opened at number one with $146.5M; and down 33% from 2016 when Captain America: Civil War debuted in the top spot with $179.1M. In both of those years, it was the summer kickoff weekend.

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Watch the NEW trailer for Ant-Man and The Wasp.

Compared to projections, Overboard opened above my $11M forecast while both Tully and Bad Samaritan debuted below my respective predictions of $7M and $5M.

Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when Life of the Party and Breaking In both open.

# Title May 4 - 6 Apr. 27 - 29 % Chg. Theaters Weeks AVG Cumulative Distributor
1 Avengers: Infinity War $ 114,774,810 $ 257,698,183 -55.5 4,474 2 $ 25,654 $ 453,107,350 Disney
2 Overboard 14,711,101 1,623 1 9,064 14,711,101 MGM/Lionsgate
3 A Quiet Place 7,763,085 11,004,977 -29.5 3,413 5 2,275 160,057,471 Paramount
4 I Feel Pretty 5,050,520 8,176,757 -38.2 3,232 3 1,563 37,948,803 STX
5 Rampage 4,637,400 7,205,315 -35.6 3,151 4 1,472 84,801,710 Warner Bros.
6 Tully 3,282,610 1,353 1 2,426 3,282,610 Focus
7 Black Panther 3,254,977 4,736,428 -31.3 1,641 12 1,984 693,235,592 Disney
8 Truth or Dare 1,887,970 3,268,145 -42.2 1,904 4 992 38,238,330 Universal
9 Super Troopers 2 1,871,303 3,729,287 -49.8 2,118 3 884 25,502,004 Fox
10 Blockers 1,751,340 2,975,260 -41.1 1,672 5 1,047 56,222,840 Universal
11 Bad Samaritan 1,726,868 2,007 1 860 1,726,868 Electric
12 Ready Player One 1,330,043 2,563,325 -48.1 1,405 6 947 133,074,547 Warner Bros.
13 Isle of Dogs 806,625 1,427,275 -43.5 702 7 1,149 28,469,671 Fox Searchlight
14 Traffik 794,348 1,654,694 -52.0 747 3 1,063 8,258,908 Lionsgate
15 RBG 578,470 34 1 17,014 578,470 Magnolia
16 102 Not Out 483,681 102 1 4,742 483,681 SPRI
17 I Can Only Imagine 428,775 777,709 -44.9 660 8 650 81,897,642 Roadside Attr.
18 Naa Peru Surya 420,000 185 1 2,270 644,000 Rama Lakshmi
19 A Wrinkle in Time 410,517 981,856 -58.2 294 9 1,396 95,496,098 Disney
20 Sherlock Gnomes 398,418 673,943 -40.9 636 7 626 41,218,306 Paramount
Top 5 $ 146,936,916 $ 288,821,660 -49.1
Top 10 158,985,116 303,012,371 -47.5
Top 20 166,362,861 309,491,916 -46.2
Top 20 vs. 2017 166,362,861 191,302,371 -13.0

Last Updated: May 6, 2018 at 3:00PM ET

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