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Missing link Laika.jpg

Box Office Report: No Seriously, There's a Movie Based on Harry Styles Fan-Fiction in the Top Ten

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | April 14, 2019 |

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | April 14, 2019 |


Missing link Laika.jpg

Even with four major new releases this weekend and a 53% drop from its opening week, Shazam! still held onto the top spot at the box office. Its $25.14m second weekend brings its total domestic gross to just under $95m, meaning it’s almost made back its budget. I’m seeing this film be referred to as a flop because of this but I don’t think so. Shazam! has already made $221m worldwide and will close at a profit, and the stakes for this movie were way lower than other entries in the DCEU. This one made its cash, it got strong reviews, and it helped to get people to be more optimistic for the future of this franchise. So job well done.

New at number 2 is Little, starring Marsai Martin (who also produced it) and Issa Rae, which made just under $15.5m from 2667 theatres. Audiences have liked this one, with over 65% of the attendees being women and 43% of overall ticket buyers being African American, according to CinemaScore. More importantly, it beat Hellboy, which opened to some of the worst reviews of the year so far and made $12m from over 700 more theatres than Little. The stakes for this film were pretty low but it still hasn’t managed to meet them, with a $50m budget and an opening weekend that grossed barely a quarter of that. It only made $3.5m more than Captain Marvel and that movie is 6 weeks into its release. So yeah, ouch.

In more ‘ouch’ news, Dumbo is still $11m off grossing $100m and could be one of the lowest grossing films of Disney’s live-action remake era. I’m still baffled as to why this thing cost $170m.

Opening at number 8, and I still cannot believe this is a real movie, is After, A.K.A. the Harry Styles fan-fiction. People went to see this! People paid money to read this book, which is still available for free online, then they paid more money to watch the movie! It took in around $6.2m from 2138 theatres, and I doubt this was a pricey film, so job well done, Wattpad? Seriously, darkest timeline. However, it is one of three films in the top ten this week directed by a woman. Progress is nice, but still, it’s Harry Styles fan-fiction!

What has proven even more disheartening has been the opening weekend gross for Missing Link. The latest technical marvel from Laika Animation had adoring reviews from critics in its corner but could only scrape by $5.8m, putting it at number 9. That’s a new low for Laika and not one they can really afford. Go see their movies, everyone! We need to support film-making like this.

In limited release news, Mia and the White Lion, which was a big hit in its native France, did a soft opening of $238,903 from 312 theatres. Mary Magdalene - yes, that’s the white Jesus and Mary movie - finally got a release via IFC following all the Weinstein Company drama, but could only do $62,436 from 62 theatres. Teen Spirit, a sweet musical drama with Elle Fanning, made $44,361 from 4 theatres. Her Smell, a far less sweet musical drama with Elisabeth Moss in full fiery Courtney Love mode, took in $39,058 from 3 theatres. The Chinese arthouse hit Long Day’s Journey Into Night made $27,896 from 3 theatres.

This coming week sees the release of Christian drama Breakthrough, the Disney documentary Penguins, superhero drama Fast Color, long-delayed L.A. noir Under the Silver Lake, and horror film The Curse of La Llorona.

You can check out the rest of the weekend box office here.

What films did you watch this weekend? Let us know in the comments.



Header Image Source: Laika // Annapurna