LOS ANGELES, May 16 — Disney-Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War remains dominant at US theatres with US$72.6 million (RM293.21 million) at 4,426 US locations — the eighth-largest second weekend of all time.
George Clooney-Julia Roberts thriller Money Monster opened respectably with US$15 million. BH Tilt’s low-budget horror-thriller The Darkness, starring Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell, scared up US$5.2 million at 1,754 sites in a Friday the 13th launch aimed at horror fans.
Civil War showed impressive staying power after it launched with US$179.1 million last weekend, the fifth-highest of all time. The 59 per cent decrease is in the same range as two other Marvel-Disney tentpoles: last year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron and 2013’s Iron Man 3.
Civil War has taken in US$295.9 million at the domestic box office in its first ten days. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with ComScore, said Civil War is keeping the box office momentum going for a strong summer season.
“Captain America: Civil War continues to benefit from good old-fashioned word-of-mouth, an irresistible concept and its delivery of a flat-out perfect summer popcorn movie experience and that has powered the film to close to US$300 million after just ten days in North American theaters,” he added. “The newcomers did as expected considering the overwhelming strength of the latest Marvel extravaganza and both ‘Money Monster’ and ‘The Darkness performed perfectly in line with expectations and offered something new and different for audiences.”
Captain America: Civil War will become the 11th title to have exceeded US$70 million in its second weekend. That list is headed by Star Wars: The Force Awakens with US$149 million, Jurassic World with US$106.6 million, “Marvel’s The Avengers” with US$103.1 million, Avengers: Age of Ultron with US$77.7 million, Avatar with US$75.6 million, The Dark Knight” with US$75.2 million and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire at US$74.2 million.
Sony’s Money Monster was able to provide viable counter-programming aimed at adults, finishing well above recent forecasts. Directed by Jodie Foster, Monster generated solid buzz from its world premiere on Thursday night at the Cannes Film Festival and saw a 22 per cent gain in business from Friday to Saturday.
Disney’s fifth weekend of The Jungle Book continued to show remarkable staying power with US$17.8 million at 3,970 locations for a second place finish. The comedy-adventure declined a mere 27 per cent from the previous frame and will wind up the weekend with more than US$311 million domestically.
A24’s quirky comedy The Lobster, starring Colin Farrell, opened impressively with US$188,195 on four screens in Los Angeles and New York. Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions also generated a strong launch for Whit Stillman’s Love & Friendship, a Jane Austen adaptation starring Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny, with US$132,750 at four sites. — Reuters