Each week on Atom Insider, we break down the box office numbers for all of the biggest films opening in theaters. This week, Disney’s latest live-action remake managed to triumph over two other March heavy-hitters, so why doesn’t it feel like a win?

This Week’s Top Earner – ‘Dumbo’

 

In 1941, Disney’s original animated film Dumbo wasn’t a huge hit by any means. It cost nearly $1 million to make and barely earned $1.6 million. Even by today’s standards of inflation, that’s not exactly impressive, especially considering the film coming out in the wake of Snow White’s monstrous box office run just a few years earlier, reshaping cinema and animation forever.

No such expectations have been thrust upon the 2019 version of Dumbo, a live-action reimagining directed by Tim Burton, which collected $45 million in its opening weekend. To be fair, we might have expected a grander entrance considering Burton’s involvement with the similarly styled Alice in Wonderland remake from 2010, which went on to make over a billion at the box office worldwide. Regardless, Dumbo fell below industry and studio projections, making less than half of what Alice in Wonderland and Jungle Book (2016) earned in their respective opening weekends. For now, this elephant is flying pretty low to ground.

Second Place  – ‘Us’

 

Percentage-wise, Universal’s horror hit Us dropped more than any other film this weekend in the Top 10, but it still managed to drop only one spot on the list to #2, holding on strong with a domestic take of $33.6 million in its second week. Worldwide, the film is looking scary good with $174.5 million off of a reported budget of just $20 million, already outpacing the momentum of Jordan Peele’s last film, Get Out.

And Third  – ‘Captain Marvel’

 

Now in its third week, Disney and Marvel’s aptly named Captain Marvel dropped fittingly to #3, earning $20.5 million domestically. The superhero film is a superhit worldwide, too, with $990.6 million, which means Disney is about to have another billion-dollar franchise on their hands.

Rounding Out The Rest Of The Box Office

Five Feet Apart held on to its #4 spot, dropping 26.9% after losing 21 theaters. It made $6.2 million domestically, bringing its worldwide total to a solid $50.6 million.

Unplanned (PureFlix) debuted this week and landed at #5, making $6.1 million in just over 1,059 theaters. The religious anti-choice film has a reported budget of $6 million, so it’s already on its way to making a profit. Wonder Park (Paramount) dropped 3 spots to #6 with $4.9 million domestically, still quite shy of its estimated budget of $80-100 million. And How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (Universal) fell 2 spots to #7 with a domestic take of $4.2 million in its 6th week.

Hotel Mumbai (Bleecker Street) expanded its release this week, jumping to #8 after gaining 920 theaters and earning $3.1 million. Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral (Lionsgate) fell 3 spots to #9 with $2.7 million domestic, signaling its upcoming exit from the Top 10 after a solid 5 weeks. And this week’s third debut, The Beach Bum (Neon), just barely made the Top 10 in the last-place spot with $1.8 million domestic, despite playing in 1,100 theaters.

And They’re Out

Gloria Bell (A24) flirted with the Top 10 this week but ultimately dropped to #11 despite gaining theaters. Same goes for No Manches Frida 2 (Pantelion), which dropped 5 spots to #12. After 8 weeks at the box office, The Lego Movie 2 (Warner Bros.) finally bowed out of the Top 10, all but cementing a disappointing box office run of $183.3 million worldwide, well below every other “Lego” film except for Lego Ninjago.

And then there’s Alita: Battle Angel (Fox), which fell 5 spots to #15 in its 7th week. The James Cameron-produced film ultimately made $402.5 million worldwide thanks to a powerful performance overseas, but the question still remains if it’s enough for Disney (which now owns Fox) to soldier on with a follow-up.

Check back with Atom Insider later this week as we preview all the new releases hitting theaters this Friday.

  • Box Office
  • News
  • VIDEOS