Since this weekend's box office was all over the place we have an expanded list today. We're taking all wide releases into account and the corresponding top 12 in limited release.
Weekend Box Office
June 14th-16th (Actuals)
🔺 = new or expanded theater counts / ★ = recommended |
W I D E
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PLATFORM / LIMITED
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1 🔺 Men in Black Int'l $30 on 4224 screens *new* REVIEW
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1 🔺 The Dead Don't Die $2.5 on 613 screens *new* REVIEW, JARMUSCH |
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2 Secret Life of Pets $24.4 on 4563 screens (cum. $92.6) REVIEW
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2 🔺 Last Black Man in San Francisco $380k on 36 screens (cum. $733k) REVIEW ★ |
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3 Aladdin $17.3 on 3556 screens (cum. $264) REVIEW, 1992 RETRO
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3 Bharat $377k on 202 screens (cum. 2.6) |
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4 Rocketman $9.4 on 3021 screens (cum. $66.7) REVIEW, PODCAST ★
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4 Biggest Little Farm [DOC] $225k on 176 screens (cum. $2.9) |
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5 Dark Phoenix $9.3 on 3721 screens (cum. $52.1) REVIEW
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5 🔺 Pavarotti [DOC] $221k on 48 screens (cum. $450k) |
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6 🔺 Shaft $8.9 on 2952 screens *new*
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6 Echo in the Canyon [DOC] $206k on 68 screens (cum. $805k) |
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7 Godzilla: King of Monsters $8.7 on 3207 screens (cum. $94.3)
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7 🔺 American Woman $110k on 117 screens *new* |
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9 🔺 Late Night $5.2 on 2220 screens (cum. $5.5) REVIEW ★
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9 🔺 A Brother's Love $83k on 17 screens (cum. $212k) |
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10 Avengers Endgame $3.7 on 1450 screens (cum. $830.7) REVIEW
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10 The Souvenir $55k on 83 screens (cum. $841k) REVIEW, PODCAST ★
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11 Ma $3.7 on 1794 screens (cum. $40.4) REVIEW
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11 🔺 5B [DOC] $40k on 127 screens *new*
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12 Detective Pikachu $1.2 on 984 screens (cum. $140.8) REVIEW
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12 🔺 Clinton Road $38k on 10 screens *new*
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numbers on that chart are pulled from boxofficemojo.
WIDE
Men in Black International and Shaft continued the 2019 trend of franchise offerings opening much softer than their predecessors. MCU blockbusters aside, are audiences now exhausted by familiar franchises, or is it simply that the supply is just too much greater than the demand given that every weekend brings a sequel. They're less "event" movies now than par for the course. This audience shrug might spell good news for Hollywood's creative output but for the fact that the original films are still not packing houses as counterprogramming. Late Night, for example, which is very funny, only opened to $5.2 million after going wide. 20 years ago, or even 10 really, it would have been at least a modest hit.
LIMITED
The Dead Don't Die went nearly wide in its first weekend, the widest, in fact ever, for a Jarmusch movie on opening weekend to solid results with a $4k per screen average. The other fairly wide 'limited' title was American Woman which didn't win audience favor despite 100+ screens. Perhaps it was the lack of advertising or the hard to market subject (the trailer is quite misleading, all told, as the film is far more of a family drama / character study than a murder mystery but it's very well acted). In terms of PSA's the champ is still basically Last Black Man in San Francisco which added 2 dozens theaters for its second weekend.
I was all excited to see the box office results for the second weekend of The Gangster The Cop and The Devil which I saw on a whim with a date last weekend (his choice) but here we run into the very confusing world of foreign language specific distribution companies. Though the South Korean movie got respectful reviews and did decent business last weekend with a $78k gross from 21 screens it seems to have vanished entirely from the theatrical landscape 7 days later since there are no box office results for it and it doesn't show up on ticket purchase sites either. Strange. That's too bad because it's a twisty fun sit and I thought it might have good word-of-mouth for a second weekend. This happens to a lot of Bollywood and Chinese movies, too -- no matter how well they do in week one. Perhaps its from supply vs demand? For whatever reason India, China, and South Korea are the three countries which dominate the foreign language theatrical market these days (in terms of number of titles released). We assume their solid box office numbers, even for short runs, comes from loyal immigrant audiences since they rarely get anything like robust media coverage the way European films sometimes do.
