While none of the sequels this weekend saw as dire a drop off as “Alice Through The Looking Glass” when compared to their originals, Hollywood still hasn’t escaped this year’s growing concern with lackluster follow-ups, while their franchise problem continues to persist (at least domestically). Basically, studios don’t make sequels for them to earn the same as or less than their predecessors, and this weekend’s results for two major follow-ups won’t have executives pouring out the champagne.
Leading the way with moviegoers this weekend was James Wan‘s “The Conjuring 2,” which earned $40 million this weekend, just below the $41.8 million debut of the original in 2013. So, yes, that’s respectable but not exactly a triumphant return for the scare series. But as always, studios are looking overseas for good news there, and Warner Bros. will be happy with the extra $50 million they’ll be able to pad the bottom line with from foreign receipts.
READ MORE: ‘The Conjuring 2’ Has Great Scares In Search Of A Serviceable Story [Review]
A movie that everyone said they didn’t want, “Now You See Me 2,” did okay, all things considered, earning $23 million, compared to $29 million for its predecessor. Will it leg out to $117 million domestic like its predecessor and bag a total of $325 million worldwide? It’s a long summer, with lots of competition to come, but somehow I don’t think so, and Lionsgate might want to temper their hopes for a planned “Now You See Me 3,” which they’ve apparently already started working on.
Universal and Blizzard Entertainment‘s hopes for a big video-game franchise in “Warcraft” are certainly coming under question, with Duncan Jones‘ CGI-soaked, human-versus-orcs epic “Warcraft” tanking hard at the domestic box office, earning $24 million. Notorious failures “John Carter” and “Battleship” both opened with bigger numbers; however, neither of them had the weekend in China that “Warcraft” did. The video game is a big deal in the country and audiences were hungry for the movie, turning up to the tune of $145 million across four days — more than “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” earned in the country across its entire run. Wow. Will it be enough for Universal to consider a sequel? It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.
READ MORE: ‘Warcraft,’ Hollywood, And The Growing Importance Of China’s Box Office
In limited release, “De Palma” opened strong on three screens, “Diary Of A Chambermaid” with Léa Seydoux did decent business, while Colin Firth, Jude Law and Nicole Kidman couldn’t get anyone to care about “Genius,” which scored a dismal $6,517 across sixteen screens, with a $407 per-screen average.
1. “The Conjuring 2” — $40.3 million
2. “Warcraft” — $24.3 million
3. “Now You See Me 2” — $23 million
4. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows” — $14.8 million ($61 mil.)
5. “X-Men: Apocalypse” — $10 million ($136.3 mil.)
6. “Me Before You” — $9.2 million ($36.8 mil.)
7. “The Angry Birds Movie” — $6.7 million ($98.1 mil.)
8. “Alice Through The Looking Glass” — $5.5 million ($62.4 mil.)
9. “Captain America: Civil War” — $4.3 million ($396.8 mil.)
10. “The Jungle Book” — $2.7 million ($352.6 mil.)