Box Office Update Jul 27-29

Good afternoon Disney friends,

Summer continues to roll on and so do the sequels of summer. This weekend saw the wide release of the sequel (actually the fifth sequel) Mission: Impossible - Fallout and non-sequel Teen Titans Go: To the Movies. With Tom Cruise's film leading the pack with an estimated $61.5 mil, this is the second weekend in a row (and second in history) where 8 of the top 10 films were sequels. If the estimates hold true for M:I6, this would be the highest opening for the franchise. Teen Titans is looking at opening at number 5 for the weekend with a total of $10.5 mil. With Mission's opening at number 1, Mama Mia: Here We Go Again remained at number 2 and Equalizer 2 dropped 2 spots to number 3. 

With 2 new films, Disney's Ant-Man and the Wasp and Incredibles 2 both dropped 2 spots to 6 and 7 respectively. (This is the first time since the last weekend in April that Disney did not have a film in the top 5.) Ant-Man was able to gross $8.4 for the weekend for a running total of $183.1 mil. This is more than the entire run of the first film. That makes if the 8th highest grossing film for the domestic market so far this year. It's current worldwide gross of $394 mil places it in the top 10 by surpassing Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Incredibles 2 continues its march to $600 mil. It brought in $7.1 mil for the weekend for running total of $572.7 mil. It stands at number 3 for the domestic market this year and is currently number 4 for the worldwide market sitting just shy of $1 bil. 

It is looking more and more likely that Black Panther will not be able to make it to the $700 mil mark for the domestic market. Last weekend saw a jump in theaters showing the film, but this weekend the number of theaters showing the movie dropped from 156 to 15. This led to an estimated take of just $3k which left the film standing at $699,955,434 for the year. 

Next weekend see the release of Disney's last film of the summer--Christopher Robins. This is one of 4 new films premiering next weekend, but current projections have the film finishing around the $30 mil mark. That will be the last new film released by Disney for the next 3 months.

In Disney motion picture news, stockholders of both Disney and 20th Century Fox overwhelmingly supported the merger of Disney and Fox. The merger will be complete next year and will see the Avatar film series come to Disney. Avatar already has a foothold at Walt Disney World with the Land of Pandora in Animal Kingdom. The merger will give Disney a firm hold on box office magic over the coming years. 2019 was already looking strong for Disney with the upcoming line up of Captain Marvel, Avengers 4, Frozen 2, and Star Wars: Episode 9 (which will start shooting this week in the United Kingdom,) but next year sees Fox pictures releasing 2 Marvel films and Avatar sequels beginning in 2020. This should keep Disney at the top of the box office charts for years to come.

I hope you have a great week and if you need help planning a magical vacation, please let me know how I can help by emailing me at brian.herndon@mousemadesimple.com.

Weekend Box Office Round-Up for Jul 20-22

Good afternoon Disney friends,

Disney was part of another record weekend. For the first time ever 8 of the top 10 films for the weekend were sequels. In fact, the top 5 were all sequels-only the second time ever-the first was 2 weeks ago. (That could be top 6 depending on how Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Skyscraper finally end up-right now they are separated by $45k.)  Also, there was a shocker at the top spot--Equalizer 2 overperformed by over $10 mil compared to projections going into the weekend to beat out Mama Mia: Here We Go Again, $35.8 mil to $34.4 mil. 

Now to Disney--Ant Man and the Wasp and Incredibles 2 were numbers 4 and 5 for the weekend. Ant-Man was able to add over $16 mil for a running total of over $164.6 mil. That total is only about $16 mil short of what the first film was able to pull in during its entire run in 2015. The film added over $21 mil from international markets for a total worldwide gross of $353 mil--it still has 44% of the international markets to go.

