Friday Box Office Analysis

By Kim Hollis

May 25, 2019

I'm a rapscallion!

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It's Disney's world. We're all just living in it.

Weeks after they grabbed the opening weekend record and days ahead of the opening of their new Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge themed land at Disneyland, Disney claimed the top spot at the box office for good measure. And despite the fact that there were a lot of naysayers when it came to Aladdin, it's still going to be huge.

Yes, Aladdin debuted yesterday with $31 million, including $7 million from its Thursday night previews. As everyone who has been following this site for years will know, Memorial Day weekend is a great one for box office, even if studios no longer stake out the spot as the super prime summer starting real estate it once was. Nonetheless, Sunday will act like another weekend day as a result, which means that we should see a three-day total of $92 million and a four-day take around $113 million.

Although Aladdin is slightly to the mediocre side with regard to critic's reviews (57 percent at Rotten Tomatoes), audiences think it hit the spot, as its Cinemascore is an A and even IMDb readers give it a 7.2 out of 10. So, it's likely going to continue to find an audience in the coming weeks, or until Disney releases its next big thing, which is Toy Story 4 on June 21st.

Also new this weekend was the horror/superhero film Brightburn, which was produced by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) and written by his brother Brian and cousin Mark. These are the kind of movies that often can live or die based on reviews, so the middling 59 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating didn't help it much. It did look stylish and intriguing enough to capture $3 million worth of business, though, and should come in with close to $11 million for the long weekend.




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Booksmart, directed by Olivia Wilde, is a rapturously reviewed film at Rotten Tomatoes with a 97 percent fresh rating. Featuring Kaitlyn Dever (Loretta from Justified) and Beanie Feldstein(Jonah Hill's very funny sister), the coming-of-age comedy earned a decent $2.5 million considering that United Artists generally does a limited marketing push for its films. The four-day weekend should bring $10 million or so, and it could go on to hang around for a good long time.

Last weekend's new release, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum declined a lofty 71 percent to $6.6 million, but that had to be expected as fanboys definitely rushed out to see it early. The three-day weekend should be close to $20 million, though.

Finally, Avengers: Endgame continues its march toward world domination, as it earned $4.2 million more and is only about $130 million behind Avatar for top spot at the worldwide box office. It's not going to pass Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the domestic record, but it's still mighty impressive nonetheless, especially considering that both Star Wars and Avatar had the Christmas holiday bounty to boost their totals.


     


 
 

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