7th Update, Monday Final: Overall, Father’s Day weekend was a better frame than a week ago, totaling $232.7M, +53%. But this year’s paternal holiday frame was off -6% from a year ago when Jurassic World and Inside provided a one-two punch together totaling $197M. 2016 through Sunday has accumulated $5.17 billion at the domestic B.O., 5% ahead of the same period last year — which was a banner year with $11B-plus. Certain films were impacted by all of the sporting events (Conjuring 2, Now You See Me 2) competing for Dad’s attention yesterday from the NBA game 7 to the PGA finals, while others were not (i.e. Central Intelligence which bested its Sunday projection with $35.1M).
Disney/Pixar‘s Finding Dory finaled at $135.1M, still the highest opening for an animated film at the domestic B.O. and the second best debut in June after Jurassic World‘s $208.8M. Dory is expected to keep swimmin’ at No. 1 with an estimated $60M-plus second weekend, easily beating 20th Century Fox’s entry Independence Day: Resurgence which is looking to make between $45M-$52M, as well as three other wide entries including STX’s Free State of Jones ($14M-$15M), Sony’s The Shallows ($11M-$12M) and Broad Green/Amazon’s Neon Demon ($2M).
1).Finding Dory (DIS), 4,305 theaters / 3-day cume: $135.1M / Per screen avg.: $31,373/Wk 1
2). Central Intelligence (WB/NL/UNI), 3,508 theaters / 3-day cume: $35.5M/ Per screen: $10,130 / Wk 1
3). Conjuring 2 (WB/NL), 3,356 theaters (+13) /3-day cume: $14.9M (-63%)/ Per screen: $4,434 / Total cume: $71.1M/Wk 2
4). Now You See Me 2 (LG), 3,232 theaters (0)/ 3-day cume: $9.4M (-58%)/ Per screen: $2,900 / Total cume: $41.1M/Wk 2
5). Warcraft (UNI/LEG), 3,406 theaters (+6) /3-day cume: $7.2M (-70%)/ Per screen: $2,126 / Total cume: $38.4M/Wk 2
6). X-Men: Apocalypse (FOX), 2,632 theaters (-953) / 3-day cume: $5.3M (-46%) / Per screen: $2,017 / Total cume: $146.2M/Wk 4
7). Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (PAR), 3,086 theaters (-985)/ 3-day cume: $5.2M (-63%)/ Per screen: $1,702 / Total Cume: $72M/Wk 3
8). Alice Through The Looking Glass (Disney), 1,880 theaters (-1,018) /3-day cume: $4.3M (-24%) / Per screen: $2,282 / Total cume: $70M/ Wk 4
9). Me Before You (MGM/New Line/WB), 2,645 theaters (-117) /3-day cume: $3.9M (-57%)/ Per screen: $1,479 / Total cume: $46.1M/Wk 3
10). Captain America: Civil War (Disney), 1,434 theaters (-667) / 3-day cume: $2.3M (-46%) / Per screen: $1,626 / Total cume: $401.3M/ Wk 7
11). The Angry Birds Movie (SONY/ROVIO), 2,021 theaters (-1,062)/ 3-day cume: $1.7M (-74%)/ Per screen: $838 / Total cume: $103.2M/ Wk 5
12). The Jungle Book (DIS), 953 theaters (-543) /3-day cume: $1.5M (-46%)/ Per screen: $1,562 /Total cume: $355.9M / Wk 10
13). Zootopia (DIS), 305 theaters (-14) / 3-day cume: $948K (+70%) / Per screen: $3,107/Total cume: $339.5M / Wk 16
14). The Nice Guys (WB), 522 theaters (-625)/3-day cume: $822 (-58%)/ Per screen: $1,575 /Total cume: $34.2M/ Wk 5
15). Love & Friendship (AMZ/RSA), 497 theaters (-329) /3-day cume: $735K (-48%) / Per screen: $1,478 /Total cume: $10.9M/Wk 6
16). The Lobster (A24), 319 theaters (-241) / 3-day cume: $602K (-39%)/ Per screen: $1,888 /Total cume: $6.6M/Wk 6
17). Gentleman (AIM), 125 theaters / 3-day cume: $465K / Per screen: $3,722 / Wk 1
18). Maggie’s Plan (SPC), 335 theaters (+24)/3-day cume: $431K (-31%)/ Per screen: $1,285 /Total cume: $1.8M/ Wk 5
19). Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (UNI), 464 theaters (-1,117)/3-day cume: $352K (-83%)/ Per screen: $759 /Total cume: $54.5M/ Wk 5
20). Genius (RSA), 134 theaters (+118)/3-day cume: $297K (+202%)/ Per screen: $2,218 /Total cume: $434K/ Wk 2
NOTABLES:
Clown (TWC), 100 theaters /3-day cume: $27K / Per screen: $269 / Wk 1
Tickled (MAG), 2 theaters /3-day cume: $22K / Per screen: $10,949 /Wk 1
