Disney's 'Dumbo' Flies to #1 While 'Captain Marvel' Nears $1 Billion Worldwide

[Nergal]

 

Disney's Dumbo was unable to reach studio or industry expectations, but still managed a #1 finish, making for the third different #1 film at the domestic weekend box office in as many weeks. Meanwhile holdovers such as Us and Captain Marvel continued their strong performances and Pure Flix's release of the anti-abortion drama Unplanned managed to out-perform expectations and find itself a spot in the top five.

With an estimated $45 million, Disney's Dumbo topped the weekend box office though fell short of the studio's $50+ million expectations and well short of what some thought would be a $60+ million debut. While the performance is well ahead of select, recent Disney releases such as Christopher Robin ($24.6m opening), Alice Through the Looking Glass ($26.9m opening) and Pete's Dragon ($21.5m opening), it's well short of films such as Cinderella ($67.9 million opening), which online ticket retailer Fandango.com reported Dumbo was outpacing in advance ticket sales.

Looking ahead, Dumbo did receive an "A-" CinemaScore from opening day audiences, which were 53% female and 54% were 25 years of age or older. That said, looking at Disney's other live action reimaginings, the average multiplier is 3.2x, which would suggest Dumbo is on its way to a domestic performance around $145 million. Given the reported $170 million budget, that puts a lot of heavy lifting on the international market.

Internationally, Dumbo debuted day-and-date in all markets globally with an estimated $71 million, which includes #1 openings in not only the US, but also in France, Italy, Spain, Russia, UK, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico along with being the #1 western release in China and Japan. Leading the way was a $10.7 million opening in China followed by the UK ($7.4m), Mexico ($7.2m), Russia ($4.4m), Italy ($3.8m), France ($3.6m), Spain ($3.6m), Brazil ($2.5m), Japan ($2.4m) and Australia ($2.1m).

Universal's Us dipped -53% in its second weekend, which is below Mojo's aggressive forecast, but pretty much right on par with what should be expected for a genre film of this sort. The film's $33.6 million three-day pushed the domestic gross over $128 million in just ten days. While the film continues to pace well ahead of select, comp titles, next weekend should prove interesting as it will face some serious genre competition with the release of Paramount's Pet Sematary.

Internationally, Us added 14 additional markets and brought in an estimated $22.6 million from 60 total markets for an overseas cume that now totals $46.3 million for a worldwide tally just shy of $175 million. Among new territories, Korea led the way with a $6.9 million opening followed by Australia ($2.7m) and Russia ($1.4m). Next weekend Us will open in Italy followed by debuts in Mexico (May 3) and Japan (Aug 23).

Disney's Captain Marvel lands in third, dipping -40% as it begins its fourth weekend in release with an estimated $20.5 million three-day. This pushes the film's domestic gross over $353 million as it currently ranks as the eighth largest domestic release in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Internationally, Captain Marvel added another $26.4 million from 54 markets, pushing the overseas total to $636.8 million and the global tally over $990 million. The film will soon top $1 billion at the global box office, becoming the seventh film in the MCU to reach that mark and the 38th film all-time.

Pulling into fourth is Lionsgate's release of the CBS drama Five Feet Apart, which delivered an estimated $6.25 million, dipping just -27% as it kicks off its third week in release with a domestic gross that now tops $35 million. Internationally, the film added another $6.2 million from 39 markets for an international cume that now totals $14.8 million and a global cume topping $50 million.

Rounding out the top five is Pure Flix's Unplanned. The anti-abortion drama debuted in 1,059 theaters and managed a $6.1 million ($5,745 PTA) opening weekend performance, aided by pre-release theater buyouts and previews totaling $1.5 million. The film received an "A+" CinemaScore from opening day audiences, which were 58% female and 70% aged 25 years or older. The performance marks the second largest debut for Pure Flix behind the $7.6 million debut for God's Not Dead 2 and they did so tapping into online advertising as the likes of Lifetime, Hallmark, HGTV and others refused to show the ads for the film.

Outside the top five, Bleecker's Hotel Mumbai had a solid expansion into 924 theaters (+920) bringing in an estimated $3.16 million for a $3,423 per theater average.

Neon's The Beach Bum from director Harmony Korine rounded out the top ten as it was unable to deliver on even the lower end of expectations, bringing in just $1.8 million from 1,100 theaters.

In limited release, IFC's Diane opened in three theaters with an estimated $27,043 ($9,014 PTA); Comedy Dynamics opened Slut in a Good Way in seven locations with an estimated $22,000 ($3,143 PTA); Magnolia's Steve Bannon documentary The Brink opened in four locations with an estimated $18,370 ($4,593 PTA); PBS's The Chaperone delivered $12,150 from two theaters ($6,075 PTA); and Greenwich's Screwball opened in 13 locations with an estimated $12,020 ($925 PTA).

Next weekend features a couple of higher profile releases including WB's release of New Line's Shazam! in over 4,100 locations alongside the latest Stephen King adaptation, Paramount's release of Pet Sematary, which is expected to debut in over 3,400 theaters. Additionally, STX will open The Best of Enemies with Sam Rockwell and Taraji P. Henson in over 1,600 theaters.