“Toy Story 4” Delivers Summer’s Second-Biggest Debut

By Kip Mooney • On • In Weekend Box Office Report Weekend Box Office Report Comments Off on “Toy Story 4” Delivers Summer’s Second-Biggest Debut

BOX OFFICE REPORT

June 21-23, 2019

(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

TOP 5

Toy Story 4 $118 million
Child's Play $14 million
Aladdin  $12.2 million
Men in Black International  $10.7 million
The Secret Life of Pets 2 $10.2 million

The fourth entry in the Toy Story series continued its dominance both critically (98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and commercially. Each successive film has seen an uptick in its opening weekend and final gross. But for Toy Story 4, nine years off only brought an increase of $8 million, which isn't particularly impressive when you factor in how much more expensive movie tickets are now. Still, it's already the ninth-biggest movie of 2019 after three days, and will be one of the only ones to cross $200 million by the end of next weekend. It's also got plenty of time to be the only true family movie for a whole month until The Lion King comes to dominate.

Child's Play proved to be effective counter-programming, as the reboot of the killer toy franchise tweaked Disney's marketing campaign, even down to the tagline "Play time is over." United Artists was rewarded with a $14 million opening on a $10 million movie. Pretty solid, even if it will get wiped off the map next week with another evil doll movie: the third entry in the Annabelle series.

Aladdin continued its strong hold, dropping less than 30 percent again. It should cross $300 million by next weekend, though $1 billion worldwide is probably out of reach. But $810 million so far is absolutely nothing to scoff at. Men in Black International continued its disastrous run, earning only $10.7 million. It's basically earned in 10 days what the other three did in three, with much lower ticket prices in fewer theaters. The Secret Life of Pets 2 rounded out the top 5. It's in a similar boat as MIB. Taking in $117 million in three weeks looks pretty bad when its predecessor did that in four days.

Outside the top 5:

  • This Weekend's Indie Champ: The Metrograph's re-release of LGBT documentary A Bigger Splash took in $18,000 at the New York repertory theater. Scottish musical drama Wild Rose averaged $14,046 on its four screens.
  • Luc Besson has fallen a long way from the '90s, when The Professional and The Fifth Element were hits. (Or even 2014, when Lucy opened at No. 1.) His latest, Anna, managed a dismal $3.5 million on more than 2,000 screens.
  • Godzilla: King of the Monsters became the 15th movie of 2019 to pass $100 million, but finishing among the likes of Dumbo and Glass is not exactly great news.

Next week: 

Toy Story 4 will definitely repeat at No. 1, with somewhere around $55 million. No. 2 should be an interesting battle. Can a movie marketed just to adults win at the box office? Unfortunately everything 2019 has shown us says no. So that means Annabelle Comes Home will be No. 2 with about $30 million, while Yesterday will probably finish with $20-25 million. It will have longer legs than the latest entry in the Conjuring universe, at least.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.