Carl Roberts 
Earth’s Mightiest Heroes fall victim to the Baba Yaga!
They have been defeated. It had to happen eventually. After their record-shattering reign as Box Office champions, The Avengers have finally been taken down by The Boogieman. ‘John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum‘ has gunned its way to the top spot this past weekend, with the highest opening of the franchise so far. Keanu Reeves’ third go around as the eponymous assassin earned $57million at the box office, easily claiming the top spot from Marvel’s 22nd entry into their universe. The third time around for the title character also managed to shoot its way to a $35.2million worldwide weekend giving the film an opening gambit of $92.2million against a $55million budget. Critics and fans alike were universal in their liking of the film, gaining it an 89% average score and claims of it being the best film in the hitman’s saga so far.
After three weeks as the worlds number one movie, ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ finally tumbled to the second position but still managed to grab hold of a further $29.4million. The film now has surpassed James Cameron’s ‘Titanic‘ to become the second highest grossing film at the U.S box office with a running total of $770.8million, just behind 2015’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ which holds the record with $936million earned. The film now has a worldwide take of $2.61billion, just $170million short of overtaking ‘Avatar‘ as the highest grossing film ever. The film is starting to run out of steam now and with China only showing the film for another week before removing it from theatres, the film may fall just agonisingly short. However, fans around the world are still packing out auditoriums and seeing the film multiple times so anything is still possible.
Falling down to the third place from last weeks number two position came ‘Pokemon: Detective Pikachu‘ with another $24.8million added to its gross. Dropping off by 56%, the Ryan Reynolds voiced title character now has $94million domestically and $287.4million worldwide against its $150million budget after ten days of release.
Opening in the fourth position came sequel ‘A Dog’s Journey‘ with $8million. The canine comedy-drama opened significantly lower than its predecessor, ‘A Dogs Purpose‘ which earned an opening weekend of $18.2million back in 2017. The film, again starring Dennis Quaid currently has a worldwide total of $23million, nowhere near the original films total of $64.5million domestic take and a worldwide finish of $204million. Critics were unkind to the film, only gaining it a 49% average rating.
Sliding to the fifth position came ‘The Hustle‘ with a $6million weekend, down 53% on its opening weekend. The Anne Hathaway/ Rebel Wilson starring comedy remake of ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels‘ now sits on a ten-day total of $23.1million at the U.S box office and $51.2million worldwide against its budget of $31million.
Dennis Quaid still has a second film within the top ten as the thriller ‘The Intruder‘ came home in sixth place with another $4million added to its coffers. After three weekends of release, the film currently stands on a $28million domestic gross against its budget of $8million. The film still has to open in several territories around the globe so its haul will increase, making the film more than profitable.
Seth Rogan and Charlize Theron hung onto their place in the top ten as the R Rated comedy ‘Long Shot‘ took a further $3.4million, earning the film a domestic total of $25.7million against a $40million budget. The film has been earning great reviews so it’s strange to see the film not hitting the heights it deserves. It could be that the film was released at the wrong time of the year when the summer blockbusters dominate the multiplexes worldwide. Maybe releasing it earlier or holding it back until after the rush is over would have been a better option for the film and the studio.
The film adaptation of Nicola Yoon’s best selling YA novel, ‘The Sun Is Also A Star‘ didn’t shine too well at the box office, opening down in the eighth position with $2.6million against an estimated $9million budget. The teenage romance film didn’t make the critics or audience fall in love with it, only gaining a 50% average. However, again, the film has yet to open worldwide so it may manage to become a success overseas.
The Diane Keaton starring cheerleader comedy ‘Poms‘ slid down the chart, landing at the ninth place. The $10million film now has a total of $10million in box office receipts, losing 61% of its audience in its second week of release.
Rounding out the top ten was animated family fare ‘Uglydolls’ which managed to grab a further $1.6million and bringing its running total to an unimpressive $17.2million against its budget of $45million after three weeks of release.
Deciding to depart from the top ten this weekend were the faith-based drama ‘Breakthrough‘, Biopic of Lord Of The Rings creator ‘Tolkien‘ and finally flying out from the chart was ‘Captain Marvel‘. We can’t feel too bad for Brie Larson and company as they left the top ten after taking $425million domestically and $1.13billion worldwide. The film is slated for a home entertainment release on 11th June so it won’t be too long before we can all savour the film again to our heart’s content in the comfort of our own living rooms.
Next weekend in the U.S is Memorial Day. Attempting to gain the favour of the audience and hit the top of the chart are the James Gunn produced superhero horror ‘Brightburn‘, actress Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut with R Rated comedy ‘Booksmart‘ and Disney’s second attempt this year at remaking its animated films into live action with Will Smith starring ‘Aladdin‘. Critics have been so-so about the film so far with their reviews, saying it’s still entertaining but not in the same league as the animated version from years ago. Adding to the fact is the feelings of the audience after the first trailer and Disney may have another ‘Dumbo‘ on its hands, the Tim Burton-directed remake considered to be a disappointment by the studio. But then again, Smith is always watchable and possibly his name and star power may just carry the film through to box office success.
Will ‘Aladdin‘ magic its way to the top of the chart and take down the Boogieman? Will ‘Booksmart‘ scare away the competition and gain itself the top spot? Will ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ rally and take the lead again? Or will John Wick shoot down all comers and hold onto his position at the head of them all? Check back next week here at The Future Of The Force to find out the answers and more. We would be honoured if you could join us.
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Source: JoBlo.com
Carl Roberts is the News Editor for The Future of the Force. Aside from being our horror genre aficionado, he is also passionate about Star Wars, Marvel, DC, and the Indiana Jones movies. Follow him on Twitter where he uses the force frequently!
