Game Of Box Offices: “Toy Story 4” doesn’t play around, silences threats from “Child’s Play”

We’re in an age of movies where an opening of $120.9 million is a disappointment. Disney+Pixar’s “Toy Story 4” opened this weekend as was projected to make $151 million, so it opening over $30 million less than that has some people calling it a let-down. I, for one, expect this one to have legs and on a production budget of $200 million, it should recoup that by next weekend. An average of $26,428 per 4,575 theaters was enough to grab it the POPCORN AWARD. In a distant second place was the latest remake of “Child’s Play” starring Aubrey Plaza and Mark Hamill doing the voice of the iconic character Chucky. $18 million was its benchmark for the weekend and it, too, landed a little shy, with only $14 million. In other Top Five news, “Aladdin,” for the second straight week, was able to overcome the newbies from the prior week, to hold the #3 spot, this time beating out “Men In Black International” for that spot. Speaking of overtaking spots, “John Wick: Chapter Three – Parabellum” was able to bump ahead of a few films, including “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” as well as “Dark Phoenix” and last week’s release of the new “Shaft,” both of which fell five spots from last weekend. Also landing in the Top Ten was Luc Besson’s new film “Anna,” bringing in $3.6 million, which is almost $1 million shy of its $4.5 million projection. The GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD went to the documentary “Pavarotti” which increased +94.9%, jumping up four spots to #16.

Also rising this weekend was another documentary, “Echo in the Canyon,” which jumped up one spot #20. Although it was predicted that “Dumbo” and “Shazam!” could be falling off the List this weekend, both films actually increased to #22 and #23 respectively. In addition to “Dark Phoenix” and “Shaft” both falling five spots, four other films followed suit, with “Ma,” “Pokemon: Detective Pikachu,” and “Brightburn” taking a five or more spot plunge, while “A Dog’s Journey” came within one spot of earning a BOMB this weekend, falling nine spots to #24 in only its sixth weekend. Falling off the List was the Bollywood film “Bharat,” which did not have any release information for the weekend at the time of this article. Also falling off was the Anne Hathaway-Rebel Wilson film “The Hustle” in its seventh weekend. Both domestically and internationally, the film was a success, despite less than glowing reviews (currently 15% on Rotten Tomatoes), earning $61 million over its production budget. Also, falling off the List this week but earning a profit overall was the thriller “The Intruder” in its eighth weekend. On a small budget of $8 million, it ended up making $28 million over its production budget.

With legs to come, “Toy Story 4” will hold its ground against another horror film about a doll, this time against “Annabelle Comes Home,” the latest tangent in “The Conjuring” Universe. Looking to grab $31 million in its opening weekend, that will make it enough to overtake “Child’s Play” and the Box Office Queen spot. Also opening this weekend is Danny Boyle’s “Yesterday,” which sees a musician getting in an accident and finding out that the Beatles never existed despite him knowing how to play all of their music, subsequently making him an overnight success. That film looks to bring in a modest $10 million, which should still be enough to put it at the #3 spot. Also, keep an eye out for IFC Film’s “Ophelia” starring Daisy Ridley which will be released in fifty theaters. With an almost-BOMB this weekend, expect “A Dog’s Journey” to finish out its time on the List. “Brightburn” is falling fast as well and barely held on at the #25 position this weekend, so expect that to reach its end as well. Lastly, like last week, one has to imagine either “Dumbo” or “Shazam!” will its end and with “Dumbo” hitting home video this weekend, I would imagine it will be that.

BOX OFFICE KING: “Toy Story 4”
BOX OFFICE QUEEN: “Child’s Play” (2019)
POPCORN AWARD*: “Toy Story 4”
GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD**: “Pavarotti”

#	Title	Weekend	Total	Budget	Week	LW	CH
1	Toy Story 4 (BV)	$120,908,065	($120,908,065)	$200m*	1st	N
2	Child’s Play (2019) (UAR)	$14,094,594	($14,094,594)	$10m	1st	N
3	Aladdin (2019) (BV)	$13,244,015	($288,554,143)	$183m	5th	#3
4	Men In Black International (Sony)	$10,701,557	($52,641,211)	$110m	2nd	#1
5	The Secret Life Of Pets 2 (Uni)	$10,270,955	($117,564,490)	$80m	3rd	#2
6	Rocketman (Par)	$5,605,936	($77,284,325)	$40m	4th	#4
7	John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (LG/S)	$4,085,828	($156,078,252)	$55m*	6th	#8
8	Godzilla: King of the Monsters (WB)	$3,855,801	($102,501,438)	$170m	4th	#7
9	Anna (2019) (LG/S)	$3,600,647	($3,600,647)	$30m*	1st	N
10	Dark Phoenix (Fox)	$3,532,525	($60,091,836)	$200m*	3rd	#5
11	Shaft (WB)	$3,517,443	($15,903,837)	$30m*	2nd	#6
12	Late Night (Amazon)	$2,552,444	($10,641,423)	$4m*	3rd	#9
13	Avengers: Endgame (BV)	$1,987,849	($834,596,815)	$356m*	9th	#10
14	The Dead Don’t Die (Uni)	$1,163,715	($4,791,630)	**	2nd	#12
15	Ma (2019) (Uni)	$1,149,475	($43,699,240)	$5m	4th	#11
16	Pavarotti (CBS)	$431,140	($1,014,228)	**	3rd	#20
17	Booksmart (UAR)	$425,413	($20,731,475)	$6m*	5th	#14
18	The Last Black Man in San Francisco (A24)	$410,444	($1,339,432)	**	3rd	#16
19	Pokemon Detective Pikachu (WB)	$370,212	($142,030,694)	$150m	7th	#13
20	Echo in the Canyon (Grwh)	$225,356	($1,142,580)	**	5th	#21
21	The Biggest Little Farm (Neon)	$164,279	($3,277,596)	**	7th	#19
22	Dumbo (2019) (BV)	$119,146	($114,264,803)	$170m	13th	#24
23	Shazam! (WB)	$117,374	($139,961,290)	$100m	12th	#25
24	A Dog’s Journey (Uni)	$109,180	($22,101,130)	$22m*	6th	#15
25	Brightburn (SGem)	$100,269	($17,259,427)	$6m	5th	#18

<<<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