by Nathaniel R
I've been reading mixed things on the success level of Marvel's latest superhero flick The Search for Michelle Pfeiffer in the Quantum Realm. Some say it's opening weekend of $76 million is a big step up from Ant-Man's debut, others think that that's all too low for a Marvel film at this juncture in their history. It does work as a nice after-dinner mint for the heavy meals of Black Panther/Infinity War (though I could've done without the bitter aftertaste of its post credits sequence.) At any rate this is the last Marvel Studios film for awhile. We now have a eight-to-nine month break from Marvel heroes unless of course Black Panther becomes a big Oscar conservation. The next Marvel Studios film is Captain Marvel (March 8th, 2019) which will be followed by the as yet untitled Infinity War Part Two (May 3rd, 2019).
| Weekend Box Office Estimates (July 6-8) |
|
| W I D E 800+ screens |
L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide |
 Ant-Man and the Wasp |
 Sorry to Bother You |
| 1.🔺 ANT MAN AND THE WASP $76 *NEW* |
1. 🔺 WHITNEY $1.2 on 452 screens *NEW* |
| 2. INCREDIBLES 2 $29 (cum. $504.3) | 2. SANJU $1.2 on 359 screens (cum. $5.9) |
| 3. JURASSIC WORLD FALLEN KINGDOM $28.5 (cum. $333.3) REVIEW |
3. 🔺SORRY TO BOTHER YOU $717k on 16 screens *NEW* |
| 4. THE FIRST PURGE $17.1 *NEW* |
4. 🔺 THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS $717k on 51 screens (cum. $1) REVIEW |
| 5. SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO $7.3 (cum. $35.31) REVIEW |
5. 🔺 LEAVE NO TRACE $425k on 37 screens (cum. $800k) TRAILER DISCUSSION |
In other box office news, the LaKeith Stanfield starring comedy Sorry to Bother You opened to very full houses (albeit only 16 of them) which bodes well for significant expansion and the popular Mr Rogers doc Won't You Be My Neighbor? went wide...
 Won't You Be My Neighbor? |
 Hearts Beat Loud |
| 6. UNCLE DREW $6.6 (cum. $29.9) | 6. HEARTS BEAT LOUD $268k on 169 screens (cum. $1.8) SOUNDTRACKING |
| 7. OCEANS 8 $5.2 (cum. $126.7) CATE'S PROMO SUITS | HATHAWAY MVP | 7. 🔺BOUNDARIES $236k on 224 screens (cum. $362k) |
| 8. TAG $3.1 (cum. $48.3) |
8. AMERICAN ANIMALS $156k on 135 screens (cum. $2.5) |
| 9.🔺 WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? $2.5 (cum. $12.3) | 9. THE CATCHER WAS A SPY $104k on 52 screens (cum. $490k) |
| 10. DEADPOOL 2 $1.6 (cum. $314.5) BRIEFLY ON THE PODCAST | 10. GOTTI $82k on 100 screens (cum. $4.2) |
| 🔺 = new or expanding its theater count numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo |
|
Won't You Be My Neighbor? is now the top grossing doc of 2018, surpassing previous champ RBG. Obviously American arthouse audiences needed to spend some quality time with these progressive heroes given the current cancerous cultural and political climate that's threatening America's future for virtually everyone -- yes, even the future of most straight white men (i.e. those not in the 1% of wealth)... but they don't seem to have realized it yet. It's worth noting that both of those documentaries about American icons are likely to beat 2017's highest grossing doc so this has been a potent year thus far for documentaries. Will the interest keep up?
In more mainstream news Incredibles 2 passed the $500 million mark domestically making it the third highest grosser of 2018 (all are superhero films) and only the 8th film to reach that 1/2 billion mark at home this decade.
What did you see this weekend?