Seoul Searching (WND), 1 theaters / 3-day cume: $9K /Wk 1
Raiders! The Story Of The Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (DRFT), 24 theaters /3-day cume: $26K / Per screen: $1,086 /Wk 1
My Love, Don’t Cross That River (FM), 2 theaters /3-day cume: $6K / Per screen: $3,170 /Wk 1
The Last King (MAG), 3 theaters /3-day cume: $5K / Per screen: $1,533 /Wk 1
Cosmos (KINO), 1 theaters /3-day cume: $3,807 /Wk 1
Argentina (FTR), 1 theaters /3-day cume: $2,274 /Wk 1
Golden Kingdom (KINO), 1 theaters /3-day cume: $554 /Wk 1
6TH UPDATE, Sunday AM: Disney is reporting Finding Dory with a $136.2M opening weekend. That’s an all-time record debut for an animated film and the second best opening in June after last year’s Jurassic World ($208.8M).
Most films today in the top 10 hope to reap the spoils of Father’s Day, which is a big moviegoing day akin to having another Saturday or a very, very good Sunday. But that means a lot of competition for Papa’s attention today, so we might see weekend grosses come in a little lower by tomorrow. Then there’s the highly-anticipated NBA final game 7 between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers, U.S. Open PGA finals, Euro Cup — the male distractions go on and on. The Father’s Day frame is where Disney/Pixar launched 2010’s Toy Story 3 ($110.3M opening) and last year’s Inside Out ($90.4M). It’s also where Jurassic World put up a huge sophomore sesh of $106.6M a year ago, and where Warner Bros. opened Man of Steel ($116.6M).
Dory carries a production cost of $200M before P&A. CinemaScore projects that the Andrew Stanton-Angus MacLane movie can clear anywhere between $446M-$629M at the domestic box office alone.
Dory made $45.8M on Saturday, -17% from its $55M Friday, which was a single day record for any animated film. Like superhero movies, most Pixar titles have a fandom trajectory at the box office where a portion show up on Thursday night, the greatest bulk on Friday, and then Saturday and Sunday ease up thereafter. Sunday is expected to rake in $35.5M, -22% from Saturday.
Beamed Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis this morning about Dory‘s seismic B.O. wave, “The original movie is so beloved and a part of our culture, we’ve dubbed it ‘Generation Nemo.’ For those who saw this movie 13 years ago, it’s the movie of their childhood, the movie they saw in college. At the time, it was the biggest animation release of all-time and left an indelible mark for great reason, and now there’s an insatiable want-to-see. From our exit polls, people are loving the movie effusively.”
In late summer 2003, Finding Nemo passed Disney’s The Lion King (original theatrical domestic B.O. $312M) as the highest grossing feature toon of all-time with $339.7M. Disney, as is its business tradition with its animation brands, kept Nemo alive throughout the years with theatrical and DVD releases.
Even though Dory pulled in 65% families, the studio noticed that a number of adults are showing up including young couples sans kids, a testament to the Pixar character’s broad appeal. As we’ve seen with hit animated pics like Zootopia, business doesn’t slow in the evening. Last night Dory made an estimated $4.5M after 7PM, beating Inside Out‘s $2.3M a year ago.
Dory will end the weekend as the highest grossing PLF and XD opening weekend of all time for an animated film with an estimated $10.4M in private label PLF screens and $2.6M in Cinemark XD hubs. Dory had a partial footprint in 211 Imax venues, ringing up $5M or a hearty $24K a screen.
Relish Mix reported that #FindingDory momentum spiked sharply on Saturday, up six times from Wednesday, topping out on Friday with 42K hashtags on Twitter and Instagram combined. All of this was triggered by a post from Justin Bieber to his 83M followers.
