Halfway through both the summer movie season and the year of 2016 as a whole, sequels have been hit or miss. Follow-ups such asNeighbors 2: Sorority Rising,X-Men: Apocalypse,Alice Through the Looking Glass,Now You See Me 2andTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadowscouldn’t capture thebox officemagic of its predecessors. Of course, the biggest movie of the year right now is a sequel,Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but last week, a follow-up 13 years in the making,Finding Dory, opened huge with $135 million, breakingShrek the Third’s record for biggest animated opening weekend ($121.6 million). As expected, this forgetful fish staved off three newcomers this weekend, 20th Century Fox’sIndependence Day: Resurgence, Sony’sThe Shallowsand STX Entertainment’sFree State of Jones, repeating atop the box office with $73.2 million.
Finding Dory’s opening weekend haul not only breaksShrek the Third’s $121.6 million record as the biggest debut for an animated movie, while also surpassingToy Story 3’s $110.3 million mark for the biggest debut in Pixar history.Finding Dory, featuring a star-studdedvoice castincludingEllen DeGeneres,Albert Brooks,Diane Keaton,Eugene Levy,Ty Burrell,Willem Dafoe,Ed O’NeilandIdris Elba, is already a hit with critics, earning an astounding 94% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.Box Office Mojoreports thatFinding Dory’s second weekend haul of $73.2. million, with an impressive $17,012 per-screen average, represents an impressive drop of just 43.2% from its opening weekend.
Finding Doryhas now taken in $286.1 million domestically, the sixth highest total this year after being in theaters for just two weeks, although it hasn’t performed quite as well internationally, with just $110.3 million internationally for a worldwide haul of $396.8 million. This take is almost the opposite of Universal/Legendary’sWarcraft, which has only earned $43.8 million domestically, but is doing great business overseas with $368.3 million, for a worldwide total of $412.1 million, from a $160 million budget. It remains to be seen ifFinding Dory’s international gross will catch up to the domestic haul, but that seems unlikely at this point.
Independence Day: Resurgencedebuted in second place this weekend with $41.6 million, which is a bit lower than the originalIndependence Day’s $50.2 million opening back in 1996.Independence Day: Resurgencesecured the widest opening for a new release this weekend, opening in 4,068 for a solid $10,226 per-screen average.The Shallowsdebuted in 2,962 theaters, withFree State of Jonesarriving in 2,815 theaters, withThe Neon Demonopening in 783 theaters as well.The Shallowsis the only new movie in wide release to fare well with critics, earning a 73% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, whileIndependence Day: Resurgence(33% on Rotten Tomatoes),Free State of Jones(40% on Rotten Tomatoes) andThe Neon Demon(48% on Rotten Tomatoes) fared much worse..
Independence Day: Resurgenceis faring well internationally as well, with $101.4 million, for a worldwide tally of $143 million from a $165 million budget. AfterIndependence Dayredefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale. Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens' advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction.
Jeff Goldblum,Bill Pullman,Judd Hirsch,Vivica A. FoxandBrent Spinerall reprise their roles from the original 1996 blockbuster.Independence Day: Resurgencewill also introduce new characters played byLiam Hemsworth,Angelababy,Maika Monroe,Sela WardandJessie Usher. The sequel is directed byRoland Emmerichfrom a script byJames A. Woods,Nicolas WrightandCarter Blanchard, based on characters created byRoland EmmerichandDean Devlin.
Central Intelligencedropped to third place this weekend with $18.3 million, for a domestic total of $69.3 million, followed closely behind byThe Shallowswith $16.7 million. In the taut thriller The Shallows, Nancy (Blake Lively) is surfing alone on a secluded beach when she is attacked by a great white shark and stranded just a short distance from shore. Though she is only 200 yards from survival, getting there proves the ultimate contest of wills. It’s Jaws for a new generation. The supporting cast includesOscar JanedaandSedona Legge, withJaume Collet-Serradirecting from a script byAnthony Jaswinski.
Free State of Jonesrounds out the top 5 with $7.77 million. Written and directed by four-time Oscar nomineeGary Ross(The Hunger Games,Seabiscuit,Pleasantville), and starring Oscar winnerMatthew McConaughey,Free State of Jonesis an epic action-drama set during the Civil War, and tells the story of defiant Southern farmer, Newt Knight, and his extraordinary armed rebellion against the Confederacy. Banding together with other small farmers and local slaves, Knight launched an uprising that led Jones County, Mississippi to secede from the Confederacy, creating a Free State of Jones. Knight continued his struggle into Reconstruction, distinguishing him as a compelling, if controversial, figure of defiance long beyond the War.
The top 10 will be rounded out byThe Conjuring 2)$7.70 million,|Now You See Me 2($5.6 million),
X-Men: Apocalypse($2.47 million),Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows($2.4 million) andAlice Through the Looking Glass$2.1 million.Nicolas Winding Refn’sThe Neon Demonopened in 783 theaters this weekend, somewhere in the middle of a wide and limited release, but it did not fare too well. The movie opened in 15th place with $606,594, earning a paltry $775 per-screen average. Also opening in limited release this weekend was A24’sSwiss Army Man, which earned $114,000 from just three theaters for a $38,000 per-screen average. The Orchard’sHunt for the Wilderpeopletook in $85,336 from five theaters for a $17,067 per-screen average, while IFC’s documentaryWiener Dogearned $27,020 from two theaters for a $13,510 per-screen average. Sony Pictures Classics' documentaryEat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Wordsearned $18,002 from two theaters for a $9,001 per-screen average, and Cohen Media Group’s dramaLes Cowboysearned $14,283 from four theaterse for a $3,571 per-screen average. No box office data was released for Independent’s sci-fi action-thrillerThe Call Up, Argot Pictures' documentaryFrom this Day Forwardand Strand’s dramatic comedyThe Kind Words. We don’t know yet if these limited titles will expand in the weeks or months to come.
Looking ahead to next week, three new releases will hit theaters in wide release, Disney’sThe BFG, Warner Bros.‘The Legend of Tarzanand Universal’sThe Purge: Election Year. Also opening in limited release is Music Box Films’ dramaThe Innocents, The Orchard’s documentaryLife, Animated, Roadside Attractions' dramaOur Kind of Traitorand Magnolia’s horror filmSatanic. Be sure to check back on Sunday for the box office estimates, and again next Tuesday for the next round of predictions. Until then, check out our projected top 10 below.
