xaosslug
Member
tomatometer:
-
-
-
-
-
-
metacritic:
*click pic(s) for source*
‘Finding Dory’ Dominates ‘Tarzan,’ Spielberg’s ‘The BFG’ Bombs
“Finding Dory” dominated the Independence Day box office, providing a little spark to a weekend that was lacking in fireworks.
The Pixar release swam to the top of the charts for the third consecutive weekend, picking up $41.9 million to bring its domestic total to $372.2 million. The follow-up to “Finding Nemo” should end the four-day holiday with another $50.5 million in receipts.
The July 4th weekend is traditionally one of the movie business’ biggest, but this national holiday suffered from a weak crop of new releases, as costly adventures such as “The Legend of Tarzan” and “The BFG” failed to excite audiences.
With a smaller budget, “The Legend of Tarzan” might rank as a hit. But Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow spent lavishly to update Edgar Rice Burroughs’ jungle king stories, shelling out a reported $180 million to produce the picture and millions more to market it.
Despite the high costs, the film did better than projected, earning $38.1 million for the three day weekend to take second place. It should make $44 million for the holiday, but that may not be enough to cover the massive budget. David Yates, who directed several Harry Potter installments, was behind the camera on the film, with Alexander Skarsgård donning Tarzan’s loincloth and Margot Robbie serving as his Jane.
To make a profit, the film will have to resonate with foreign crowds. In its first weekend of international release, “The Legend of Tarzan” pulled in $18.8 million from 19 markets, including South Korea and Russia.
“You have to look at the whole worldwide results,” said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. distribution executive vice president, noting that the film has yet to open in major territories such as China.
“At the end of the day we always looked at this as a bigger play internationally,” he added.
The weekend’s biggest disaster was Disney’s “The BFG,” Steven Spielberg’s $140 million adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s classic. The story of a friendly giant (Mark Rylance) who befriends an orphan (Ruby Barnhill), got solid reviews, but was overshadowed by “Finding Dory.” It collapsed at the box office, eking out $19.6 million over the weekend and should earn a paltry $23.6 million over the four day holiday for a fourth place finish. It will rank as one of the biggest flops of the summer and of Spielberg’s career, raising questions about his drawing power after a decade spent making historical dramas such as “Lincoln” that are geared at older crowds.
One new release did score with audiences. Universal’s “The Purge: Election Year” debuted in third place to $30.9 million and should make $34 million over the holiday. That’s a solid return for a film that cost a mere $10 million to produce and another summer success for Blumhouse, the micro-budget purveyor of “Insidious” and “Paranormal Activity.” The two previous installments, “The Purge” and “The Purge: Anarchy,” debuted to $34.1 million and $29.8 million, respectively.
The sequel follows a presidential candidate (Elizabeth Mitchell) campaigning to end the purge, a legally sanctioned night of lawlessness. It may have benefited from interest in the White House battle between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
In its second weekend of release, Fox’s “Independence Day: Resurgence” rounded out the top five, earning $16.5 million. The follow up to the hit alien invasion thriller has made $76.3 million domestically and should close the holiday with more than $20 million in receipts.
More to come…
*click pic for full list/source*
Worldwide Box Office
*click pic for full list/source*