Incredibles 2 pulled in an estimated $11.5 mil stateside for a running tally of $557 mil. It also opened in South Korea this weekend with over $10 mil, which is the largest opening for a Disney animated film or a Pixar. The current worldwide tally is coming in at $940 mil and still has 25% of the international markets to go. Once this film finishes its run, it will become the 36th film to cross the $1 bil mark. That would also be Disney's third film to hit that mark this year alone.

Avengers: Infinity War added over $400k for a running tally of $676.8 mil. Solo: A Star Wars Story added $221k for a current total of $212 mil. Lastly, Disney added theaters for Black Panther to help the film add an estimated $25k, which puts the film at $699,931,862 domestically.

Next weekend sees Tom Cruise return to the Mission Impossible series which will probably have cause a larger than normal drop for Equalizer 2 due to pulling in similar crowds. This will have somewhat of an effect on Ant-Man and the Wasp, but Disney's film is more family fare. Teen Titans Go! To the Movies will probably eat into both A-M and Incredibles 2.

I hope you have a magical week and if you need help book a Disney vacation (parks, resorts, or cruises,) please email me at brian.herndon@mousemadesimple.com.

Disney Weekend Box Office Round Up

Good evening Disney friends, 

I am sorry to be coming to you a later than normal but I spent time watching Ant-Man and the Wasp earlier today. The movie was very good. There are a few times when the movie did drag but over all the jokes were good and so was the action. From some of the rumors running around, this film will be important in regards to next summers Avengers 4. One last thought about the movie in terms of whether or not to go see it-the end credit scenes were almost worth the price of the ticket. 

Now to some numbers. Disney made it 5 for 6 this year--5 of Disney's 6 films have opened at number 1 for the weekend (A Wrinkle in Time is the only film to not open number 1 and part of the reason was that Black Panther was still number 1 when it opened.) If you look at the 5 movies that ranked number 1, they have been number 1 for a total of 10 weekends this year. In fact, except for three weeks in late January or early February between Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Black Panther, a Disney film has been ranked in the top 10 every weekend so far this year. Since Avengers: Infintiy War opened, Disney has had 2 films ranked in the top 10 (2 weekends they had 3.) 

Ant-Man and the Wasp opened with an estimated $76 million dollars which was well above the previous films opening of $57 million. According to some industry experts, Ant-Man and the Wasp will probably clear about $100 million for Disney when the film finishes its worldwide run. 

Disney was also able to hold on to the number two spot with Incredibles 2 staying there for the third weekend in a row. I2's weekend of $29 million helped the film become the first animated film to cross the $500 million mark for the domestic market. It was also able to surpass Finding Dory to become the highest grossing animated film of all time in the domestic market. 

Disney accounted for 57% of the domestic market this weekend.

I hope you have a magical weekend and if you need any help booking a Disney vacation, please let me know how I can help by emailing me at brian.herndon@mousemadesimple.com.

Weekend Box Office Update for Jun 29-Jul 1 (Mid Year Review)

Good afternoon Disney friends,

As we reach the midway point of the year, it is a good time to take a look back at Disney's box office numbers and look ahead to the rest of the year.  

Just a quick note about this weekend before I begin the look back. Disney still has 2 films in the top 10. Incredibles 2 maintained its stay at number 2 with a weekend take of $45 mil (total domestic of $439 mil)  and Solo: A Star Wars Story is ranked at number 8 for the weekend by pulling in $2.2 mil (total of $207 mil) from the domestic market. Avengers: Infinity War was able to gross $1.4 mil (total $672 mil,) but did drop out of the top 10.

Looking Back

The numbers for Disney films have been staggering. From the 5 films they have released in 2018, the House of Mouse has already grossed over $2 bil for the domestic market. The next closest competitor is Universal which has grossed $638 mil. For a little more perspective, there have been 349 films released domestically this year and Disney has only 5 of those films, but yet it is pulling in just shy of 40% of the entire domestic market for the year. All five Disney films have grossed over $100 mil domestically. There have only been 12 films to hit this mark so far this year. 

