|
 The sequel to 2003's "Finding Nemo" was bolstered by strong
reviews and residual affection for the Oscar-winning first film.
It's a return to form for Pixar after the animation studio
behind "Toy Story" and "The Incredibles" suffered its first box
office failure last year with "The Good Dinosaur." But its
decades of excellence continue to be the brand's major selling
points.
"It's amazing when you look at the longevity of this brand, the
viability of it, and the unfettered enthusiasm pretty much
everyone has for Pixar," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media
analyst at comScore.
"Finding Dory" centers on a blue tang fish with short term
memory loss (Ellen DeGeneres) and her quest to be reunited with
her long-lost parents. Its opening weekend results sailed past
the previous high-water mark for an animated film -- "Shrek the
Third's" $121.6 million launch in 2007 -- and ranks as the
second-best June debut, behind "Jurassic World's" $208.8 million
bow. Overseas, "Finding Dory" added another $50 million to its
haul from 29 international markets, including Australia,
Argentina, Russia and China, where its $17.5 million debut ranks
as the biggest ever for a Pixar release.
The success of "Finding Dory" comes as Disney, Pixar's parent
company, has dominated the movie business, fielding the year's
three highest-grossing pictures globally in "Zootopia," "The
Jungle Book" and "Captain America: Civil War." "Finding Dory"
seems destined to join those films among 2016's top earners,
partly because it is appealing to all age groups. Disney
distribution chief Dave Hollis predicted that the film was
gearing up for a "run for the ages," noting that it was playing
well with both families (65% of ticket buyers) and older
audiences, with adults comprising 26% of crowds.
"We became a film for everybody," said Hollis. "We tapped into
something really meaningful."
The weekend's other major newcomer, New Line's "Central
Intelligence," also resonated with moviegoers, racking up a
healthy $34.5 million from 3,508 locations. Dwayne Johnson and
Kevin Hart star in the $50 million action comedy. "Central
Intelligence" revolves around an ex-geek (Johnson) who returns
to his high school reunion as a muscular special agent and
enlists the former class jock (Hart) to help on a dangerous
mission. The opening weekend crowd was nearly evenly matched
between men (49% of ticket buyers) and women (51%), with 57% of
customers clocking in over 25 years old. Universal co-financed
the picture and is releasing it overseas.
[to top of second column] |
 Johnson and Hart were indefatigable spokespeople for the
movie, plopping down on late night television couches and
showing up on daytime programming to hawk "Central
Intelligence," while exploiting their presence on Facebook and
Twitter to gin up excitement.
"They're comfortable with and connected to social media," said
Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. distribution executive vice
president. "They're very involved with their fan base and
they're always tweeting non-stop."
Last weekend's box office champ, New Line's "The Conjuring 2,"
slipped to third place. The horror sequel slid 62% from its
opening to $15.6 million. It has grossed $71.7 million in two
weeks of release.
Lionsgate's "Now You See Me 2" and Universal's "Warcraft" rounded
out the top five, grossing $9.7 million and $6.5 million,
respectively. The sequel to "Now You See Me" has grossed $40.8
million in two weeks while the video game adaptation has netted
$37.7 million over the same time span. "Warcraft," with its $160
million budget, would be a financial catastrophe were it not for
China, where the fantasy adventure has earned more than $200
million.
"Finding Dory" injects some energy into a domestic box office that
had been sluggish in recent weeks, as several high-profile films
such as "Alice Through the Looking Glass" and "Warcraft" collapsed
and sequels like "X-Men: Apocalypse" failed to match their
predecessors' receptions. Still, the weekend ticket sales could not
match the year-ago period when Pixar's "Inside Out" debuted to $90.4
million and "Jurassic World" racked up $106.6 million in its
sophomore frame. Final numbers are still being tallied, but it looks
like revenues will be down roughly 4%.
"That's still a really good result," said Dergarabedian. "We needed
a box office hero and we got one with this little fish."
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
