‘Toy Story 4’ Opens Below Box Office Expectations, Yet Still Soars
Jeremy Fuster
As expected, Disney’s “Toy Story 4” easily stayed atop the box office for a second weekend, while newcomers “Annabelle Comes Home” and “Yesterday” earned solid opening weekends as blockbuster alternatives.The Pixar film continues to perform slightly ahead of the pace set by “Toy Story 3” with $57.9 million grossed this weekend, giving the film a 10-day total of $236.9 million. By comparison, “Toy Story 3” grossed $226.8 million to this point in its run, finishing with a domestic total of $415 million. Overseas, the film opened in seven new territories including France and Italy, earning $80.6 million to bring its global total to $496.5 million.In second is Warner Bros./New Line’s “Annabelle Comes Home” with $20.3 million from 3,613 screens. The latest “Conjuring” installment opened on Wednesday and grossed $11 million before the weekend, giving the film a $31 million 5-day opening that meets WB’s pre-release projections.Reception for “Annabelle Comes Home” has been mixed with a B- from audiences on CinemaScore — compared to a B for past “Annabelle” films — while critics gave it a 60% Rotten Tomatoes score. While Annabelle may not be as appealing to audiences as she once was, the “Conjuring” universe will keep on rolling with “The Conjuring 3” in September 2020.In third is Universal/Working Title’s “Yesterday,” which earned $17 million this weekend from 2,603 screens. The film has a reported $26 million budget and was projected for a $10-14 million opening. While critics were only fairly positive with a 61% Rotten Tomatoes score, “Yesterday” has been a crowd pleaser with an A- on CinemaScore and a 4.5/5 on Postrak.Disney’s “Aladdin” takes fourth with $9.3 million in its sixth weekend, bringing its global total to $874 million. Universal’s “The Secret Life of Pets 2” completes the top five with $7 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its total to $131 million domestic and $223 million worldwide.Outside the top five, Lionsgate’s “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum” crossed the $300 million mark worldwide, becoming the first release from Lionsgate to do so since “Wonder” back in November 2017. The film added $3.1 million in its seventh weekend to bring its domestic total to $161.3 million and its global total to $303 million.Finally, Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Endgame” added $5.5 million this weekend as some hardcore fans came back to theaters for a re-release with six minutes of special features, including a deleted scene and a sneak peek of “Spider-Man: Far From Home.” That brings the film’s global total to $2.76 billion, but still roughly $26 million shy of the all-time global box office record still held by “Avatar.”More to come…Read original story ‘Toy Story 4’ Stays No. 1 With $58 Million in 2nd Box Office Weekend At TheWrap
This weekend’s box office is all about Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story 4,” which opened on 4,575 screens to $47 million on Friday and is now expected to earn an opening weekend of $120-125 million, according to industry estimates.
While that’s below the $140 million projected by Disney before the weekend and well behind the animation record of $182 million set by “Incredibles 2” last year, it would be the third highest opening weekend of 2019 so far. It will also stand as either the third or fourth largest opening ever for an animated feature, depending on whether it takes the No. 3 spot from “Shrek the Third,” which opened to $121 million in 2007.
The final opening weekend figure could be a few notches higher than current estimates, as Saturday and Sunday matinees could perform above expectations thanks to the film’s sterling word of mouth. “Toy Story 4” has received near-unanimous praise from critics and audiences with a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score and an A on CinemaScore, matching the reception received in 2010 by “Toy Story 3,” which opened to $110 million.
With “Toy Story 4” estimated to account for 60% of all box office business this weekend, Orion/United Artists’ “Child’s Play” sits in a very distant second, grossing $6 million on Friday from 3,007 screens. It is currently estimated to open on the lower end of studio projections with $15-16 million.
The marketing for this horror reboot embraced its status as counter-programming to “Toy Story,” with spoof posters showing the killer doll Chucky killing off Woody and several of his fellow toys. The film is the first in the series done without creator Don Mancini or original Chucky voice actor Brad Dourif, but has received the highest Rotten Tomatoes score of any theatrically released installments since the 1988 original with 60% from critics. Audiences, however, weren’t impressed and gave it a C+.
In third is Disney’s “Aladdin” with $14 million in its fifth weekend, giving it a domestic total of $289 million. Completing the top five are Universal/Illumination’s “The Secret Life of Pets 2” and Sony’s “Men in Black: International,” both of which are currently estimated to earn $10.5 million this weekend. For “Pets 2,” the domestic total stands at $117 million after three weekends, while “MIB: International” is falling 65% from its franchise-low $30 million weekend.
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