Meanwhile on YouTube, the second Dory trailer went viral with over 200K views in a day, which is exceptional according to RelishMix. New Bedford, Mass.-based Rev4, which measures moviegoers’ anticipation to buy tickets based on trailers, always saw Dory as a winner. Similar to Rev4’s polling on The Jungle Book, 88% of those who watched the Dory trailers in theaters made definite plans to buy tickets. PostTrak, which compiles audience reactions throughout the weekend, still sees a majority of women at Dory (62%), with a growing under 25 turnout (68% vs. 65% on Friday). PostTrak notices that even among kids, girls are outpacing boys in Dory auditoriums, 56% to 44%. Overall positive score for Dory among kids is a huge 91%. Dory has an 81% definite recommend among kids. Word of mouth is ironclad here.
Warner Bros. this morning is reporting its New Line/Universal co-production Central Intelligence with a $34.1M opening, which bests its $30M projection from last week. That’s a decent start for an action comedy that cost $50M before P&A. CinemaScore projections have the Rawson Marshall Thurber comedy ending its domestic run between $92M-$130M. Central Intelligence held quite well on Saturday, drawing $12.5M, a 4% dip from Friday. The film, thanks to Father’s Day, is expected to have one of the best holds in the top 10, -10% today which would take it north of where WB sees it.
While Central Intelligence isn’t a record opening for Dwayne Johnson or Kevin Hart, it’s an opening that’s within a solid range for them. For Hart, Central Intelligence is higher than the debuts of Get Hard ($33.8M) and just under Ride Along 2 ($35.2M). For Johnson, outside his non-Fast & Furious fare, Central Intelligence is above his Hercules opening ($29.8M) and, of course, well under last June’s San Andreas ($54.6M opening). Even though Johnson made cameos in such comedies as The Other Guys and Get Smart, Central Intelligence is arguably his first broad adult comedy in a lead role. Previously, whenever the big guy played funny, it’s typically been in family pics like The Tooth Fairy and The Game Plan.
The MTV Movie Awards earlier this year served as a a mini-marketing campaign for Central Intelligence. The key selling point throughout was Johnson and Hart’s unique comedic sensibility. Their pairing resulted in a 54% jump in the ratings for the MTV kudo cast – the highest it’s seen in recent years.
Men are the primary ticket buyers here, according to PostTrack, at 53%, and Central Intelligence is skewing older in updated polls with 53% over 25. Sixty percent of Central Intelligence‘s audience is comprised of African American, Hispanic and Asian audiences while Caucasians rep 40% of all ticket buyers.
Central Intelligence began inserting itself into the media’s conversation last June when Johnson was on the promo tour for San Andreas. The report was that Johnson was continually plane-hopping from the San Andreas Hollywood premiere to an overseas tour of that movie and then back to the Central Intelligence set.
Johnson and Hart’s social media push for Central Intelligence is the type of movie star tubthumbing craved by studio marketing executives. The digital marketing campaign for the film focused on the chemistry between the duo and leveraged their social accounts to reach fans and promote custom social content. The duo launched the first trailer on their social pages. There were also reaction GIFS based on some of the best movie moments. In addition Johnson and Hart were made #NationalBestFriendDay Ambassadors on Twitter.
Screenings in such cities as New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Oakland and Toronto were preceded by a livestream of Johnson and Hart. The duo also participated in the first-ever Snapchat HQ Fan Q&A, which aired on the stars’ Snapchat accounts. A Snapchat lens on release day helped to further boost awareness and ticketing.
Central Intelligence carried an anti-bullying message, and that theme was promoted across social with Johnson and Hart partnering with anti-bullying charity The Kind Campaign, in conjunction with OMAZE.
