Each week on Atom Insider, we break down the box office numbers for all of the biggest films opening in theaters. This week, several wide releases tried to dethrone the latest superhero blockbuster, but not even a rival comic book movie managed to take flight.
This Week’s Top Earner (For The Second Week In A Row) – ‘Shazam!’
DC and Warner Bros.’s spring superhero comedy dropped 53% in its second week after gaining 89 theaters. Its domestic take of $25.1 million was more than enough to secure the #1 spot, however, despite heavy competition from other studios. With a worldwide total of $221.2 million off of a reported budget of $100 million, Shazam! doesn’t quite compare with the momentum of Aquaman from this past December, which is still the highest-grossing DC film of all time. With Avengers: Endgame just weeks away, Shazam! only has a brief and fleeting window to stay on top before the summer season begins with a bang (or snap?)
Second Place – ‘Little’
Despite playing in fewer theaters than two of the other major releases this week, Little had big gains by comparison. The Universal body/age reversal comedy grossed $15.5 million domestically and $1.9 million overseas, already coming within spitting distance of its low reported budget of $20 million. Not so little, after all. As far as this particular brand of “body switch” comedies goes, Little had an opening weekend on part with films like 13 Going on 30 and The Change-Up (also Universal).
And Third – ‘Hellboy’
Lionsgate and Summit had big, franchise-sized plans for Hellboy, a reboot of the franchise made popular by Guillermo del Toro (via Universal) over a decade ago. But with only a domestic take of $12 million, which is far below estimated projections and its low reported budget of $50 million, it’s looking like this R-rated comic book reimagining is going nowhere but down. For context, Hellboy (2019) grossed far less than both previous adaptations, not even adjusting for inflation. Its opening weekend is on par with comic book films like Elektra, R.I.P.D., and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
Rounding Out The Rest Of The Box Office
Coming in at #4 is Pet Sematary, another reboot, this time of the classic Stephen King novel, but this one is faring far better with audiences. It’s now grossed $76.8 million worldwide in just its second week, more than triple its low reported budget of $20 million.
Dumbo dropped two spots to #5 with just $9 million grossed domestically. The Disney live-action remake surpassed Alice Through the Looking Glass as we predicted, but it likely won’t top 101 Dalmations (1996) in terms of domestic totals.
At #6 is Captain Marvel, now in its sixth week at the box office, fittingly. The MCU film brought in another $8.6 million domestically to top off its massive worldwide total of $1.06 billion. It’s now the fourth highest-grossing superhero origin film ever in the U.S., just behind Spider-Man.
Us dropped three spots this week to #7, but it’s clearly one of the biggest hits of the year when stacking up budgets and worldwide totals. The Universal film has now grossed $229.9 million worldwide off of a low reported budget of $20 million. It’s now the fourth highest-grossing domestic R-rated horror movie of all time and will likely surpass Get Out to become #3 by the end of its run.
At last, we get to the other major releases of the week, which both debuted in the #8 and #9 spot. After (Aviron Pictures) narrowly beat out Missing Link (United Artists/LAIKA) with a domestic take of $6.2 million. The YA romance has a low reported budget of $14 million, but it will likely struggle to bring in much profit if it drops significantly next week. Missing Link is in deeper trouble, however, considering its wide release in over 3,400 theaters only amounting to a $5.8 million opening weekend in the states. It likely cost around $60 million to make, which would be on par with the last few LAIKA films.
And finally at #10 is The Best of Enemies (STX Films), which dropped four spots in its second week despite not losing any theaters. The racial drama has so far grossed just $8.1 million off of a reported budget of $10 million.
And They’re Out
Unplanned (PureFlix) fell off the Top 10 in its third week, dropping three spots to #11 with just $1.8 million domestic. Five Feet Apart (Lionsgate) had a more dramatic fall, plummeting five spots to #12. But Wonder Park took the biggest nosedive, dropping six spots to #15 in over 1,100 theaters.
Last we have How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, which managed to hold on to its Top 10 placement for eight weeks. Worldwide, it’s a solid hit with $512.1 million, but it will finish its run as the lowest-grossing film in the How to Train Your Dragon series.
Check back with Atom Insider later this week as we preview all the new releases hitting theaters this Friday.
