The RedState Box Office Report

This is the time of year when things take on a familiar appearance. As a sign of Summer hitting theaters this was a Xerox-inspired frame — sequels ruled the weekend, as they usually do in blockbuster season. Two new follow-up efforts would challenge a repeat winner for the top spot.

Get used to the deja-view; through late July there will only be a single week that a second or third iteration of some franchise will not bear forth. (That is June 2,  with “Wonder Woman” arriving, itself a well covered source material.) So, let’s pour through the numbers and see how the ticket registers echoed with repeat business  … then we’ll wipe the toner off our hands from the carbon paper.

1.  ALIEN: COVENANT — $36MILLION

20TH Century Fox was eager to jump start this franchise a five years ago. They turned to the director of the original “Alien” in 1979 to help set up a prequel series. What he delivered was a confounding origin story — not just of the supernal  predator, but the origins of mankind in general. That may have led to this very soft opening, which comes in below Fox’s already scaled back prediction of $40million. Generating confusion,  rather than demand, iis probably a factor.

2.  GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 — $35m

The Saturday audience was a jump over Friday, a possible hint negative word spread about “Alien”. It held a strong -46% drop in its third week, and once the actual figures come out Monday there is a chance it could claim the top position. This becomes the 12th Marvel  property to cross the $300million plateau.

3.  EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING — $12m

Warner Brothers snuck this low-budget teenage romance under the radar and it managed to find an audience. Over 80% of the audience was made of young females, who opted for this title enough for it to already earn more than its $10million budget.

4.  SNATCHED — $7.6m

As expected the Amy Schumer comedy is repelling ticket buyers. After an already soft open this dropped over 60% in week 2, indicating severe lack of interest. It is also a sure sign there will be no sequel talks.

5.  DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE LONG HAUL — $7.2m

I guess we can say the return of Alicia Silverstone is put on hold for now. Playing the mother in this franchise entry, based on the kids book series, she saw this entry arrive well below the projected $12million. Previous titles have drawn around $50m, and half more overseas — so this long haul may be off a short pier.

6.  KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD — $6.85m

Not a horrible -55% drop in week 2, but it had such an execrable opening that it is not much in the way of quality. While performing well overseas it is far from the kind of numbers needed – the epic about pulling a sword from a stone is earning like getting blood from a rock.

7.  FATE OF THE FURIOUS — $3.17m

Still running on fumes after six weeks there are at least two more promised, and a probable spinoff starring The Rock. After cars getting trashed by a submarine there HAS to be an upcoming plotline of cars in space.

8.  THE BOSS BABY — $2.8m

Two full months in release and it is STILL in over 2,000 theaters. After a global haul of over $450million you can be assured there will be a sibling coming along in the future.

9.  BEAUTY AND THE BEAST — $2.4m

How well has this done? Still a top-10 film while it was released on St Patrick’s Day.

10. HOW TO BE A LATIN LOVER — $2.2m

This complete unknown has managed to draw $30million, which is more than “King Arthur”, which cost $175million to make.

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