Disney hasn’t had a lot of success lately launching films over Memorial Day weekend but that curse was lifted with the arrival of the live-action Aladdin adaptation which defied box office tracking and then some.
Aladdin opened at number one with $91.5 million over three days and added a robust $25.7 million on Memorial Day to bring its four day total to $117.2 million. The numbers for Aladdin initially came in at $86 million over three days which already had the film well over its box office tracking because the film was tracking to gross $80 million over the whole four day weekend To say Aladdin over-performed would be an understatement and it honestly overcame middle of the road reviews (57% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes) to turn into an audience favorite this weekend. The film has a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes so that should tell you about the true divide between critics and moviegoers on this. The film also received an “A” CinemaScore which is more of an indication that word of mouth should be strong moving forward. Internationally, Aladdin debuted in every major market except for Japan, where the film will open on June 7, and delivered an estimated $121 million for a global debut topping $207 million for the three-day weekend.
Dropping to second is John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum which grossed $24.5 million over three days and added $6.3 million on Memorial Day for a four day total of $30.8 million. The three day total represents a drop of 56.7% and that’s not really surprising considering Chapter Two was also front-loaded and saw a steep drop in weekend two. That being said, Chapter 3 is already the highest grossing film of the franchise with a total of $107.5 million and it’s easy to see why Chapter 4 was announced after the film’s opening weekend. Internationally, Wick added an estimated $24.8 million from 74 markets this weekend, pushing the international total to $74.4 million for a worldwide gross topping $175 million.
Dropping to third is Avengers: Endgame with $17.2 million over three days and a Memorial Day gross of $4.8 million for a four day total of $22 million. The film saw its smallest drop to date with 42.6% and the film now has a domestic total of $803.3 million. Internationally, Endgame added $15.3 million this weekend from 54 markets for an international total that now stands at $1.879 billion for a global gross totaling $2.677 billion. For those keeping watch, this puts Endgame approximately $111 million behind Avatar on the all-time worldwide grosses chart. It’s going to be a close one folks…very close.
In fourth we have Pokemon Detective Pikachu which grossed $13.4 million over three days and an additional $3.8 million on Memorial Day for a four day total of $17.2 million. The three-day total represents a drop of 46.6% which further shows that the niche audience for this came out on opening weekend. The film has a running total of $120 million at the domestic box office and despite its $150 million budget, the film is making up for it with its overseas grosses. Internationally, the film added an estimated $24.3 million this weekend in 72 markets for an overseas gross totaling over $236 million for a worldwide total just shy of $353 million. Looks like we’ll definitely be getting that sequel.
Rounding out the top five is Brightburn with $7.8 million over three days with an additional Memorial Day gross of $1.7 million for a four day total of $9.5 million. We have a good news and bad news situation with Brightburn. The R-rated superhero/horror movie hybrid only cost $6 million to make so anything it makes moving forward should result in a decent little profit. The bad news is that I don’t see the film being a factor moving forward and it is likely to have a quick life in theaters. The film received a “C+” CinemaScore which indicates iffy word of mouth but this is the kind of film that will likely gain some kind of cult status so that will be where its money is really made.
Check out the full top ten results below:
| Film | Total | % Change | Gross to Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onward | $10,601,952 | -72.9% | $60.3 |
| Bloodshot | $9,176,695 | NEW | $9.17 |
| I Still Believe | $9,103,614 | NEW | $9.10 |
| The Invisible Man | $5,890,805 | -61.1% | $64.3 |
| The Hunt | $5,304,455 | NEW | $5.3 |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | $2,522,584 | -67.3% | $145.7 |
| The Way Back | $2,356,115 | -71.2% | $13.3 |
| The Call of the Wild | $2,226,720 | -67.1% | $62 |
| Emma. | $1,295,215 | -73% | $9.9 |
| Bad Boys for Life | $1,102,208 | -63.5% | $204.2 |
