‘Angry Birds’ Soars Over Cap, Iron Man and Sororities
Without any solid animated contenders since Disney’s Zootopia broke out in early March, The Angry Birds Movie had free reign over the family-friendly demographic this weekend. The Sony Pictures animated film based on the movie app opened this weekend to an estimated $39 million.
Headlined by the voice talents of Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad and Danny McBride, The Angry Birds Movie struck better with audiences (B+ Cinemascore) than critics, which only gave the film a mediocre 42% on Rotten Tomatoes. The $39 million debut is on par with previous May animated hits such as Disney’s Dinosaur ($38.9 million) and Dreamworks’ Over the Hedge ($38.5 million). Both those films finished over a $3.5x multiplier. The Angry Birds Movie should follow suit with no threats until Finding Dory on June 17. Alice Through the Looking Glass could take some of its audience away next weekend, but that a discussion for another day.
After two weeks on top, Captain America: Civil War dropped 54.4% to second place with $33.1 million. The Marvel film, despite being considered one of the best of the 13-film franchise, is falling harder than the less liked Iron Man 3 (-50.7%) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (-50%). Civil War didn’t even have to contend with the tentpoles the other Marvel films had. Iron Man 3 faced Star Trek Into Darkness its third weekend. Ultron squared off against Mad Max: Fury Road and Pitch Perfect 2. $400 million is still assured at this point, but next weekend’s one-two punch of X-Men: Apocalypse and Alice Through the Looking Glass won’t help matters for Civil War.
Comedy sequel, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising claimed the third place spot with $21.8 million. The Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne comedy tumbled over 55% from the 2014 breakout film. While disappointing for Universal, the results do follow suit of many other comedy sequels that couldn’t hang at the box office. Last summer, Ted 2 fell 38% opening weekend from the first film as did Magic Mike XXL (down 67.5%). Neighbors 2 should at least be able to pass the $49 debut of the first film over its entire run.
Shane Black’s The Nice Guys opened up in fourth with $11.3 million. Unlike the other two new releases, The Nice Guys was more popular with critics than general audiences, who gave the film a B- Cinemascore rating. With his Iron Man 3 anomaly aside, Black has blown away his dark comedy Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, which only received a limited release in 2005. For stars Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe, this debut is a typical start for Gosling while Crowe finds himself all over the place.
Rounding out the charts this week is Disney’s breakout hit, The Jungle Book. In its sixth weekend, The Jungle Book pulled in another $11 million, bringing its total to $327.5 million. Within the next week, the Jon Favreau directed adaptation is expected to leap over Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($328.4 million) and Zootopia ($334.4 million) to become the third highest-grossing movie of 2016. It will then only trail Deadpool ($362.7 million) and Captain America: Civil War ($347.4 million).
Note: These #’s are based on Sunday’s projections and can change with Monday’s actual #’s.
#1 – The Angry Birds Movie (NR)
$39.0 million / $39.0 million total
#2 – Captain America: Civil War (1)
$33.1 million / $347.4 million total
#3 – Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (NR)
$21.8 million / $21.8 million total
#4 – The Nice Guys (NR)
$11.3 million / $11.3 million total
#5 – The Jungle Book (2)
$11.0 million / $327.5 million total
Opening Next Week: X-Men: Apocalypse, Alice Through the Looking Glass
Source: Box Office Mojo
