Box Office: Solo Flies Low, Binoche Charms, and Book Club Holds.
Sunday, May 27, 2018 at 1:27PM by Nathaniel R
| Holiday Weekend Box Office Estimates (May 25th-27th) |
|
| W I D E 800+ screens |
L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide |
 Solo: A Star Wars Story |
 Disobedience |
| 1.🔺Solo $83 *NEW* REVIEW, BEHIND THE SCENES |
1. 🔺 RBG $1.1 on 415 screens (cum. $5.6) REVIEW |
| 2. Deadpool 2 $42.7 (cum. $207.4) | 2. Disobedience $368k on 224 screens (cum. $2.5) REVIEW |
| 3. Avengers Infinity War $16.4 (cum. $621.6) REVIEW |
3. 🔺 Pope Francis - A Man of His Word $290k on 385 screens (cum. $1) |
| 4. Book Club $9.4 (cum. $31.8) REVIEW |
4. 🔺 First Reformed $282k on 29 screens (cum. $425k) REVIEW |
| 5. Life of the Party $5.1 (cum. $39.1) |
5. 🔺 How Long Will I Love U $210k on 23 screens *NEW* |
These numbers will go up given that this weekend is extra long and there's still Memorial Day monday in which families are free to see movies if they'd like. But the numbers won't go high enough for Disney's taste. Now, $83 million in one weekend is nothing to scoff at but for a film within the Star Wars saga it's surprisingly low. Lots more on multiple films after the jump...
Of the four modern Star Wars films, Solo is looking at the smallest opening weekend by a gigantic margin, only about half of Rogue One's take for instance! This does not bode well for Disney's plans to give us as many Star Wars films, as say, superhero films (a wider genre after all). Too much of a good thing is still too much apparently. It's harder to achieve event status when you're a common and expected thing.
In other box office news, though Infinity War is holding well, it's looking unlikely that it can surpass Black Panther's astonishing domestic gross given that it's $77 million behind at the moment in its 5th weekend. When 2018 ends Black Panther will likely retain #1 of the year honors Stateside while Infinity War will have to settle for that title globally (where it's handily outgrossed Black Panther and might become the fourth film in history to grab $2 billion during its theatrical run -- the others being Avatar, Titanic, and The Force Awakens). Black Panther stayed in the top ten for an incredible 13 weeks this year though it's finally closing out its run soon.
In the counter-programming world, the "legends only" Book Club is doing well, with the smallest percentage drop among wide releases. People like it! Of the female-led comedies this year, I Feel Pretty is at the top of the mountain (or hill, I suppose, since none have been smash hits) with $47 million but Book Club could surpass it if it develops longer legs. Adult appeal movies thankfully dont die after opening weekend because, true story, it takes longer for that audience to feel like leaving the house. (FYI: Unless you count Deadpool 2 which really belongs to the superhero genre, Game Night is 2018's top grossing comedy with a $68 million gross)
 Breaking In |
 Let the Sunshine In |
| 6. Breaking In $4 (cum. $35.6) REVIEW | 6. 🔺 The Rider $184k on 107 screens (cum. $1.3) REVIEW |
| 7. Show Dogs $3 (cum. $10.6) | 7. 🔺 Beast $175k on 93 screens (cum. $407k) |
| 8. Overboard $3 (cum. $41.4) |
8. 🔺 The Seagull $116k on 29 screens (cum. $216k) REVIEW |
| 9. A Quiet Place $2.2 (cum. $179.9) REVIEW, 2ND OPINION, SCREENPLAY | 9. 🔺 Let the Sunshine In $104k on 69 screens (cum. $540k) REVIEW |
| 10. Rampage $802k (cum. $93.8) | 10.🔺 On Chesil Beach $91k on 25 screens (cum. $146k) |
| 🔺 = new or expanding its theater count numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo |
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Not much has changed at the arthouses where Disobedience, RBG, and The Rider continue to have strong sleeper hit runs. This week's new but very low profile limited releases did not perform well with John Cameron Mitchell's How to Talk to Girls at Parties, Bruce La Bruce's The Misandrists, the indie Who We Are Now, and the biopic Mary Shelley all opening to tiny grosses at only one or two theaters each.
Perhaps the biggest and least reported news is that Juliette Binoche has her first foreign language hit in quite some time. Let the Sunshine In has grossed over half a million after its first month in theaters and it's still expanding! It's actually now Claire Denis's second biggest US success (after her debut film Chocolat released in 1989) having outpaced her other most-celebrated imports White Material starring Isabelle Huppert and Denis's best film (imho) Beau Travail during their semi-successful arthouse releases in 2010 and 2000 respectively.
WHAT DID YOU SEE THIS WEEKEND?
