“Godzilla” Is “King” of the Box Office

Godzilla took out its kaiju enemies, as well as its competition at the box office. But with an estimated $49 million, that's about $40 million less than its predecessor opened with five years ago. It's another belated sequel that fell victim to its audience losing interest while it was away (see also: The LEGO Movie 2, Alice Through the Looking Glass). Even so, Godzilla vs. Kong is already slated for next summer. With terrible reviews, this one's likely to fade quickly, with Dark Phoenix and Men in Black International on the way.

Aladdin slipped to No. 2, and it's already out-grossed several other Disney live-action remakes, including Dumbo and the 1996 version of 101 Dalmatians. It should soon pass Cinderella and has an outside chance at $300 million, which would put it in fourth place, after Beauty and the Beast, the 2016 Jungle Book and Alice in Wonderland. What will be interesting to see is if this is a course correction after the disappointing Dumbo, or the new baseline for success for these films.

Rocketman opened in third place with $25 million. That's less than half of what Bohemian Rhapsody opened with in November, but this was rated R and had stiffer competition. It should have long legs throughout the summer, and has a good chance at being the biggest R-rated movie of the summer, especially given the rough go R-rated comedies are having lately. Its only real competition is Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Ma delivered an excellent $18.2 million opening. In light of its $5 million budget, this is yet another big win for Blumhouse. John Wick: Chapter 3 slipped to fifth, and will soon have made more than the past two films combined.

Outside the top 5:

• This Weekend's Indie Champ: Echo in the Canyon fell only 10 percent, adding 12 screens. That was good enough for a $7,548 average.
• It's looking even bleaker for Booksmart than before. It dropped more than 52 percent in its second weekend, proving it won't have any legs or word-of-mouth success. It likely won't even make $20 million at this point.
• In fact, every movie in the top 12 dropped significantly. June's only real hope at being successful lies in two animated films: The Secret Life of Pets 2 (which could also lose some momentum opening three years after the original was a massive hit) and Toy Story 4 (ditto).

Next week:

Three years ago, The Secret Life of Pets shocked everyone by overperforming significantly, opening with a massive $104 million. It ended 2016 as the year's fourth-biggest movie. That won't happen this time, but should be able to manage at least $65 million. That will be good enough for No. 1, while Dark Phoenix, the last iteration of these X-Men, will open in second place with $55 million. That would make it the first X-Men film to not open at the top.