'Captain America' Stays No. 1 With Huge $72.6M at Box Office; 'Money Monster' Banks $15M
By Pamela McClintock
Disney easily dominated the weekend box office chart between Captain America: Civil War — which declined a respectable 59 percent in its second weekend to $72.6 million domestically — and The Jungle Book. Better yet, Civil War raced to $941 million worldwide, while Jungle Book crossed $800 million globally.
Civil War has now earned $296 million in North America and $645 overseas, where it likewise came in No. 1 for the weekend with $84.2 million. Among other overseas players, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising earned $8.8 million from 34 markets for an early foreign cume of $19.7 million (it opened overseas two weeks ahead of its May 20 U.S. launch).
Jungle Book remained a formidable force in its fifth weekend, grossing $17.8 million from 3,970 theaters to come in No. 2 and pushing its domestic total to $311.8 million. Globally, it has earned $828.1 million.
The weekend’s high-profile new offering was Jodie Foster’s adult-skewing financial thriller Money Monster, which came in ahead of expectations, earning $15 million from 3,104 theaters for Sony/TriStar. The film, reuniting George Clooney and Julia Roberts for the first time since 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve, fared better than a number of recent studio adult dramas with big stars, and opened on par with Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies.
Read More: Cannes: Jodie Foster, Julia Roberts Tear Up During Ovation After ‘Money Monster’ Premiere
Money Monster’s profile was no doubt boosted by its splashy premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 12.
“In the world of Netflix and other options, adult dramas and adult thrillers are worth fighting for,” said Sony worldwide marketing and distribution chief Josh Greenstein. “This is an important win as these movies are becoming an endangered species in the theatrical marketplace.”
Jack O'Connell also stars in Money Monster, which centers on a TV financial personality (Clooney) who is taken hostage on air by a viewer who followed the talk show host’s advice and lost all of his money. Roberts plays the show’s producer.
After Money Monster, the weekend’s other new player was Greg McLean’s supernatural horror film The Darkness, produced by Blumhouse and released by BH Tilt, a relatively new distribution venture designed to target genre fans without having to make a major nationwide marketing spend (Universal is assisting on the movie’s distribution).
The movie opened to $5.2 million from 1,755 theaters, a win according to BH Tilt. Kevin Bacon, Radha Mitchell, David Mazouz and Lucy Fry star in the pic, which revolves around a family who visits the Grand Canyon and brings home a supernatural force.
Read More: 'The Nice Guys’: Cannes Review
Rounding out the top five was Mother’s Day, Garry Marshall’s ensemble comedy that stars Roberts opposite Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis and Kate Hudson. As expected, the movie dropped a steep 72 percent to an estimated $3.1 million now that the holiday is over. Still, the movie has done better than expected, grossing a total of $28.6 million to date.
At the specialty box office, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster scored the top location average of the year to date among for a specialty film, grossing $188,195 from four theaters in New York and Los Angeles for an average $47,049 for A24 films. Colin Farrell, Rachel Wiesz, John C. Reilly and Ben Whishaw star in the acclaimed film, which premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
Read More: ‘The Lobster’: Cannes Review
Whit Stillman’s Jane Austen adaptation also debuted in New York and L.A., taking in $132,750 from four location for a theater average of $33,187. Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions are partnering on the film’s theatrical release. Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny star in Love & Friendship, which sports a 100 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and will expand nationwide in the coming weeks.
