Dory Swims Away with Animated Record
Walt Disney Studios’ Finding Dory with the voices of Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks had one of the best opening weekends ever for an animated film, as it dominated the box office last weekend (June 17-19) with $135.06 million, although after adjusting for inflation it drops to being the third-highest animated opening behind 2007’ Shrek the Third and 2004’s Shrek 2. With an opening like that and generally strong holds for Pixar films historically, the movie should have a decent shot at becoming the highest grossing film of the year. The sequel to the beloved 2003 Pixar classic Finding Nemo broke the studio’s recent streak of sequels opening lower than their predecessors, such as 2013’s Monsters University and 2011’s Cars 2.
With tremendous buzz surrounding a sequel to what’s considered a “modern classic,” tens of millions of YouTube views for the first trailer, and relentless promotion from DeGeneres on her top-rated talk show, the movie was bound to be a huge success. It claims the third-highest opening weekend of the year so far, after Captain America: Civil War and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Both of those films are likely to be more front-loaded than a family-friendly animated film. Among comparable animated films, Finding Dory opened 49.3 percent higher than the $90.44 million opening weekend of last summer’s Pixar smash Inside Out, 16.7 percent above the $115.71 million of last summer’s Minions, 22.4 percent above the $110.30 million opening of 2010’s Pixar summer sequel Toy Story 3 and 92.3 percent above the $70.25 million start of the original 2003 Finding Nemo. The sequel out-opened the original film even after adjusting for inflation, though by a much smaller 36.2 percent.
Warner Bros. Pictures’ Central Intelligence debuted with $35.53 million as well. The action comedy starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart starts 5.1 percent higher than the $33.80 million opening weekend of last year’s similar Kevin Hart buddy action comedy Get Hard, 22.2 percent above the $29.08 million opening weekend of last year’s Spy, 37.7 percent below the $57.07 million opening of 2014’s 22 Jump Street, 2.1 percent below the $36.30 million opening of 2012’s 21 Jump Street, and 9.2 percent below the $39.11 million opening of 2013’s The Heat.
Sequels The Conjuring 2from Warner Bros. and Now You See Me 2 from Lionsgate took third and fourth place, respectively. The Conjuring 2, the previous weekend’s first-place film, fell to third place with a 63.2 percent decline to $14.88 million. The horror film had a sharper second-weekend decline than the 46.9 percent decline of its 2013 predecessor The Conjuring and the 57.3 percent decline of the 2014 spinoff Annabelle. The Conjuring 2 has now earned $71.06 million through 10 days, 15.3 percent behind the $83.94 million 10-day gross of its predecessor and 15.3 percent ahead of the $61.64 million 10-day gross of Annabelle.
Now You See Me 2 dropped 58.1 percent to $9.37 million, a significantly larger second-week decline than its 2013 predecessor’s 35.1 percent second-weekend fall. The thriller sequel has earned $41.09 million through 10 days, 32.5 percent behind the $60.91 million 10-day take of the original film.
Universal Pictures’s Warcraft made $7.24 million on a big 70.0 percent decline to finish in fifth. It is the third-highest second-weekend drop for a film playing in 3,000 or more theaters, behind only last year’s Fifty Shades of Grey and 2009’s Friday the 13th. The fantasy video game adaptation has made $38.43 million in 10 days.
Twentieth Century Fox’s X-Men: Apocalypse fell 46.4 percent to $5.31 million and sixth place. The superhero film had a larger fourth-weekend percentage decline than both of its two predecessors, as it did for its third and second weekends as well. Apocalypse has earned $146.16 million through 24 days, 29.1 percent behind the $206.25 million 24-day take of 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past and 10.0 percent ahead of the $132.89 million 24-day gross of 2011’s X-Men: First Class.
Paramount Pictures’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows dropped 63.5 percent to $5.25 million for a seventh place finish. The fantasy superhero sequel has earned $71.98 million through 17 days, 50.5 percent behind the $145.53 million 17-day start of its 2014 predecessor Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and 54.5 percent ahead of the $46.60 million 17-day start of 2007’s reboot TMNT.
Disney’s Alice Through the Looking Glass slipped 35.5 percent to $4.29 million, but rose to eighth place. It has earned $69.99 million through 24 days, 76.2 percent behind the $293.53 million 24-day gross of 2010 predecessor Alice in Wonderland.
Warner Bros.’ Me Before You dropped to ninth place with a 64.7 percent decline to $3.91 million, a second straight weekend of 50+ percent declines, somewhat unusual for a romantic drama with decent reviews. It has earned $46.11 million through 17 days.
Rounding out the top 10, Disney’s Captain America: Civil War declined 58.8 percent to $2.33 million. The film has made $401.31 million through 45 days, which is 9.8 percent behind the $444.77 million 45-day start of last year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, 0.4 percent above the $399.65 million 45-day gross of 2013’s Iron Man 3, and 60.2 percent ahead of the $250.53 million 45-day take of 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
This Week | Last Week | Movie | Weekend Gross | Cumulative Gross | Weeks |
1 | N/A | Finding Dory | $135.06M | $135.06M | 1 |
2 | N/A | Central Intelligence | $35.54M | $35.54M | 1 |
3 | 1 | The Conjuring 2 | $14.88M | $71.06M | 2 |
4 | 3 | Now You See Me 2 | $9.37M | $41.09M | 2 |
5 | 2 | Warcraft | $7.24M | $38.43M | 2 |
6 | 5 | X-Men: Apocalypse | $5.31M | $146.16M | 4 |
7 | 4 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows | $5.25M | $71.98M | 3 |
8 | 9 | Alice Through the Looking Glass | $4.29M | $69.99M | 4 |
9 | 6 | Me Before You | $3.91M | $46.11M | 3 |
10 | 8 | Captain America: Civil War | $2.33M | $401.31M | 7 |
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.