Below are the top 10 studio-reported figures as compiled by Deadline’s Amanda N’Duka:
1).Finding Dory (DIS), 4,305 theaters / $54.95M Fri. (includes $9.2M previews) / $45.8M Sat. (-16%) / $35.5M Sun. (-23%)/ 3-day cume: $136.2M /Wk 1
2). Central Intelligence (WB/NL/UNI), 3,508 theaters / $13M Fri. (includes $1.84M previews) / $12.46M Sat. (-4%) / $9M Sun. (-28%)/3-day cume: $34.5M/Wk 1
3). Conjuring 2 (WB/NL), 3,356 theaters (+13) / $5.5M Fri. / $5.9M Sat. (+8%) / $4.2M Sun. (-28%)/3-day cume: $15.6M (-62%)/Total cume: $71.7M/Wk 2
4). Now You See Me 2 (LG), 3,232 theaters (0)/ $2.8M Fri. /$3.5M Sat. (+25%) / $3.35M Sun. (-4%)/ 3-day cume: $9.65M (-57%)/ Total cume: $41.4M/Wk 2
5). Warcraft (UNI/LEG), 3,406 theaters (+6) / $1.9M Fri. / $2.7M Sat. (+39%) / $1.9M Sun. (-30%)/ 3-day cume: $6.5M(-73%)/ Total cume: $37.7M/Wk 2
6). X-Men: Apocalypse (FOX), 2,632 theaters (-953) / $1.4M Fri. /$2M Sat. (+44%) / $1.8M Sun. (-13%)/ 3-day cume: $5.21M (-48%) /Total cume: $146.1M/Wk 4
7). Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (PAR), 3,086 theaters (-985)/ $1.5M Fri. /$2M Sat. (+31%) / $1.7M Sun. (-11%)/ 3-day cume: $5.2M (-64%)/Total Cume: $71.9M/Wk 3
8). Me Before You (MGM/New Line/WB), 2,645 theaters (-117) / $1.5M Fri. /$1.5M Sat. (0%) / $1.08M Sun. (-30%)/ 3-day cume: $4.2M (-54%)/Total cume: $46.4M/Wk 3
9). Alice Through The Looking Glass (Disney), 1,880 theaters (-1,018) / $1.3M Fri. / $1.4M Sat. (+11%) / $904K Sun. (-37%)/3-day cume: $3.6M (-36%) /Total cume: $69.9M/ Wk 4
10). Captain America: Civil War (Disney), 1,434 theaters (-667) / $575K Fri. /$848K Sat. (+47%) / $873K Sun. (+3%)/ 3-day cume: $2.3M (-47%) /Total cume: $401.3M/ Wk 7
NOTABLES:
Udta Punjab (GSME), 115 theaters / $192K Fri. / $264K Sat. (+38%) / $198K Sun. (-25%)/3-day cume: $654K /Wk 1
Gentleman (AIM), 125 theaters / $144K Fri. /$207K Sat. (+44%) / $155K Sun. (-25%)/ 3-day cume: $506K /Wk 1
Clown (TWC), 100 theaters / $11K Fri. /$11K Sat. (+6%) / $8K Sun. (-27%)/ 3-day cume: $30K /Wk 1
Tickled (MAG), 2 theaters / $7K Fri. / $9K Sat. (+19%) / $7K Sun. (-25%)/3-day cume: $23K / Wk 1
Raiders! The Story Of The Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (DRFT), 18 theaters / $4K Fri. / $5K Sat. (+24%) / $4K Sun. (-25%)/3-day cume: $12K /Wk 1
Proof Of Innocence (CJE), 1 theaters / $3K Fri. / $4K Sat. (+29%) / $3K Sun. (-30%)/3-day cume: $11K /Wk 1
Seoul Searching (WND), 1 theaters / $3K Fri. / $2K Sat. (-29%) / $1K Sun. (-25%)/3-day cume: $6K /Wk 1
4TH WRITETHRU, Saturday AM: The summer box office has officially been stirred from its slumber. Disney-Pixar’s Finding Dory is set to rank as the highest opening ever for an animated film with an estimated $140.6M stateside — even higher from what we were seeing yesterday. That easily kicks aside the $121.6M record that DreamWorks’ Shrek the Third has held for the last nine years. Today’s industry projections show a $55M-plus day for Dory, making it the highest single day ever for a feature toon, beating both the opening day of Minions ($46M) and Shrek the Third‘s Saturday ($47M).
Dory is the widest Pixar release ever at 4,305 theaters. Last night the sequel to Finding Nemo, 13 years in the waiting, received an A CinemaScore, making it the 11th Pixar release to hit that grade. Last June Inside Out earned an A CinemaScore which yielded a 3.94 multiple in its final B.O. ($90.4M opening, final $356.5M). Dory came within breaths of earning an A+, but hit that grade with females (65%) and under 25 (56%) who were the predominant crowd here. Dory also scored A+s with the under 18 (38%) and 18-24 group (18%).
