In what must be a first, the top ten movies at this week’s box office include three evil dolls, including the top two entries, battling out out for the top spot. That spot easily went to Toy Story 4, which may not be playing as well as Pixar had hoped, but it’s still doing very well, pacing ahead of Toy Story 3. Pixar’s latest, which features a number of horror tropes, including several creepy dolls, like Creepy Gabby Gabby, scored another $58.4 million to bring its 10-day total to $236 million, which is about $8 million ahead of where the original was nine years ago on its way to $415 million domestic. The fourth installment is also doing just fine overseas, as well, with earnings about even with its domestic take, so far.
Another creepy doll, the title character in Gary Dauberman’s Annabelle Comes Home not only fell short of Toy Story 4, but also landed at the low end of expectations with $31.2 million since its Wednesday opening (it actually earned $20 million over the three-day weekend). The seventh film in the Conjuring series and the third Annabelle movie also fell short of the previous two versions (Annabelle opened with $37 million and Annabelle Creation earned $35 million in its opening weekend), although the $31 million take is more than its production budget. Because these horror films earned twice as much overseas, New Line Cinema is plenty satisfied with the result, which was helped by relatively positive reviews (70 percent on Rotten Tomatoes).
Danny Boyle’s reasonably enjoyable new entry Yesterday took third place this weekend, earning a decent $17 million on its opening weekend. The film was met with mixed-to-positive reviews (60 percent), but audiences really dug it, giving it an A- Cinemascore. The musical aspect and positive word of mouth will probably give the film, scripted by Richard Curtis (About Time, Four Weddings and a Funeral), decent legs, although with a modest $26 million budget and decent prospects overseas (especially in the UK), the film is well on its way to profitability.
The rest of the top ten were all holdovers, led by Aladdin, which just refuses to fade after six weeks. It earned another $9.2 million to bring its overall domestic total over $300 million ($305 million). It’s also put up around $850 million worldwide. After four weeks, the disappointing Secret Life of Pets 2 is still hanging on in the top five, earning another $6.6 million to bring its total to $130 million, well short of the $368 million the original earned stateside. It’s doing even worse overseas, where it’s only earned $77 million so far, but with over $200 million worldwide on an $80 million price tag, it’s going to see a profit. Men in Black: International took the six spot earning $6.3 million to bring its three-week total to a measly $64.8 million. It’s a good thing it’s doing better overseas, where it has crossed $120 million, because it would otherwise have a difficult time crossing into the black with a $110 million budget.
Avengers: Endgame added back 1,000 theaters in the hopes of making a last push to beat Avatar as the highest-grossing film of all time, but it’s still an uphill battle. It earned only $5.5 million to bring its total to $841 million. More importantly, it leaves Endgame about $26 million short of the record-holder, meaning it may need another re-release if it expects to cross the $2.787 billion figure that it needs to best Avatar.
The third evil doll in the top ten this week was Chucky, the villain in the Child’s Play reboot, which had a steep 70 percent fall in its second weekend, earning $4.2 million to bring its total to $23 million, but that’s enough for a film that only cost $10 million to produce. With another $3.4 million, Rocketman has now earned $83.8 million, plus another $81 million overseas. Finally, John Wick 3 — Parabellum — the longest-running movie in the top 10 — has one more week in the top ten, earning $2.9 million to bring its seven-week total to $161 million. With $142 million overseas, it has also officially crossed the $300 million mark worldwide with $301 million, an immensely impressive feat given its modest $75 million price tag.
This week, Spider-Man: Far From Home opens on Tuesday, and it’s already doing gangbusters overseas. It’s expected to earn over $500 million in its 10 days worldwide. Meanwhile, Ari Aster’s follow-up to Hereditary, Midsommar — an “atrociously disturbing,” film according Jordan Peele — will open on Wednesday.
Source: Box Office Mojo, Deadline