In terms of all time domestic box office grosses, Disney's Black Panther and Avenger: Infinity War are respectively the 3rd and 4th films on the list. Disney now has 6 of the top 10 all time highest grossing films from the domestic market. Looking at the global market, Disney now has 17 of the 34 films that have grossed over $1 bil for the worldwide market. These 2 films helped make this years April, the highest grossing April of all time. This year also saw the highest February of all time.

Infinity War is only the 4th film of all time to gross over $2 bil from the global market after having the highest grossing opening for both the domestic market and the worldwide market. Black Panther had the highest opening weekend for the month of February. Incredibles 2 had the highest opening weekend for an animated film. In terms of opening weekends for the domestic market, Disney now has 9 of the top 10. Disney now has the highest opening weekends for February (Black Panther), March (Beauty and the Beast), April (Avengers: Infinity War), May (Marvel's The Avengers), and December (Star Wars: The Force Awakens).

I will admit that Solo: A Star Wars Story and A Wrinkle in Time both underperformed and these were not financial successes for Disney, but the films grossed over $200 mil and $100 mil at the domestic box office respectively. Part of their lack of success was the strength of Panther and Infinity War.

Looking Ahead

Here is the list of films (with dates) for the films yet to come from Disney:

Ant-Man and the Wasp July 6

Disney's Christopher Robin August 3

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms November 2

Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 November 21

Mary Poppins Returns Christmas Day

When looking at the future numbers, I think Ant-Man will do very well especially since the latest information has the film building is building to next years Avengers 4, because Ant-Man will attempt to explain the quantum realm which may have a big part of Avengers 4. (There have been rumors about the name of this film this weekend, but I will wait until the official name change to speak on it.)  The first film opened with a gross of $57 mil on its way to a domestic gross of $180 mil and a global take of $519 mil.

Ralph and Mary will do well. Ralph moves to the cherished Thanksgiving weekend spot. The first film opened the first weekend in November 6 years ago at number 1 with over $49 mil and the marketing has been strong. Mary Poppins opens on Christmas day and is one of the most beloved characters at Walt Disney World resort.

To me the wildcards for Disney will be Christopher Robin and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. Robin looks a lot like a sequel to Hook and The Four Realms is being released at the right time of year.

Next weekend will see Disney return to number 1 with Ant-Man and the Wasp. Until then, have a great week.

Weekend Box Office Round Up for Jun 1-3 (a look at why Solo is so low)

Good afternoon Disney friends,Dismiss 

The weekend after Memorial Day lived up to its normal weekend numbers and was off quite a bit from last weekend. Part of that is probably due to the fact that so many high school graduations are occurring. Even with the low weekend, Disney still held on to spots 1 and 4 with Solo: A Star Wars Story and Avengers: Infinity War respectively. Both films are expected to bring in double digit receipts from the weekend box office.

First to Solo. Estimates are for the film to bring in about $29 mil this weekend from the domestic markets. This film is doing poorly for one of the biggest franchises in movie history. There are probably 3 major reasons why this film is coming in so low (see what I did there.) 1. It was just to soon after Star Wars: The Last Jedi. When the original trilogy came out, films were released every 3 years (1977, 1980, and 1983.) That allowed for a build up of anticipation which just did not happen with this film since it has only 5 months since the last film in the franchise. 2. Deadpool 2 and Avengers are cutting into the market share. This weekend those 2 films combined ($33.6 mil) grossed more the Solo. Some of that money could possibly have gone to the Star Wars film. 3. Bad publicity about the film may have scared off some casual viewers. After the original filming had finished, there were concerns about the direction of the film which led to the firing of the original director and bringing in Opie (Ron Howard) to try to save the film. He did a fairly good job based upon the fact that the film is getting good reviews from critics and movie goers, but it just was not enough.

