‘Overboard’ fares the best among a trio of new films with $14.8 million, while Charlize Theron’s ‘Tully’ opens in 7th place; Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivers justice at the specialty box office.
Disney and Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War continued to dominate the early summer box office over the weekend, earning $112.5 million domestically from 4,474 theaters to score the second-biggest sophomore outing ever as it topped the $1 billion mark globally faster than any film in history.
Overseas, the mega-superhero mashup grossed another $162.6 million for a foreign total of $713.3 million and $1.164 billion worldwide. The foreign weekend tally includes $17.6 million from Russia, the biggest opening weekend in history. On May 11, Infinity War unfurls in China, its final major market.
Infinity War joined the billion-dollar club on Saturday, its 11th day in release. That bests the 12 days it took Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Infinity War becomes the 34th movie to cross $1 billion at the global box office, not accounting for inflation. The Disney empire lays claim to half of those titles with 17.
Force Awakens is the record holder for biggest second weekend ($149.2 million) in North America, while Infinity War nudged aside Black Panther ($111.7 million). Jurassic World ($106.6 million) and The Avengers ($103.1 million) follow. They are the only five films to earn north of $100 million in their sophomore sessions.
Infinity War fell 56 percent domestically, a respectable decline for a superhero tentpole. Marvel’s Black Panther was an exception in falling just 45 percent. The first Avengers fell 50 percent, while Avengers: Age of Ultron slipped 59 percent and Captain America: Civil War declined 60 percent.
The other major Hollywood studios continued to sit on the sidelines because of Infinity War.
Instead, a trio of smaller films debuted, led by MGM and Lionsgate’s remake of Overboard. The romantic comedy, starring popular Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez and Anna Faris, grossed a strong $14.8 million from 1,623 theaters to come in No. 2. It is the biggest opening to date for Lionsgate’s Pantelion Films, which took advantage of the Cinco de Mayo holiday in plugging the movie, which has already made back its production budget.
The marketing campaign for Overboard, which earned an A- Cinemascore from audiences, included two distinctly different trailers, including one in Spanish (200 prints of the film were also dubbed in Spanish). Hispanics made up a hefty 42 percent of ticket buyers.
Last year, Derbez’s How to Be a Latin Lover opened to $12.3 million on its way to a domestic total of $32.1 million. His credits also include Instructions Not Included (2013), the top-grossing Spanish-language film of all time in the U.S. ($44.5 million). The remake sees the roles played by Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell in the original film swapped, with Derbez playing a spoiled playboy, and Faris, a single mom hired to clean his yacht.
“We’ve been pitched remaking Overboard several times. But this take felt fresh and original because of the gender flip,” says MGM’s Jonathan Glickman.
Paramount’s hit horror film A Quiet Place came in No. 3 in its fifth weekend with $7.6 million for a domestic total of $159.9 million. Globally, the movie screamed past the $250 million mark to finish Sunday with $255.3 million in worldwide ticket sales.
STX’s Amy Schumer comedy I Feel Pretty placed No. 4 with $4.9 million for a tepid domestic tally of $37.8 million. It has earned $46.8 million worldwide. Dwayne Johnson’s Rampage, from Warner Bros., rounded out the top five with $4.6 million to finish Sunday with a global total of $377.9 million, including $84.8 million domestically and $293.1 million overseas.
Focus Features’ new dramedy Tully, reuniting Charlize Theron with her Young Adult director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody, came in No. 7 with $3.2 million from 1,353 cinemas. Tully stars Theron as a mother of three, including a newborn, who forms a unique bond with a night nanny (Mackenzie Davis) gifted by her rich brother (Mark Duplass). The R-rated pic has sparked controversy in some quarters for its depiction of postpartum depression.
The weekend’s third new nationwide offering was Bad Samaritan, directed by Dean Devlin and marking the first wide release from Devlin’s distribution venture, Electric Entertainment. The film, starring David Tennant as a low-level hustler caught up in a nefarious kidnapping plot, opened to a forgettable $1.8 million from 2,007 locations.
New titles at the specialty box office include Magnolia and Participant Media’s RBG, a documentary about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The doc placed No. 16 with $560,000 from 34 theaters for a strong per-screen average of $16,471.
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