PostTrak also noticed on Friday a predominately young female audience (63%, 65% under 25) for the Andrew Stanton-Angus MacLane movie. Overall, Dory‘s audience make-up isn’t that far from Inside Out‘s (63% female, 59% under 25). Finding Nemo in its CinemaScore was also a heavy young female crowd at 58% women, 61% under 25, so Dory just continued to swell in both demos. Fifty-six percent came out for Dory because they’re fans of the first movie.
Warner Bros./New Line/Universal’s Central Intelligence is also besting the numbers we observed yesterday. The Dwayne Johnson-Kevin Hart PG-13 comedy is now estimated to clear $13M in its opening day (inclusive of $1.84M Thursday night previews), and an opening of $33.5M. Audiences loved the action comedy with an A- CinemaScore and critics haven’t entirely thrown it under the bus with a 69% fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating. Johnson’s San Andreas received an A- last summer, and CI‘s grade beats Hart’s Get Hard (B), Ride Along 2 (B+) and matches The Wedding Ringer (A-).
One comparison for CI is Paul Feig’s Spy from last June which received a B+, opened to $29M, and ended its domestic run at $110.8M, a 3.8 multiple. That’s about where this $50M production is headed. Earlier this week, there was some concern that CI was skewing too young in its TV spots. That would mean some of CI‘s audience would be stolen by Dory, and turn off adults. Rival sources tell Deadline that there’s nothing to worry about here given CI‘s strong ethnic base of 27% African American, 17% Asian/Other and 15% Hispanic which totals close to 60% of the pic’s audience per PostTrak. Hart bought out the Friday 3:15pm Hollywood Arclight showing of CI for close to 200 fans.
CinemaScore and PostTrak differ in their CI audience reports. CinemaScore shows an older female turnout (51% women, 57% over 25), while PostTrak reports 53% guys with an even 50-50 split for over/under 25. Let’s face it, the audience came for Johnson and Hart and they earned a 65% moviegoer turnout per CinemaScore, which is up from Hart and Ice Cube’s 60% on Ride Along. Total positive score on PostTrak is 75% with a 55% definite recommend. That last figure isn’t so hot, but this comedy seems to have everything else working in its favor. Ride Along 2 posted a 56% definite recommend and by the end of its $35.2M opening counted 37% African American, 26% Hispanic and 11% Asian other (total 74%).
What’s giving these films a shot in the arm this weekend is Father’s Day, a prime moviegoing day. Dory and Central Intelligence are expected to dip -20% and -15%, respectively, on Sunday from Saturday. Currently, analysts show Dory being slightly front-loaded with a -15% dip on Saturday for $45M. While the common rule of thumb is that animated features see an uptick on Saturday thanks to matinees, there’s a fandom nature to some Pixar titles (and even Uni/Illumination’s Despicable Me and Minions titles) where there’s a tiny decline on the second day of release.
The sequel to Finding Nemo was first announced in July 2012 after Stanton brushed the ash off from the $200M write-down on Disney’s John Carter. In April 2013, it was announced that the sequel would be aptly titled Finding Dory. Disney – even prior to unveiling 30 minutes of Dory, which stars Ellen DeGeneres as the title character, at CinemaCon back in April – teased footage at a Cannes Film Festival session last year.
Dory trailers exclusively debuted on-air and online on Ellen, plus trailered in front of such Disney $300M-plus grossing films Zootopia and The Jungle Book. Dory‘s teaser trailer last November was the most socially discussed and shared title in Walt Disney Animation Studios or Pixar Animation Studios’ history with 67MM+ views in three days.
Casting your lead voiceover with the biggest name in daytime talk TV has its advantages. The total Disney social “fin-print” thanks to Ellen for Finding Dory reached 314MM and when added to Ellen DeGeneres’ social media channels, that figure jumps to a staggering 428MM.
Ellen was not only the exclusive debut partner for all the film’s trailers and posters, but she devoted hours of in-show time to discussing her enthusiasm for the film, the filmmakers and the cast. There was a premiere ticket giveaway, a performance by Sia (who sings the pic’s song “Unforgettable”) and the final trailer debut on the daytime talk show.
Dory—with more than 25M likes on Facebook—is the most liked individual character of any brand at The Walt Disney Company (Disney, Marvel, Lucas, Pixar).
The studio launched a #HAVEYOUSEENHER campaign in February 2016 with four exclusive posters at AMC and Regal. This was followed by a cross-platform media campaign that drove anticipation for the first full trailer release on March 2 on DeGeneres’ social platforms and in her show.
