|
While that was easily enough to top the domestic box office, it
marks the lowest start among the studio's recent live-action
remakes of Disney classics. To compare, 2017's "Beauty and the
Beast" debuted with $174 million, 2016's "The Jungle Book"
opened with $103 million," and 2015's "Cinderella" launched with
$67 million.
Heading into the weekend, "Dumbo" was expected to surpass $50
million in its first three days of release. Part of the reason
for the softer opening is likely because the original "Dumbo"
cartoon came out 80 years ago, making the lovable elephant seem
slightly less relevant than classics like "Beauty and the Beast"
and "The Jungle Book," which both became huge successes for the
studio.
"Dumbo" carries a $170 million production budget. The
high-flying elephant will have to resonate overseas should "Dumbo"
not pick up steam at the domestic box office. The movie launched
in most international territories this weekend, amassing $71
million from foreign markets for a global start of $116 million.
Audiences were more receptive than critics to Tim Burton's take
on baby elephant with inconveniently large ears. Moviegoers
awarded "Dumbo" with an A- Cinemascore. It holds a 50 percent on
Rotten Tomatoes. As expected, families made up 54 percent of
opening weekend crowds. It also skewed slightly female: 53
percent of patrons were women.
"Dumbo" is the first of three high-profile Disney re-imaginings
heading back to the big screen this year, with Guy Richie's
"Aladdin" and Jon Favreau's "The Lion King" arriving in theaters
this summer. Those films, along with the studio's highly
anticipated superhero mashup "Avengers: Endgame," will likely
offset any pain should "Dumbo" fail to connect with audiences.
Last weekend's champ "Us" dropped to second place, staying
strong with $33 million in its sophomore outing. That marks a
53% decline from its opening weekend haul, a solid hold given
the kind of drop horror movies typically suffer after its
initial release. Written and directed by Jordan Peele, "Us" has
now surpassed $128 million in ticket sales in North America. The
film, which stars Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke as a couple
forced to fight off blood-thirsty doppelgangers, cost $20
million to produce.
[to top of second column] |
In third place, Disney's "Captain Marvel" added another $20 million
in its third weekend of release. That takes the superhero tentpole
starring Brie Larson past $350 million in North America.
New release "Unplanned" will battle with romance drama "Five Feet
Apart" for fourth place. Both titles earned roughly $6 million this
weekend.
"Unplanned," which tells the true story of a Planned Parenthood
employee who has a life-changing experience, doubled expectations
that pegged an opening weekend around $3 million. It cost $6 million
to produce.
Lionsgate and CBS Films' "Five Feet Apart," now in its third weekend
of release, has earned $35 million to date.
Elsewhere, Matthew McConaughey suffered the worst opening of his
career with "The Beach Bum." Directed by Harmony Korine, the film
flopped with $1.8 million from 1,100 screens. The studios initially
planned for a platform release, which could have slowly allowed the
film to gain traction through word-of-mouth. Instead, the stoner
comedy opened nationwide with little marketing since its premiere at
South by Southwest. It's been a rocky start to 2019 for McConaughey.
Earlier this year, his film "Serenity," a neo-noir thriller with
Anne Hathaway, collapsed with a $4.5 million debut. It tapped out
with $11.4 million worldwide.
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
