Weekend Wrap-Up
Beauty Dominates Power Rangers - LIfe and CHiPs Barely show up
By John Hamann
March 26, 2017
Over the remainder of the weekend, the $160 million Disney film pulled in a downright amazing $88.3 million in its second frame, dropping only 49% compared to its massive opening frame. This is the fourth-biggest second weekend of all time, behind only Marvel's Avengers $103 million, Jurassic World at $106.6 million, and the not going to be caught for some time, Star Wars: The Force Awakens with a second weekend at a crazy, Christmas-assisted $149.2 million. Batman v Superman, the former number one opener in March, fell 69% following opening weekend, and its Friday-to-Friday drop came in at 82%.
After only two weekends of release, Beauty and the Beast has already earned $317 million on the domestic side, crossing the $300 million mark on only its 10th day, joining Avengers: Age of Ultron and The Dark Knight – two summer superhero flicks – to accomplish the feat in the same amount of time. That puts it up with the other 65 films that have earned $300 million or more, an extremely elite group of films. After only 10 days, Beauty has already outgrossed films like the first Hobbit movie, An Unexpected Journey ($303 million), all the Twilight movies – the highest being Eclipse at $300.5 million, and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince ($305 million), just to name a few.
Beauty and the Beast isn't just dominating at home, it is killing it overseas as well. Its current international total is $373 million, which puts its global total just $10 million shy of the $700 million mark. I'm sure Disney didn't fantasize having this much money this early in Beauty's run. This one is sure to be a billion dollar winner, joining sure billion dollar hits for 2017 like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (yes, even if they stink – see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, for example). Speaking of Pirates, the next film in that franchise has an outside shot in May, and Cars 3, Thor: Ragnarok and Coco will be good earners, but not billion dollar babies. Disney also have a shockingly strong 2018 coming, with Han Solo, Incredibles 2, Jungle Book 2 and Mary Poppins all on the schedule. When we talk again next weekend, Beauty will be approaching $400 million domestic, and will be in eyesight of that billion dollar figure.
Finishing second this weekend is Lionsgate's Power Rangers, and reading the press this weekend, I think I am supposed to be pretty excited about how it did at the box office (but hmmm, no). I am in the camp of anything Power Rangers shouldn't exist in the first place, so it pains me to have to talk about it as a success this weekend, when really it is only a success for Lionsgate and its partners, including Saban, whose name I think I am supposed to be putting before the title (like Trump White House – not going to do it, ever). So, the facts: after a ridiculous amount of advertising, Power Rangers earned $3.5 million on Thursday night, which was folded in to an opening day total of $15 million, a number that likely saved some jobs in the Lionsgate organization, as there was likely a huge sigh of relief that the $100 million film didn't kick over and die immediately (like most of their slate released over the last two years, save La La Land). $15 million likely meant at least $40 million at home, and acceptance overseas. However, a film that costs $100 million, with this kind of marketing push behind it, is going to have to do huge business, with this one looking for $300 million around the globe.
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