Most big releases decided to stay away from the second weekend of Captain Marvel and rightfully so. The latest Marvel entry will easily top the box office in its second weekend but there are some little offerings that are also in play for minor consumption.
Captain Marvel has already zoomed past the $500 million mark in worldwide ticket sales, including nearly $190 million in the U.S. through Wednesday. There could be some typical frontloading from last weekend that affects most tentpole releases but this is also Marvel and they have had some wonderful holds lately. Captain Marvel is also benefitting from basically being the only big film around this weekend and won’t have much genre competition until Shazam! on April 6. Jordan Peele’s Us next weekend and Dumbo on March 29 will also pose a threat but the audiences are all so different that there will be room for just about anyone in the weeks ahead. I’m predicting about $65-70 million for Captain Marvel’s second weekend.
Our first new offering is Wonder Park, Paramount’s animated family pic follows a young girl named June (Brianna Denski) who discovers she’s the only one who can save an amusement park full of magical rides and talking animals. The voice cast also includes Matthew Broderick, Jennifer Garner, Kenan Thompson, Ken Hudson Campbell, Ken Jeong, Mila Kunis, and John Oliver. Wonder Park is currently 27% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing and there hasn’t been a huge promotional push but with children’s films, that sometimes doesn’t matter. There will be some interest among the demographic but it won’t result in a huge weekend or long legs. I’m predicting about $11 million for the weekend.
Up next is the CBS Films’ teen drama Five Feet Apart. The film follows Stella (Haley Lu Richardson) and Will (Cole Sprouse), two teenage cystic fibrosis patients who fall in love. Due to their mutual illness, the pair must remain a certain distance from each other at all times. The benefit at play is the film cost $7 million to make and could actually resonate with the young adult crowd due to its subject and the appeal of its leads, particularly Cole Sprouse who plays Jughead on Riverdale. The film is 29% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes which is not great but even the bad reviews praise the performances of the leads and this is the kind of film that is a bit review-proof. I’m predicting about $8-10 million for the weekend and then probably a long life on home video.
Our last release is Captive State from Participant Media and Amblin. The thriller, directed by Rupert Wyatt, stars John Goodman, Ashton Sanders, Jonathan Majors, Machine Gun Kelly, and Vera Farmiga. The story revolves around a young man who leads a rebellion against an alien race that has invaded Earth. There are no reviews as of yet but this sounds like a film that was just dumped here to be forgotten. I’m predicting about $3 million for the weekend followed by a quick disappearance.