I caught How to Talk to Girls at Parties (so worth seeing haters be damned-- sorry, not sorry!). I also finally made it to Disobedience since there's just one month to do all those catch up screenings before we hit our "halfway mark best of the year thus far" articles. Those three actors (Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, and the perpetually undervalued Alessandro Nivola) were all really selling it, weren't they?!
Reader Comments (26)
The Insult (best picture in a foreign language nominee - Lebanon)
Very effective. The screenplay puts into light the conflicts between Lebanese people and Palestinian exiled people.
A Quiet Place is still in the top 10! That’s outstanding. It seems to be a lock for the screenplay nod at this point. Krasinski getting an oscar nomination before Blunt, show of hands, who saw that coming?
I loved 'How to talk to Girls at Parties' when it opened in the UK a few weeks ago.
From the in your face kineticism of the punk performances to the weird trippy visuals. Brilliant costuming and delightful performances (hello Ruth Wilson). Sure the plot is ridiculous and as a film it's all over the shop, but it's totally worth experiencing.
Disobedience. Still marinating. Loved Nivola and Weisz. Can’t quite say I liked McAdams (which I do normally). There was a moment when Ronit was asking Esti about her sexuality and McAdams gave an almost sinister-guilty smile. That was a refreshing change that I think was missing from the rest of the performance. Or maybe it was that that angle SHOULDN’T have been in the performance. I think she never quite figured out the character so the dramatic changes in behavior, mood, etc. made Esti seem unhinged which is not what I think they were going for at all. Weisz, by contrast, played the changes and uncertainties beautifully while Nivola helped to make his character not a villain at all which is exactly what the film needed. Also I’ll say that I never bought McAdams’ accent. Was thinking Sarah Paulson would have been an A+ alternative and a more formidable screen partner for Weisz.
"Solo - A Star Wars Story ". Pedestrian tastes, I know.
I caught RBG and the Pope Francis documentaries. Both excellent. RBG inspires and Pope Francis challenges. Would love to see reviews of either/both!
Alan -- There's still a lot of time before nominations are announced. Krasinski's work could be forgotten, and Blunt could stun in Poppins. Who knows?
I finished the novel of DISOBEDIENCE - a very interesting read and I can't wait to see the film when it opens in Aus in June.
Didn't make it to the cinema but did watch the original SUSPIRIA (1977) and PROFESSOR MARSTON AND THE WONDER WOMEN at home.
The former was kind of jaw-dropping and maintained its power despite the dubbing and incoherent lapses in plot. The colours! The sets! The set pieces! The music! Jessica Harper was charming and Joan Bennett was marvellously Old School Hollywood. Lots of potential here for a fabulous new interpretation.
The performances in MARSTON were great - Rebecca Hall! - and the story interesting, but the film plodded and meandered; it took too long to get going and then petered out. Enjoyable enough but disappointing overall.
i rewatched Sleeping with the Enemy,Malice & Presumed Innocent..
A WRINKLE IN TIME - I feel the fact that this was from a major female director has restrained the knives being brought out, for this is a truly awful film that should be held to ridicule. Such a mess!
IN THIS CORNER OF THE WORLD - devastating - and yet not, in a very Japanese way - account of a civilian family experience of the horrors of WW2 in Japan.
and 303 - from the director of THE EDUKATORS, this is the sort of escapism that I go to the cinema for: a young attractive couple spending time with each other talking philosophy and love, whilst resisting the fact that they are falling in love. For fans of movies like BEFORE SUNRISE and WEEKEND.
I reached a milestone this weekend. Thanks to internet copyright scofflaws, I was able to see The Blue Veil from 1951 with Oscar-nominated performances by Jane Wyman (lead) and Joan Blondell (supporting). The movie's pretty awful, but it means that i have now seen EVERY nominee for Best Supporting Actress EVER from 1936 to the preset! Whew! And believe you me, I have an opinion on who should have won in each and every year. But I'll spare you all that for the time being. You're welcome.
A WRINKLE IN TIME - I need to see it dragged more cause man what a hot mess. But at least I love myself now. Thanks Giant Oprah.
DISOBEDIENCE - Still marinating. I loved the performances, but was not as sold on the story.
GAME NIGHT - Very pleasant surprise. Rachel McAdams needs to do more comedies.
I'll get around to SOLO, THE RIDER, and DEADPOOL 2 this week.
ken s -- Wow, what a feat! My question: What is the single best performance? (If that's too hard, I'll take a top 5.)
@ Ken S.- the smackdowns will be coming soon!
I saw Avengers Infinity War. I wanted to wait until after all the crowds had thinned a bit. Zoe Saldana is easily best in show and entire movies need to be built around her. But overall the movie succeeds thanks to a great villain and the ending. Otherwise, it seems like a standard blockbuster.
