Box Office Predictions: April 29-May 1

Three new entries populate the box office this weekend as the Key and Peele comedy Keanu, Jennifer Aniston/Julia Roberts dramedy Mother’s Day, and video game based animated pic Ratchet & Clank open. You can peruse my detailed prediction posts on each of them here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/04/22/keanu-box-office-prediction/

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/04/22/mothers-day-box-office-prediction/

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/04/23/ratchet-clank-box-office-prediction/

None of them are likely to knock Disney’s The Jungle Book off its perch at #1, which will be the third weekend on top for Mowgli and friends.

Keanu and Mother’s Day should nab the #2 and #3 positions. I have The Huntsman Winter’s War dropping to fourth and it should have a pretty hefty decline after its disappointing opening (more on that below).

I’m not expecting much out of Ratchet & Clank and have it fighting for fifth with the third weekend of Barbershop: The Next Cut and slightly losing that battle.

And with that, a top 6 predictions for the weekend:

  1. The Jungle Book

Predicted Gross: $37.9 million (representing a drop of 38%)

2. Keanu

Predicted Gross: $17.6 million

3. Mother’s Day

Predicted Gross: $14.7 million

4. The Huntsman Winter’s War

Predicted Gross: $8.1 million (representing a drop of 58%)

5. Barbershop: The Next Cut

Predicted Gross: $6.2 million (representing a drop of 41%)

6. Ratchet & Clank

Predicted Gross: $5.2 million

Box Office Results (April 22-24)

Disney’s The Jungle Book kept swinging along in its sophomore frame with $61.5 million, just above my $59M projection for a two-week tally of $192M. As mentioned, it should easily retain its #1 status next weekend before another Mouse Factory entry – Captain America: Civil War – does its thing in a few days.

The weekend’s major newcomer was also quite a high-profile flop. The Huntsman Winter’s War, the sort of prequel/sequel to 2012’s hit Snow White and the Huntsman, earned just $19.4 million (lower than my $26.3M estimate). With a reported $115 million budget, War couldn’t overcome toxic reviews and the absence of Kristen Stewart (aka Snow White). The pic may struggle to even reach the $56 million that Snow White made in its opening weekend. Ouch.

Barbershop: The Next Cut was third in its second weekend with $10.5 million, in line with my $11.2M prediction for a total of $35M.

Zootopia was fourth with $6.5 million, higher than my estimate of $5M for a $316M total.

Melissa McCarthy’s The Boss rounded out the top five with $6.2 million, ahead of my $4.9M projection for a three-week take of $49M (pretty low for one of her comedies).

And that’ll do it for now, folks! Until next time…

Box Office Predictions: April 22-24

Disney should have another fantastic weekend on top of the charts with The Jungle Book, which far exceeded expectations this past weekend for a swinging debut (more on that below).

That means this weekend’s major newcomer The Huntsman Winter’s War could be in for a rough road. You can find my detailed prediction on it here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/04/14/the-huntsman-winters-war-box-office-prediction/

As I see it, the sort of prequel/sort of sequel to 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman will come in with under half of the $56 million made by its predecessor. That’ll put it firmly in second, but below expectations and far below Mowgli and company.

As for holdovers, I look for Barbershop: The Next Cut to lose not quite half its audience with Zootopia and The Boss rounding out the top five.

There is one other newcomer this week – Elvis & Nixon with Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey recreating the true life tale of The King visiting the 37th POTUS at the White House. There is yet to be a screen count for it, which makes predicting tough. Here’s my quick take: the film seems like an obvious choice for a Netflix or HBO premiere and not theatrical. I’ll say it makes $1.3 million.

And with that, my top five predictions for the weekend:

  1. The Jungle Book

Predicted Gross: $59 million (representing a drop of 43%)

2. The Huntsman Winter’s War

Predicted Gross: $26.3 million

3. Barbershop: The Next Cut

Predicted Gross: $11.2 million (representing a drop of 45%)

4. Zootopia

Predicted Gross: $5 million (representing a drop of 40%)

5. The Boss

Predicted Gross: $4.9 million (representing a drop of 50%)

Box Office Results (April 15-17)

It was a joyous week for Disney as Jon Favreau’s well-reviewed live-action remake of The Jungle Book took in an astonishing $103.2 million, way beyond my $74.6M projection. Just weeks after the studio made a killing with their animated animals of Zootopia, Mowgli and the CG animals here have given the Mouse Factory another smash. A sequel is already in development and it’s less than three weeks before their next blockbuster – Captain America: Civil War.

Barbershop: The Next Cut premiered in the runner-up spot with $20.2 million, under my $23.1M estimate. The Ice Cube three-quel came 12 years after the second installment and marked the lowest debut of the franchise (just barely below the $20.6M achieved by the original).

Melissa McCarthy’s The Boss dropped hard to third with $9.9 million compared to my $13.5M prognosis. Its two-week total is $4oM.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice also under performed my estimate with $9 million (I said $11.1M) for a total gross of $311M.

The aforementioned Zootopia was fifth with $8.1 million for a $307M total and I incorrectly had it outside my top five.

That’s because I gave too much credit to the Kevin Costner/Ryan Reynolds thriller Criminal, which tanked in sixth with $5.7 million. I said $9.3M.

And that’ll do it for now, folks! Until next time…