Another casualty of the impossibly tough marketplace for non-franchise titles was the documentary 5B which Julianne Moore has been helping to promote. Despite being a Gay Pride month ready doc about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s co-directed by an Oscar winner (Paul Haggis) it had a truly dire per screen average of just $315.
Monday, June 17, 2019 at 7:00PM 
Reader Comments (15)
I saw Late Night. Enjoyable but amazed at how similar the plot was to The Devil Wears Prada
I saw Rocketman.
Oh, Jamie Bell. It takes a gifted actor to make a part like that believable, the loyal loving friend. He brightens the screen every time he appears.
Taron Edgerton was fine. He kept reminding me of Matthew Rhys in “The Americans”. (Same wig maker? Or a Welsh thing?). I kept expecting him to go into Rhys territory of ambivalence, hope, and dread. But no, it’s another story.
And wait — the evil guy here is the SAME evil guy as in Bohemian Rhapsody? John Reid? I had to look that up. In BH, he’s seen from the view of the band members as sleazy and unattractive. In Rocketman, he’s much more dapper. (He’s Richard Madden). Here it’s more like “I just couldn’t help myself. Look at him. He’s gorgeous and irresistible”.
A re-watch of In Her Shoes and a couple of first-timers in the 2017 version of Ghost in the Shell and an old 1939 British propaganda film from Alexander Korda and co-directed by Michael Powell called The Lion Has Wings.
I saw Last Black Man Standing. This film is a gem. A pure love letter to San Francisco.
Sorry, meant Last Black Man in San Francisco. Beautiful film.
Saw Claire Denis' ultra-rare short called Keep It To Yourself from 1991. The circumstances for this film's re-appearance was itself a miraculous accident. This was part of a Japan-only omnibus presenting a car called Figaro. I like it a lot -- the lead actress Sophie Simon sometimes reminds me of heroines from the French nouvelle vague, like Anna Karina. It is an old trope of a story about being in a city of strangers and finding unexpected entanglements in exciting ways. John Lurie sings a wacky tune at the end; Vincent Gallo is here too prefiguring his creepy presence in The House of the Spirits a year later; also here is a refreshing cameo from Sara Driver -- wish she'd act more often. I know she's in Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die but I want more of a vehicle for her, or at least a memorable supporting role.
The 40-minute film will only be screened for free until June 20, so head to www.lecinemaclub.com and watch this rare film now.
@Owl: thanks for the heads-up!
Nancy Goes to Rio. The plot is dumb (mom and daughter compete for the same part and man - eek) and the leading man (Barry Sullivan) is a dud. But the production values are absolutely through the roof. Clearly filmed on an MGM back lot, the colors are in your face, and the song-and-dance numbers, including two with Carmen Miranda (why hasn't a queen from Drag Race done her for Snatch Game?), are really fun. There are a few clips on YouTube that are worth a few minutes of your time. But do skip the entire movie.
Tom Ford: I mean, if someone actually made that sitcom, couldn't be any worse than Tim Allen's show...?
The highest-grossing films were a real surprise, not only for the audience, but also for the critics. Each premiere was especially welcome.
@thevoid—
I recall Cameron Diaz being great in In Her Shoes.
It might sound OTT but I'd put her on an Honorary Oscar shortlist, now that she's retired. Talk about an era-defining star, an all-time-great comedienne, sex symbol and very capable dramatic actress. Kids today might not understand how strong her appeal was.
Diaz could open films on her name alone,how many females can you say that about now.
When will Hollywood realise that churning out sequel after sequel is not necessary,half the audience who saw the first may have no interest in a 2nd or 3rd plus a lot of them won't have liked the film and see no need to shell out for a sequel.
Late Night stars 2 people who can't open a film but are well liked.
Saw Late Night which was enjoyable and funny. Nothing great, but entertaining, and relevant today.
Ralph Breaks the Internet was cute, but I got distracted and was lost in the 2nd half.
MIB:International was my "bored on Monday" movie, and was as inspiring as last week's "bored on Monday" move Godzilla. So flat.
Curtis Harrington's "Games" (1967) a stylish psychological thriller starring Simone Signoret, James Caan and Katherine Ross. It has a clever twisty script with some real moments of suspense. I wish the Scream Factory fine looking blue ray has more extras.
Watched DARK PHOENIX was a bit disappointing despite the cast. Also, TULIP FEVER which was okay, as I had just finished reading the book and found the film pretty close to it.