Whoa, it's easy enough evaluating them 5 at a time, but picking "all-timers" is maddeningly tough! I guess off the top of my head I'd say Jean Hagen in Singin' in the Rain.
Lemme see, Patty Duke was very impressive. Piper Laurie in Carrie was/is a special favorite. Glenn Close in World According to Garp. Vanessa Redgrave in Howards End, maybe? Michelle Williams was exquisite in Brokeback Mountain. From 1938 to 1945, they did a great job, with all the winners totally deserving, most of them even among my favorites with the glaring exception of 1942, obviously. Teresa Wright better than Agnes Moorehead's epochal work? Ugh. (So you know I'll be all in with 5♡s for Katina Paxinou!) Is this answer wishy-washy enough? Ask me tomorrow and who knows what kind of answer I'll give.
Btw, this year I really really really wanted Laurie Metcalf to win.
Avengers isn't actually holding *as* well. It's drops are showing a decrease comparable to Last Jedi, rather than Avengers or Jurassic World. It will most definitely not surpass Black Panther, it will likely end around $660-670, possiiiibly less than that. Which means it might just fall short of Titanic.
Even adjusted for inflation when movies were less front loaded Solo also had a smaller opening than the prequels. Matter of fact is it´d be the first time a Star Wars movie opens with less than $100, and all three prequels would've had even bigger second weekends than Solo's first 3.
Also. I'm currently rewatching all the Oscar Best Pictures. I was waiting to make On the Waterfront the very last one of the 50s I saw (since I've seen Eve and Kwai and I can´t watch all the good ones first) but thanks to you I know I have to catch up on On the Waterfront before it leaves! Thanks!
And to answer the question. Nothing in theatres but I saw 3 winners: Tom Jones, An American in Paris and Rain Man.
Congratulations Ken, that's a superb achievement. Especially well done on keeping Blue Veil until last - it's a particularly awful film.
Some wonderful choices in your top 5. I was cheering for Laurie as well.
I still have 5 more to reach the milestone:
Mildred Dunnock - Death of a Salesman
Shirley Knight - Dark at the top of the Stairs
Catherine Burns - Last Summer
Tuesday Weld - Looking for Mr. Goodbar
Joan Hackett - Only when I Laugh
Which of these should I prioritise?
I just saw Dunnock and Knight on the internet. Knight, in fact, was my next-to-last! And Dunnock I tracked down a couple years ago. I don't know about the other three. I saw them all in theaters.And just for the record, both Dunnock and Burns would have had my vote in their years. I guess my all-time favorite year is 1982. I'd give 5♡s across the board to Glenn Close, Lesley Ann Warren, Kim Stanley, Jessica Lange and Terri Garr. They all deserved to win.
Did antone watch The Tale on HBO? It basically lived up to the Sundance hype for me. The writing is a bit heavy handed at time and the cinematography is basic, but it's such a fascinating and powerful experience. Laura Dern is great and Elizabeth Debicki is magnetic. Isabelle Nelisse was also very impressive, especially in her final moments.
We'll see how it settles, but it's easily one of my favorites so far this year. I'm pretty bummed it's not being theatrically distributed.
Book Club for best picture! Slam dunk nominations for entire cast! I haven't seen a movie this entertaining since Why Did I Get Married?
I've avoided "A Wrinkle in Time" because of the hype not too mention the dumb trailer with the stars saying things like I've never seen a film like this before -seriously like they never heard of "The Wizard of Oz" ?! Nobody went to see it either so I guess it does stink...I did see "Deadpool 2" which is just the same joke as the first- I almost walked out - too many superhero movies I guess - interesting how a good looking star like Ryan Reynolds has had hid biggest hit by playing a disfigured masked man
Seattle's film festival has been going on, so I've seen 6 this weekend:
non-festival:
Disobedience: Rachel McAdams was the saving grace
fest:
We the Animals: ambitious, impressive direction in a hard adaptation. captures chaos and silence in equal measure
The Miseducation of Cameron Post: exquisite movie and Moretz's best. Near sardonic in the dangerous absurdity of gay conversion. I can't stop thinking about it
Summer 1993: beautifully created, very personal debut.
A Kid Like Jake: too much hand acting to take seriously, but a strong Ann Dowd & decent Jim Parsons
Marilyn: Argentinian gay drama. Bleak and troubling look at repression.
Also rewatched Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and it's still perfect.
Barry! Emmy nods to Hader and Winkler.
Solo, which I thought was enjoyable and fun but doesn’t make a strong argument for why it was essential that this story be told.
Gerry Atrick -- I see what you did there. :)