Friday Box Office Analysis

By Kim Hollis

February 22, 2020

Now he knows how John Wick feels.

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Despite forecasts that Sonic would be the weekend winner, we've got yet another slight surprise (though probably not a big enough one to justify the budget spent).

Call of the Wild, directed by Chris Sanders (co-director of Lilo & Stitch and voice of Stitch and co-director of How to Train Your Dragon, making him the director of two of the best movies ever), earned a solid $8 million yesterday. It's a bit ahead of Sonic, but the two movies are likely to battle it out for the #1 spot at the end of the weekend. Remember that Sonic was bolstered by a holiday weekend in the previous frame, so a larger-than-usual decline wouldn't be out of the ordinary.

Still, given that Call of the Wild is one of the final leftovers from Disney's acquisition of Fox, this performance is probably just fine as far as they're concerned. The budget was obviously much higher, but that cost was sunk well before Disney absorbed the other studio. I expect $22 million, and given Harrison Ford's presence and the fact that it's a dog movie where the dog doesn't die, this one ought to hang around for a bit.




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Our other new "wide" release for the weekend is Brahms: The Boy II, brought to you by the people who felt like the first The Boy needed a sequel for some reason. It got pretty terrible reviews and can't possibly be considered a fan favorite by any means. I suppose the original did make about $35 million, but still was best forgotten.

Anyway, Brahms: The Boy II earned $2.2 million and should come in with about $5.5 million, maybe. At least the budget was only $10 million. Katie Holmes could and should do better.

Another limited release hit theaters in the form of Impractical Jokers: The Movie. It managed $949,000 from 357 locations and will finish in the top ten with about $2.7 million. More impressively, the newest adaptation of Emma, starring Anya Taylor Joy, earned $80,000 from just five locations. It's receiving excellent reviews, so we should see greater expansions in the coming weeks.

Sonic fell 69 percent from last Friday, and big recovery seems unlikely given that Sunday was inflated due to the Monday holiday with kids out of school. I think it may just eke out a win over Call of the Wild with $23.2 million. It'll all depend on estimates, of course.


     


 
 

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