The Secret Life of Pets 2 topped the latest superhero flick, Dark Phoenix, at the weekend’s box office. But no one is popping any Champaign corks since both seriously underperformed.
In the top spot of the five biggest earning films of the weekend, Universal and Illumination’s The Secret Life of Pets 2 trotted in with a $47.1 million debut. But despite winning this week’s box office battle, Pets 2 earned less than half of the $104.3 million that its 2016 predecessor earned, Forbes reported.
Even with the dismal showing in the U.S., the international take rings in around $97 million and at a price tag of $80 million in production costs, Pets 2 shouldn’t be a financial bust in the long run. Still, the huge come down from Pets 1 is notable.
The dark clouds over the box office got no better for Fox’s latest X-Men actioner, Dark Phoenix, which debuted to dismal $33 million in ticket sales. The less than super haul makes Phoenix the first X-Men film to debut at less than $50 million and is also projected to be the first X-Men film to make less than $100 million in domestic sales, according to Box Office Mojo. (Read Breitbart’s Dark Phoenix review here).
In third place, Disney’s Aladdin chugged along with another $24.5 million take. The weekend brings the Will Smith musical to a domestic total of $235 million since its debut and just shy of $605 million internationally. But this weekend also saw a 43-percent drop in audiences.
Even though it came in fourth this weekend, the disappointing Godzilla: King of the Monsters suffered another stumbled, losing 67 percent of its audience over last weekend. The big lizard earned a disappointing $49 million in its inaugural weekend over a projected $55 million opening. This weekend, the Kaiju King earned another $15.5 million, but with only $78.6 million in total domestic sales, the Zilla thrilla has a long way to go to earn back its $200 million price tag.
Rounding out the list, for its second weekend in theaters, Paramount’s Elton John biopic, Rocketman, was able to maintain a spot in the top five bringing in another $14 million adding to a $50 million domestic box office and a $101 million international take.
Also of note, Amazon debuted buddy comedy Late Night in a limited release earning a hopeful $230,744 in only four locations. The Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling team-up will hit 1,500 theaters next weekend when it opens wide. It is considered Amazon’s big deal for the summer and likely debuted small this weekend to generate positive buzz for next weekend when it will have to compete with Men in Black International and Shaft.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.