“Shazam!” Powers Up for a Second Weekend

By Kip Mooney • On • In Weekend Box Office Report Weekend Box Office Report Comments Off on “Shazam!” Powers Up for a Second Weekend

BOX OFFICE REPORT

April 12-14, 2019

(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

TOP 5

Shazam! $25.1 million
Little $15.4 million
Hellboy $12.0 million
Pet Sematary $10.0 million
Dumbo $9.1 million

Beating back all its competition with a wallop, Shazam! remained in the top spot for a second weekend. The extremely fun DCEU flick fell 53 percent, on par with some of its bigger brothers. It's not quite at $100 million yet, but with a $100 million price tag – on the low end of major comic book movies – it's a true success, even if it's on a smaller scale.

Little was anything but its namesake, easily the biggest of the four new wide releases. The comedy, starring and produced by Marsai Martin (Black-ish), opened with an estimated $15.4 million. It's yet another win for African-American-focused films, and especially comedies. Hellboy had a hellish debut, earning an estimated $12 million. That's way less than even the modest openings of Guillermo del Toro's original two films.

Down in fourth was the second weekend of Pet Sematary, which has now doubled its budget. That's more than can be said for Dumbo, which cost more than Shazam!, Little and Hellboy combined. It's struggled to even get to $89 million so far. But what's really sad is that three of the top 5 movies this weekend are remakes, and both Shazam! and Little owe a huge debt to Big. Go see some original movies, people!

Outside the top 5:

  • This Weekend's Indie Champ: Her Smell, the dark comedy about an aging rock star (Elisabeth Moss). The film averaged $13,019 on each of its three screens.
  • Neither teen romance After or stop-motion animated flick Missing Link could crack the top 5. The former managed $6.2 million (a bit over expectations), while the latter took in a very sad $5.8 million (well below expectations). In fact, that's the worst opening for Laika yet.
  • Teen Spirit and Wild Nights with Emily both had strong debuts in limited release. Each took in about $11,000 on average.

Next week:

Can Shazam! make it three in a row? I would ordinarily think so, but it will face competition from The Curse of La Llorona, which has ties to the Conjuring universe. Those films have all been big successes so I'm predicting a photo finish. I think [deep, ominous voice] La Llorona will take the top spot with $19 million, while Shazam! will have $18 million. And don't be surprised if faith-based true story Breakthrough makes a strong showing.

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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.