Dory’s promo partners include Aussie, BAND-AID Brand, Bounty, Coppertone, Ice Chips, Juicy Juice, Kellogg’s, KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese, Nature’s Harvest Bread, Pirate’s Booty, Quaker, SuperValu, Subway and Yoplait GoGurt.
Elsewhere, Uni/Legendary’s Warcraft is projected to drop -74% for the weekend; the third sharpest second weekend decline for a pic in over 3,000 engagements preceded by 2009’s Friday the 13th and Uni’s Fifty Shades of Grey.
Other highlights at the box office: In addition to Disney/Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War crossing $400M, Sony/Rovio’s Angry Birds flew past the $100M mark on Wednesday.
Industry estimates for the weekend of June 17-19 as of Saturday AM:
1).Finding Dory (DIS), 4,305 theaters / $55M Fri. (includes $9.2M previews) / 3-day cume: $140.6M /Wk 1
2). Central Intelligence (WB/NL/UNI), 3,508 theaters / $13M Fri. (includes $1.84M previews) / 3-day cume: $33.5M/Wk 1
3). Conjuring 2 (WB/NL), 3,356 theaters (+13) / $5.4M Fri. (-67%) / 3-day cume: $17.1M (-58%)/Total cume:$7.3M/Wk 2
4). Now You See Me 2 (LG), 3,232 theaters (0)/ $3M Fri. (-64%) / 3-day cume: $9.4M (-58%)/ Total cume:$41.1M/Wk 2
5). Warcraft (UNI/LEG), 3,406 theaters (+6) / $1.9M Fri. (-81%) / 3-day cume: $6.4M (-74%)/ Total cume:$37.6M/Wk 2
6). Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (PAR), 3,086 theaters (-985)/ $1.49M Fri. (-63%) / 3-day cume: $5.5M (-62%)/Total Cume:$72.2M/Wk 3
7). X-Men: Apocalypse (FOX), 2,632 theaters (-953) / $1.38M Fri. (-50%) / 3-day cume: $5.2M (-47%) /Total cume: $146.1M/Wk 4
8). Me Before You (MGM/New Line/WB), 2,645 theaters (-117) / $1.5M Fri. (-50%) / 3-day cume: $4.3M (-52%)/Total cume: $46.5M/Wk 3
9). Alice Through the Looking Glass (Disney), 1,880 theaters (-1,018)/ $1.27M Fri. (-23%) / 3-day cume: $4.2M (-25%)/Total: $69.9M/Wk 4
10). Captain America: Civil War (Disney), 1,434 theaters (-667) / $576K Fri. (-51%)/ 3-day cume: $2.2M (-48%) /Total cume: $401.3M/ Wk 7
11). The Angry Birds Movie (SONY/ROVIO), 2,021 theaters (-1,062)/ $504K Fri. (-73%) / 3-day cume: $1.79M (-63%)/Total cume: $103.3M/ Wk 5
Notables:
Udta Punjab (GSME), 115 theaters / $188K Fri. / 3-day cume: $640K /Wk 1
Gentleman (AIM), 125 theaters / $145K Fri. / 3-day cume: $513K /Wk 1
Clown (TWC), 100 theaters / $11K Fri. / 3-day cume: $32K /Wk 1
Tickled (MAG), 2 theaters / $7K Fri. / 3-day cume: $23K / Wk 1
Seoul Searching (WND), 1 theater / $6K Fri. / 3-day cume: $18K /Wk 1
Raiders! The Story Of The Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (DRFT), 18 theaters / $4K Fri. / 3-day cume: $12K /Wk 1
Proof Of Innocence (CJE), 1 theater / $3K Fri. / 3-day cume: $10K /Wk 1
2ND UPDATE, 12 NOON: We’re hearing that Disney-Pixar’s Finding Dory is swimming upstream to a record opening of $130M+ for the weekend and today alone will clear $50M-$52M. That’s also an opening day record for an animated movie, outstripping Minions’ previous first day high of $46M on July 10 last year.
