This weekend’s box office got a bit more crowded by the addition of four major releases debuting, each representing a completely separate genre (horror/superhero, comedy, romance, and animation). However, none of the newcomers was able to topple “Shazam” and steal the crown as box office champion, especially the film that many thought would contend for the spot – “Hellboy.”
In its second weekend, Warner Bros.’ “Shazam” fell a respectable -53% in its second weekend and earned $25 million. Superhero films tend to drop over 50% in their second frames, but with the David F. Sandberg film, starring Zachary Levi, WB was hoping for a better hold than normal considering its relatively soft opening. Remember, “Avengers: Endgame” is around the corner and “Shazam” only has one more free weekend until Marvel Studios steals all the air out of the box office and the WB film will be significantly hurt.
At this point, it would appear that the seventh film in the DCEU (or whatever they call it) will finish well below the previous low totals of “Justice League” and become the lowest grossing film of the series. “Shazam” will likely finish hundreds of millions behind the team-up film in worldwide gross and tens of millions in domestic gross. But with the great critical reception, it’s not all bad news, and with the hiring of a writer for the sequel, it’s clear that WB isn’t treating this film as a loss.
READ MORE: Neil Marshall’s Edgelordy ‘Hellboy’ Is A Dreadful, Juvenile Mess [Review]
Lionsgate, on the other hand, is taking a big ol’ L for its latest film “Hellboy.” While “Shazam” can tout its Rotten Tomatoes number in response to the mediocre box office, “Hellboy” has nothing but bad news. A month ago, many analysts saw the Neil Marshall film as a contender for #1 this weekend against the other superhero film, but after its scathing reviews, reports of turmoil on set, and an uninspired (to say the least) marketing campaign, “Hellboy” stumbled and fell flat on its face in its opening box office weekend, with a miserable $12 million domestically, which ranks #3 for the weekend.
With a budget of $50 million (not counting the massive marketing spend), “Hellboy” is completely DOA and will likely crater any chances of a new franchise for the studio. Lionsgate was obviously hoping that a strong box office showing would make up for the horrific 15% Rotten Tomatoes score, but a bad movie is a bad movie and audiences aren’t stupid. The CInemaScore rating for the film is a terrible ‘C,’ which falls behind the ‘B’ that “Hellboy II” earned in 2008. For comparison’s sake, the original “Hellboy” opened in 2004 with $23 million and “Hellboy II” followed with $34 million. So yeah, no one is happy with the reboot’s measly $12 million opening.
Did it fail because of the bad reviews? The terrible marketing? The lack of Guillermo del Toro/Ron Perlman? Or just the simple fact that the movie is hellfire-heated garbage? At this point, you have to assume it’s a little bit of all of the above. Either way, the future is not looking so hot for “Hellboy.”
“Hellboy’s” loss is a “Big” gain (see what I did there?) for the comedy “Little.” With its $20 million production budget, the female-led comedy earned a very respectable $15 million, on its way to a #2 showing this weekend. And as a sign of good faith from audiences, “Little” also earned an impressive ‘B+’ CinemaScore, when comedies normally fall in the ‘C’-and-below range. It would appear that counter-programming worked in this case, as the macho “Shazam” and “Hellboy” fought for that male-driven box office. The comedy, which stars Marsai Martin as the young lady at the film’s center, is clearly showing that it can carve out its own niche in the crowded marketplace, well on its way to becoming yet another profitable film for “Girls Trip” super-producer Will Packer.
Unfortunately, crowded multiplexes mean that some films are left out in the cold, and sadly, Laika’s latest film “Missing Link” just couldn’t find its audience this weekend. The fifth film from the critically-acclaimed stop-motion animation studio was probably too kid-focused for its cinephile fans and the box office grosses show that, with “Missing Link” barely ranking in the top 10 with a $5.8 million weekend. As we mentioned in our recent review, the film is not bad, by any means, but is clearly aimed at a younger crowd than something like “Kubo and the Two Strings.” Unfortunately, for whatever reason, young audiences aren’t super keen on stop-motion in 2019, obviously preferring the more common CGI-animation. That being said, the kids that did go to the film were amped on it, giving “Missing Link” a ‘B+’ CinemaScore, so perhaps word-of-mouth can boost the film in the coming weeks. It’s going to need all the help it can get.
The last major debut this weekend was “After,” which is the romance-drama film that is aimed at the younger audience. Trailers painted the film as a “50 Shades” but for the 18 to 20-year-old girls. Costing only $14 million, “After” is directed by Jenny Gage and earned just under half its budget back with a $6.2 million box office, domestically. For a film that is trying to compete with the massive titles in the top 10, this is a decent number for “After.” Perhaps, it’ll find its audience in the next few weeks and turn a nice little profit for the studios behind the film.
Next weekend is going to see the release of the faith-based film “Breakthrough,” as well as the horror film “The Curse of La Llorona.” And if that wasn’t enough, Disneynature is releasing “Penguins” in wide release, also. So, an already-crowded marketplace sees three more new films, as everyone awaits “Avengers: Endgame” in two weeks.
Here’s the entire top 10 for April 12 to 14:
1. Shazam! – $25M ($94M Overall)
2. Little – $15M (Debut)
3. Hellboy – $12M (Debut)
4. Pet Sematary – $10M ($41M)
5. Dumbo – $9.1M ($90M)
6. Captain Marvel – $8.6M ($386M)
7. Us – $6.9 ($163M)
8. After – $6.2M (Debut)
9. Missing Link – $5.8M (Debut)
10. Best Of Enemies – $2M ($8M)