While everyone declared the return of the R-rated movie with the smash success of “Deadpool,” this weekend proved a bracing reminder why Hollywood is no rush that greenlight movies that don’t have four-quadrant appeal (particularly non-branded ones). Two more R-rated movies opened in wide release, and both underperformed, with a Marvel blockbuster and a family film based on a mobile game taking the lead at the box office.
While many scratched their heads and scoffed, Sony had the last laugh as “The Angry Birds Movie” flew into first place with $39 million domestic and a total of $150 million worldwide to date for the animated flick. However, while this is serving as the new family-movie offering at the moment, next weekend’s opening of “Alice Through The Looking Glass” may cut down on the legs it might have in the weeks ahead.
READ MORE: 10 Films Based On Material As Dumb As ‘Angry Birds’
“Captain America: Civil War” saw its audience drop by 54%, but that didn’t stop it from taking second place with $33 million and cracking the one billion mark worldwide. Marvel is already plenty happy with the performance of this movie, which is headed to $410 million domestic and a final tally of $1.2 billion worldwide, challenging “Iron Man 3” for the third-highest-grossing MCU movie ever. Not too shabby.
Coming off one of their best years ever, Universal is having a very bumpy 2016 so far. Last month, “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” flopped, and they kick off May with another miss in “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising.” Taking in $21 million, it’s not even half the $49 million of its predecessor. Meanwhile, the budget for the sequel was also upped from $18 million of the first movie, to $35 million for part two. While Seth Rogen and his team have been riding a string of hits, there are no sure things at the box office, and perhaps audiences weren’t enthused to see what was the same movie again. Or maybe the audience was cannibalized by the other R-rated offering this weekend.
Perhaps the ultimate indicator that it’s tough out there for non-sequels/original fare, particularly if it’s adults-only fare, “The Nice Guys,” starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe, only managed $11.2 million this weekend. That’s about what studio estimates (which are always conservative) figured, but I doubt anybody at WB is thrilled — this is not the kind of opening you want for a movie during the summer season. To put the figure in perspective, the debut for “The Nice Guys” is far below “Gangster Squad” (also rated R) which opened at $17 million, even slightly below “Drive,” which managed $11.3 million. The latter wound up with $35 million domestic and a total of $76 million worldwide. We’ll see if “The Nice Guys” can leg it out to that much, but a B- Cinemascore suggests word of mouth may not be so hot, and with plenty of competition in the weeks ahead, the movie has a tough road.
Internationally, “X-Men: Apocalypse” got out of the gate strong, opening in the top spot in 71 out of 75 markets, hauling in $103.3 million. And it has yet to open in China, which will certainly pad out those global dollars.
In limited release, “Weiner” earned $85,525 on five screens for a PSA of $17,105, “Maggie’s Plan” took in $66,708 on the same number of cinemas for a $13,342 PSA, while Penélope Cruz‘s “Ma Ma” nabbed $9,466.
1. “The Angry Birds Movie” — $39 million
2. “Captain America: Civil War” — $33.1 million ($347 mil.)
3. “Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising” — $21.7 million
4. “The Nice Guys” — $11.2 million
5. “The Jungle Book” — $11 million ($327.4 mil.)
6. “Money Monster” — $7 million ($27.1 mil.)
7. “The Darkness” — $2.3 million ($8.4 mil.)
8. “Zootopia” — $1.7 million ($334.4 mil.)
9. “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” — $1.19 million ($31.2 mil.)
10. “Mother’s Day” — $1.11 million ($31.2 mil.)
I know it’s old hat to complain about this kind of thing but what in the actual fuxk is wrong with us? The Nice Guys is extraordinary but even Neighbor 2: More Neighborz beat it out? I’m only 24 but seeing these numbers emphasizes how far out of the loop I am with public opinion. *Crawls in cave never to return*
I was disappointed with The Nice Guys. I rarely say this, but all the best parts were literally in the trailer. It’s an amicable film and I chuckled a few times, but it’s no where near what the reviews were indicating.