Game of Box Offices: “Shazam!” fends off the weekend competitors including “Hellboy”

Negative reviews and bad press kept the reboot of “Hellboy” from making any sort of splash at the Box Office this weekend. In fact, “Shazam!” easily held on to the top spot with a second weekend of $24.4 million. Newcomer “Little” was even able to beat out “Hellboy,” landing exactly where it was projected to land, with $15.4 million for the weekend. That put “Hellboy” at third with only $12 million, which was $5 million less than even the Box Office Pro projections. With a $50 million production budget, it could be hard for it to recoup its investment. The One Direction fan fiction film “After” debuted in the #8 spot with $6 million while Laika’s latest stop animation film only earned $5.9 million, making it the lowest grossing opening weekend for a Laika film yet (Laika was also involved with the production of “Corpse Bride” alongside Tim Burton, which opened lower than “Missing Link,” but as it was contracted work for the company, “Coraline” is more consistently marked as Laika’s first complete production). Lastly, “Mia and the White Lion,” starring Melanie Laurént, opened at the #20 spot. Showing up for the first time on the List, in its twelfth weekend, was the Aretha Franklin documentary “Amazing Grace,” which was timely as the deceased singer was just posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize over the weekend as well. Moving up +296.2% and earning an average of $6,019 per 58 theaters also landed the documentary the POPCORN AWARD and the GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD for the weekend.

For yet another weekend, several films fell five spots or more within the List, including “Gloria Bell” (which fell five spot last weekend as well), “Five Feet Apart,” “Wonder Park,” “How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” “Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral,” “No Manches Frida 2,” and “The Aftermath.” The only films that moved up within the List were “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part,” which had fallen seven spots last weekend, this weekend climbing back up one spot, and “High Life,” which got a larger theater count over the weekend, than it had last weekend, when it landed at #25. With one more week until “Avengers: Endgame,” the one good thing for falling films to look forward to is the fact that not much else will be released to kick them off the List completely. Three of the seven films that fell five spots or more last weekend fell off the List completely this weekend, including “Green Book,” “The Upside,” and “Alita: Battle Angel.” “The Beach Bum,” “Isn’t It Romantic,” and “The Public” (after one week) all fell off the List as well.

In the final week before “Avengers: Endgame” hits the domestic theaters (be careful, because it has screened internationally and spoilers could be rampant) there are only a few big releases this upcoming weekend, with “The Curse of La Llorona,” the next film in the Conjuring Universe, looking for a debut of $19 million and a place on the throne, unseating “Shazam!” Depending on how well “Shazam!” can hold on, it may be neck and neck for second place, battling the latest faith-based film “Breakthrough,” touting an inspirational story and an ensemble cast, eyeing a $13 million debut, meaning “Shazam!” will have to stay above a 50% drop. Also, opening the weekend is the latest Disneynature film “Penguins,” which looks to grab $4.25 million for the weekend, putting somewhere around sixth through eighth place. Making room for the titles will likely be some of the films that fell five or more spots over the weekend, including “Gloria Bell,” which will finish out its ten point drop over the past two weeks by finally falling off the List. “The Aftermath” and “No Manches Frida 2” could also be facing the end of their runs. And lastly, “Apollo 11” has likely run its course, landing at #25 this past weekend and having dropped more than five spots the weekend before.

BOX OFFICE KING: “Shazam!”
BOX OFFICE QUEEN: “Little” (2019)
POPCORN AWARD*: “Amazing Grace” (2019)
GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD**: “Amazing Grace” (2019)

#	Title	Weekend	Total	Budget	Week	LW	CH
1	Shazam! (WB)	$24,453,514	($94,226,527)	$100m	2nd	#1
2	Little (Uni)	$15,405,455	($15,405,455)	$20m	1st	N
3	Hellboy (2019) (LG/S)	$12,045,147	($12,045,147)	$50m	1st	N
4	Pet Sematary (2019) (Par)	$9,745,207	($40,866,867)	$21m	2nd	#2
5	Dumbo (2019) (Dis)	$9,404,542	($90,163,704)	$170m*	3rd	#3
6	Captain Marvel (BV)	$8,611,527	($386,525,108)	$152m*	6th	#5
7	Us (2019) (Uni)	$6,810,365	($163,362,790)	$20m	4th	#4
8	After (2019) (Avi)	$6,002,349	($6,002,349)	$14m*	1st	N
9	Missing Link (UAR)	$5,944,950	($5,944,950)	**	1st	N
10	The Best Of Enemies (STX)	$2,014,126	($8,115,696)	$10m	2nd	#6
11	Unplanned (PFR)	$1,763,957	($15,794,262)	$6m	3rd	#8
12	Five Feet Apart (LGF)	$1,533,397	($43,894,791)	$7m*	5th	#7
13	Hotel Mumbai (BST)	$862,578	($8,023,786)	**	4th	#11
14	Wonder Park (Par)	$802,323	($43,524,891)	$100m*	5th	#9
15	The Mustang (Focus)	$773,295	($3,159,855)	**	5th	#13
16	How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (Uni)	$746,055	($157,968,660)	$129m	8th	#10
17	Amazing Grace (2019) (Neon)	$349,082	($589,038)	**	12th	#29
18	Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral (LGF)	$336,715	($72,722,145)	$20m*	7th	#12
19	The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (WB)	$206,055	($105,360,115)	$99m*	10th	#20
20	Mia and the White Lion (Leda)	$192,816	($192,816)	**	1st	N
21	High Life (A24)	$179,886	($316,345)	$9m*	2nd	#25
22	No Manches Frida 2 (PNT)	$177,949	($9,040,514)	**	5th	#15
23	The Aftermath (FoxS)	$163,414	($1,433,811)	**	5th	#17
24	Gloria Bell (A24)	$144,851	($5,339,983)	**	6th	#16
25	Apollo 11 (Neon)	$125,082	($8,305,039)	$9m*	7th	#21

<<<ALL DOMESTIC NUMBERS FROM BOX OFFICE MOJO>>>>

OFF THE CHARTS THIS WEEK

(OFFICIALLY CLOSED)

*POPCORN AWARD goes to the highest per theater average within the Top 25 List
**GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD goes to the highest increase within the Top 25 List