These projections are based on matinee estimates from rival distribs, and can fluctuate up or down by evening. Dory‘s weekend opening will unseat the opening record set by DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek the Third, which over its first FSS made $121.6M. Universal/Illumination’s Minions follows in the opening weekend record books with $115.7M, followed by Disney/Pixar’s previous champ Toy Story 3 which made $110.3M in its first three days. Heading into this weekend, Fandango announced that Dory was the online ticket seller’s best pre-seller of all-time for a feature toon. No surprise here with Dory: From the beginning of summer, trackers called a five quad sequel — it’s a follow-up to a legacy, cornerstone Disney/Pixar movie, 2003’s Finding Nemo, which made $380.8M stateside, $936.7M worldwide. Five quad meaning — everyone goes, moms, grandpas, etc. For some elementary schools today it’s the last day of school and as a bonus, they’re taking several classes to see Dory. Talk about Disney choosing the right date: 82% K-12 schools are off and 94% college per ComScore. That K-12 number spikes to 95% next Friday.
ComScore PostTrak reports that younger females are dominating most Dory auditoriums with 63% women, 65% under 25. Overall positive score is 89% — which is very good. Audience are flocking largely in pairs or groups. Twenty percent came with a friend, 25% watched Dory with a date, while 18% arrived with two-to-four friends. Word of mouth is huge with 71% of the audience definitely recommending Dory to their friends. Sixty-five percent of the audience bought 2D tickets to Dory.
Relish Mix observes that social chatter is one fire for Dory with #FindingDory hashtags exploding 3X on Twitter and Instagram for a combined total from 7.2K to over 21.5K by midday today. The Ellen Show is the big driver here with 60M Twitter Followers and another 30M on Instagram.
Warner Bros/New Line/Universal’s PG-13 comedy Central Intelligence is also poised to fare well with a $12M-$13M Friday and a FSS opening north of $33M.
In regards to last weekend’s wide entries, here’s how they’re looking: WB/New Line’s Conjuring 2 is looking to decline 60% for a second FSS of at least $16M in third place. Through 10 days, it will count $72.2M. That total, should it remain on track, will pace 14% behind the first Conjuring.
Lionsgate’s Now You See Me 2 is pacing for a -55% second sesh with $10M and a running cume by Sunday of $41.7M. And as the saying goes in distribution –“Don’t stand underneath this thing” — as Universal/Legendary’s Warcraft is set to drop 70% for an estimated $7.2M and a running 10-day total by weekend’s end of $38.4M.
1ST UPDATE: In what is expected to be the second-biggest opening weekend this summer, Disney and Pixar’s Finding Dory started its climb last night grossing $9.2 million, a record preview total for any feature animated film. Not only does Finding Dory‘s Thursday night blow away previous Pixar records set by Toy Story 3 with $4M (Friday midnight shows, $110.3M opening) and last June’s Inside Out which minted $3.7M ($90.4M opening), but the fish film whips the preview nights of Universal/Illumination’s Minions ($6.2M) and Despicable Me 2 ($4.7M). Finding Dory will be the widest Pixar release of all time, playing at 4,305 venues today. Its 3-day take is expected to be at $100M-plus.
Finding Dory‘s presence at the box office this weekend comes at a much needed time at the summer box office when ticket sales per ComScore are off 18% from May 1-June 12 versus the same period last year. The biggest film this summer — and for the year — is Disney/Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, which is now crossing the $400M mark, becoming the first movie to do so this year. Other than that, we’ve seen plenty of prolific casualties in just a month in a half including Warcraft ($31M stateside, $160M+ cost), Alice Through The Looking Glass ($65.7M, $170M cost), and Paramount’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows ($66.7M, $135M cost). Viacom said today that the disappointing B.O. results for TMNT 2 will hurt its earnings, and that a SVOD deal for the title still isn’t in place.
Warner Bros./New Line/Universal’s little Hart and big Johnson PG-13 action comedy Central Intelligence made $1.835M last night. The Rawson Marshall Thurber title is expected to make $30M this weekend, maybe more. In regards to its preview night, Central Intelligence falls in line with other comedies such as Spy ($1.5M preview, $29.1M opening), Kevin Hart’s co-billed comedy Get Hard ($1.8M, $33.8M FSS), Dumb And Dumber To ($1.6M, $36M FSS) and The Heat ($1M preview, $39.1M opening). Similar to other New Line comedies, Central Intelligence comes with a thrifty reported cost of $50M. What always has any studio stoked when they’re in business with Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart is the amount of social promotion the duo do for their movies; according to RelishMix together they reach close to 210M people.
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