Next, Avengers is slowly moving in on the $2 bil worldwide mark. The film currently stands at $1,964,869,932. This weekend the film was able to pull in over $10 mil stateside for running domestic total of just shy of $643 mil. Even with schools getting out for the summer, with movies like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Ant-Man and the Wasp hitting markets over the next month, it will be hard for Avengers to make to $700 mil (of course I could be horribly wrong on that prediction.)

Lastly, Black Panther crossed the $699 mil mark and has less than $900k to go to make it to the $700 mil mark. Again, this will depend on how well it can hold facing stiff competition to come.

I hope your upcoming week is magical.

Weekend Box Office Update--May 4-6

Good afternoon Disney friends,

The weekend numbers are in and Disney has broken more records. First, the House of Mouse made it to $3 bil for the worldwide market on May 5, which broke Disney's record previous record of making it to that mark by one day (2016.) Disney now has 17 out of the 34 films that were able to gross $1 bil from the worldwide market. 

In terms of Avengers: Infinity War, the film was able to gross $112.4 mil this weekend based on current estimates. The weekend gross gives the film the second highest second weekend only behind StaIr Wars: The Force Awakens. Again, it bears repeating that Avengers is pulling in its numbers on a week when most children are still in school. Star Wars second weekend fell on Christmas weekend. Looking at the worldwide box office, the film became the fastest film to $1 bil. This figure beats out Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The film still has China to come, which will occur on May 11. Iron Man and friends will have one more weekend at the top of the heap before Deadpool 2 opens on May 18 followed by Solo: A Star Wars Story which is slated to open the following weekend.

Speaking of Solo, the film is already outpacing Black Panther in tickets sales on Fandango. Some of the current projections and looking at a four day opening of around $170 mil. 

I hope you have a magical week.

Weekend Box Office Update (April 20-22)--Summer comes early preview

Good afternoon Disney friends, 

The final weekend before summer will soon be over and Disney still has Black Panther in the top 10. With a weekend gross of $4.6 mil, the film has remained in the top 10 for 10 weekends in a row. As of now, Black Panther's total gross accounts for over 25% of the domestic box office take of the $2.5+ bil that the 212 films of 2018 have grossed. That will change next weekend.

Now I know many people think simmer will never get here, but in terms of movies it will be here on Friday. The first weekend in May has traditionally been considered when it comes to movies, but when Disney announced earlier this year that it was moving up Avengers: Infinity War by a week, summer moved up too. Tracking for this movie had been following the same pattern as Black Panther. It has been continually increasing over the past few weeks. I do not know where this film will end up next weekend, but it is almost a foregone conclusion that it will be the highest April of all time. Now, here is where life gets interesting. Tracking for films such as this are difficult. There is nothing really to compare it to except for the other Avengers films. The 1st was the first film to top the $200 bil mark and only 4 films have done so since. This film is also basically not a sequel of Avengers: Age of Ultron but this films stands as the final of phase 3 of Marvell's plan. (Yes, I know Avengers 4 comes out next year, but all Marvell films have been building up to this.) The build up for this film has been incredible. Ticket presales have broken records and the film is currently outselling the previous 7 Marvell films combined. Fandango is reporting that over 1000 showings have already been sold out. 

Here are the top 5 opening films for the domestic market:

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (BV) $248 mil

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (BV) $220 mil

Jurassic World (Uni) $209 mil

Marvel's The Avengers (BV) $207 mil

Black Panther (BV) $202 mil

Who knows where this film ends up, but there are a couple of things to watch for. 1. When The Force Awakens opened for Thursday night previews, it pulled in over $51 mil (which was added into Friday for a one day total of over $100 mil-the 1st and only film to do that.) 2. Jurassic World's top Saturday take of all time was over $69.9 mil. If this film comes out of the gate on Thursday over $51 mil and become the top Saturday of all time then we may be looking at the highest opening domestic film of all time.

Only time will tell. We will know more officially in 7 days.

If you need help booking a Disney vacation, please email me at brian.herndon@mousemadesimple.com.