THE LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part did top the box office but the good news ends there. The sequel, which was expected to revive the sleepy box office after a few dismal weeks, came in well below tracking and many insiders are wondering what happened.
LEGO Movie 2 grossed an estimated $34.4 million to claim the top of the box office. The sequel was tracking in the $55-60 million range so this debut is a bit troubling. The performance is also well below the $69 million the first film opened with back in February 2014 as well as below the $53 million opening for The LEGO Batman Movie in February 2017. That same year WB debuted a second LEGO movie with The LEGO Ninjago Movie and that film opened with a franchise low, $20.4 million in September 2017. The dwindling returns for the films in this franchise suggest the studio jumped the gun with so many spin-offs before actually establishing the overall series and they may have oversaturated the market with the films instead of taking their time with it. Critics enjoyed the movie with a solid 85% on Rotten Tomatoes and the CinemaScore of “A-” implies that audiences enjoyed it too but the long-term prospects don’t look like it will come close to matching the final gross of the first film or even The LEGO Batman Movie. Internationally, LEGO 2 brought in an estimated $18.1 million from 63 overseas markets. Comparatively, the first LEGO Movie brought in $18.4 million in its first weekend from ~30 fewer markets. As for the sequel’s performance, the UK led the way with $5.3 million.
Debuting in second is What Men Want with an estimated $19 million. This is about where the film was tracking so this is a promising start for the film which wasn’t liked too much by critics (46% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes). The film did earn an “A-” CinemaScore which means those who saw it seemed to like it. The film was made on the cheap at $20 million so this should be a moderate hit for the studio when it’s all said and done.
Debuting in third is Cold Pursuit with an estimated $10.8 million. The film came in slightly above tracking which means the film wasn’t really hurt by the negative press generated by Liam Neeson and his alleged “racist” comments. While reviews were good coming into the weekend (74% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) but the “B-” CinemaScore means that audiences didn’t entirely like what they saw and may be growing tired of Neeson and his revenge movies.
Falling to fourth is The Upside with an estimated $7.2 million. The film is down just 16.8% weekend to weekend and it now brings its domestic total to $85.8 million. Last week I said the film may fall short of the century mark but with continued drops like this, I think $100 million is very possible at this point.
Rounding out the top five is Glass which grossed an estimated $6.4 million. The film is just shy of $100 million at the domestic box office with a gross of $98.4 million to date. Based on its $20 million budget, the film is definitely a hit but you will hear naysayers murmur that money was left on the table here and that it was expected to do much better. This may very well be true but a win is a win and the studio is likely proud of its performance. The film also added $6.6 million internationally this weekend for an overseas gross that now totals $123 million, pushing its global tally over $221 million.
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 |
