Though I haven’t seen Independence Day: Resurgence yet, I’m guessing the humans win at the end of the day. Call it instincts or a blind guess, but the planet Earth lives on to see another day. That said, Roland Emmerich and his team probably won’t be celebrating too hard this weekend.
Their sci-fi sequel opened to a somewhat underwhelming $41.6 million in second place, which isn’t too terrible except when you take into account its $165 million budget. There’s a good chance they’ll make their money back — even if it’ll need to do it overseas, ironically, despite, you know, its American holiday title and all (I’ll get to that in a bit) — but 20th Century Fox might end up calling this one a bit of a disappointment. Resurgence earned less than the original film when it debuted —which came in at $50 million during its first weekend, not accounting for inflation or anything like that — in 1996, even though it opened in more than twice as many theaters (4,068 against 2,882) and was a good 20 minutes shorter than the first.
But it’s not all doom-and-gloom: Resurgence is currently sitting with a worldwide total of $143.6 million during its first weekend, which means it’s pretty close to its inflated budget, not accounting for marketing and all that jazz. We’ll see if it comes out on top in a couple weeks, but let’s not get the fireworks out just yet. The first film was one of the most profitable blockbusters of all-time. This sequel, released 19 years later, probably won’t share the same accomplishment, especially given the mixed reviews and muddled public opinion. Maybe they should have, you know, released the movie closer to the Fourth of July? I’m just one guy, but I’m just saying….
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Meanwhile, Finding Dory swam her way up to the number one spot again, collecting a very-impressive $73.2 million, which brings its global box office total to $397 million. It just barely bets 2004’s Shrek 2 ($72.2 million) for the best second weekend an animated movie has ever received. It’s not only one of the year’s best performing movies thus far; it’s one of the most successful animated films of all-time, and it should remain that way as it continues netting up the dough.
The Pixar sequel is certainly collecting up the cash now, but it remains to be seen just how well it’ll hold up when Illumination’s The Secret Life of Pets waddles its way into theaters. The original animated film opened well in Britain over the weekend and, let’s be honest, the guys behind the Minions know how to market and sell a movie. They should have another profitable film on their hands when it comes out within the next two weeks on July 8. But we’ll get to that when that day comes.
Also released this weekend were The Shallows, a.k.a. Blake Lively vs. Shark, the Matthew McConaughey-led Civil War epic Free State of Jones (read my review here, please) and Nicolas Winding Refn’s divisive The Neon Demon. The Shallows and Free State of Jones opened in fourth and fifth place, respectively, with The Shallows earning a slightly-better-than-expected $16.7 million carried by strong reviews, good marketing and solid word-of-mouth.
Free State of Jones, meanwhile, opened to a meager $7.8 million — which is McConaughey’s worst performing movie in years, particularly post-McConanissance. Gary Ross’ latest just barely performed better than The Conjuring 2, which is in its third weekend. It didn’t help that the film is a mess and that kids these days, generally, don’t go to the movies to see a Civil War movie unless Marvel characters are involved. But with a budget of $50 million, this one looks like a surefire flop. Or, should I say, it’s not looking quite alright, alright, alright…..
But hey, at least it did better The Neon Demon, which didn’t even make it on the top 10 with a spot at number 15. Opening in 783 theaters, the twisted, controversial Elle Fanning-led feature came in with $606,594, with an average of $783 per theater. Ouch. It was a bold choice to open this movie in the summer, and distributors Broad Green and Amazon Studios are possibly regretting releasing it during the hotter months of the year. Nevertheless, I’m hoping to see the movie soon, so I hope to put a little change in their pockets. I always try applauding unconventional, atypical films, and that certainly looks like the case with this one.
To wrap things up, A24’s excellent Swiss Army Man received the best location average of the summer so far with $114,000 in three locations in New York and LA, Central Intelligence is holding strong in the third spot with an additional $18.4 million and Warcraft is about $50 million away from breaking even worldwide with $412.2 million in its coin purse. So, maybe it won’t be a huge disaster for them after all? You know, money-wise, at least. Check out the rest of the box office results below, courtesy of THR and Box Office Mojo.
- Finding Dory Weekend: $73.2 million Domestic Total: $286.5 million
- Independence Day: Resurgence Weekend: $41.6 million Domestic Total: $41.6 million
- Central Intelligence Weekend: $18.4 million Domestic Total: $69.3 million
- The Shallows Weekend: $16.7 million Domestic Total: $16.7 million
- Free State of Jones Weekend: $7.8 million Domestic Total: $7.8 million
- The Conjuring 2 Weekend: $7.7 million Domestic Total: $86.9 million
- Now You See Me 2 Weekend: $5.6 million Domestic Total: $52 million
- X-Men: Apocalypse Weekend: $2.5 million Domestic Total: $151.1 million
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Weekend: $2.4 million Domestic Total: $77.1 million
- Alice Through the Looking Glass Weekend: $2.1 million Domestic Total: $74.6 million
