FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: With Warner Bros/Legendary’s second weekend of A Minecraft Movie set to do $80M at 4,289 theaters, already this frame will be significantly ahead of the 3-day a year ago when all titles grossed $75.2M. That a -51% ease for the Jared Hess directed movie after $20M today. Illumination/Nintendo/Universal’s Super Mario Bros Movie dipped -37% in its second weekend for $92.3M.
Angel Studios’ animated Biblical movie King of Kings is looking pretty royal with $7.3M today, including last night’s $2M, for an $18M+ opening at 3,200 sites.
20th Century Studios’ Rami Malek thriller The Amateur is shaping up to be $6M today for a $15M opening. Moviegoers enjoyed it more than critics on Rotten Tomatoes, 89% to 62% fresh.
A24’s Warfare is Alex Garland’s best reviewed movie ever on Rotten Tomatoes at 95% certified fresh; that’s higher than Ex Machina (92%). This will translate to a $3.5M Friday, inclusive of previews, and an $8M opening in fourth at 2,670 theaters. RT audience score is also high at 93%.
Universal/Blumhouse’s Drop at 3,085 theaters is seeing $3.4M today, including previews) for a $7.7M start. Critics don’t mind it at 83% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with audiences at 74%.
Clockwise from top left: ‘The King of Kings,’ ‘The Amateur,’ ‘Warfare’ and ‘Drop’
Everett Collection
FRIDAY AM UPDATE: A lot going on in Thursday previews, many of them boosted by early screenings.
As we told you last night, Warner Bros/Legendary’s A Minecraft Movie crossed $200M after a $7.1M Thursday. It took Minecraft one week to hit that mark versus Illumination/Nintendo/Universal’s The Super Mario Bros Movie, which did that figure in five days in 2023, again because it was a Wednesday release leading into Easter weekend. The anticipation is that Minecraft eases by 60% this weekend to about $65M and another No. 1 showing.
Angel Studios’ is calling $2M for its animated biblical movie The King of Kings. That’s pure preview money from showtimes starting at 11 a.m. Thursday. There’s some high excitement that the movie could have the edge over 20th Century Studios’ $60M Rami Malek PG-13 spy movie, The Amateur, after $14.6M presales. We’ll see soon if all that cash is for this weekend.
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The Amateur did $2M in previews, but that includes early screenings as well as 2 p.m. showtimes yesterday. That’s in the range of the previews for Amazon MGM Studios/Miramax’s The Beekeeper ($2.4M previews with early screenings, $16.6M 3-day last year) and 20th’s own The Creator ($1.6M previews and early screenings, $14M opening in 2023). The pic is launching today in 3,400 theatres, including 400 Imax auditoriums, 300 Premium Large Format screens and 100 D-Box/Motion screens. The 3-day is expected to be north of $12M.
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Universal/Blumhouse’s date thriller Drop, starring Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar, posted $730K in previews from 2,600 theaters that began at 1:50 p.m. When you include Monday and Wednesday previews, that rises to $1.4M. Its 3-day is around $6M-$7M. The PG-13 feature is after women 17-34. Drop was made for $11M net before P&A after a robust tax credit from Ireland.
A24’s play for the middle of the country, Warfare, counts $1.16M previews from both early-access and Thursday showtimes that began at 4 p.m. at 2,670 sites. From directors Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza, the R-rated Navy SEAL troupe POV movie is expected to come in between $7M-$9M. Warfare cost $20M before P&A.
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