Friday Box Office Analysis
By Tim Briody
May 31, 2014
Maleficent
Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent starts with a solid Friday of $24.2 million. The live action fairy tale overcame middling reviews and shows that Jolie remains a box office draw despite Maleficent being her first acting role since 2010. The streak of $90+ million openers is over but the Disney film will easily win the weekend. A popular comparison has been 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman, another live action retelling that opened with $20.4 million and had a weekend of $56.2 million. Following that pattern, Maleficent looks to have a weekend of $66.3 million.
A Million Ways to Die in the West
Seth MacFarlane’s western comedy looks to catch the same lightning in a bottle that launched Ted to $200 million, but instead lousy reviews and all the best gags appearing in the trailer leave A Million Ways to Die in the West with a Friday of $6.1 million. For comparison, Ted had a Friday of $20.5 million thanks to the concept and one of the funniest trailers of the year. A Million Ways to Die in the West should come in with a weekend of $16.4 million as MacFarlane starts counting down the days until next year’s Ted 2.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
After last weekend’s huge opening, it’s another big drop as Days of Future Past drops 68% from last Friday to $9.6 million. It should recover over the weekend with around $30 million but there’s a big pattern of one and done among the summer tentpoles so far this year.
|
Projected Estimates for the Top Ten (Three-Day)
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Projected
Rank |
Film |
Estimated Gross |
|
1
|
Maleficent
|
66.3
|
|
2
|
X-Men: Days of Future Past
|
29.9
|
|
3
|
A Million Ways to Die in the West
|
16.4
|
|
4
|
Godzilla
|
10.7
|
|
5
|
Neighbors
|
7.0
|
|
6
|
Blended
|
6.9
|
|
7
|
Million Dollar Arm
|
3.4
|
|
8
|
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
|
3.4
|
|
9
|
Chef
|
1.8
|
|
10
|
The Other Woman
|
1.3
|
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