Each week on Atom Insider, we break down the box office numbers for all of the biggest films opening in theaters. It’s been a weird summer overall, and this week is no exception, with some films falling way down and others surprisingly holding their ground despite heavy competition and a waterfall of sequels.

This Week’s Top Earner – ‘Men in Black: International’

Audiences threw their shades at Men in Black: International, the fourth film in the MIB franchise, as well as a “reboot sequel” intended to kick off a whole new series of films for Sony. MIB 4 managed to hit #1 in the Top 10 with $28.5 million domestically, but that’s only a little over half the opening weekend totals for all three previous MIB films, not even adjusting for inflation.

Worldwide, the film has made $102.2 million, with the vast majority coming from overseas ticket sales. That’s not a full-on disaster for the studio, but due to a high reported budget of $110 million and a marketing budget reaching an estimated $120 million, MIB 4 will have a long way to go before it breaks even, let alone makes a profit.

 

Second Place  – ‘The Secret Life of Pets 2’

Illumination’s family-friendly The Secret Life of Pets 2 dropped to #2 this weekend with $23.8 million domestically. That’s a 49% drop despite the animated film gaining a few theaters (now over 4,500 in total). For context, the first Secret Life of Pets made more money in its first three days than the sequel made in 10.

Fortunately for Universal, Pets 2 isn’t rolling over internationally. Its worldwide sum is $154.5 million, almost double its reported production budget. But the film will have to keep pulling in good numbers this week to turn in at least a little profit before Toy Story 4 arrives to eat up the market on animated family fare.

 

And Third  – ‘Aladdin’

The live-action Disney remake ran in place this weekend, holding on to its #3 spot with $16.7 million domestically. Aladdin has now been playing for over a month, and it’s only just starting to lose theaters. It’s one of the few major box office hits so far this summer with $726.4 million worldwide off a reported budget of $183 million. If Disney was already considering a “Return of Jafar” sequel or something similar, they now have the box office numbers to back it up.

Out of the 13 “Disney Live-Action Reimaginings,”  Aladdin will likely hold onto its spot as the fourth highest grossing domestic earner with $263.4 million and counting, just below Alice in Wonderland (2010), The Jungle Book (2016), and Beauty and the Beast (2017). But it’s almost a given that next month’s The Lion King will roar above at least a few of these films, if not all of them, by summer’s end.

 

Rounding Out The Rest Of The Box Office

Dark Phoenix (Fox) dropped two spots to #4 in its second week with just $9 million domestically in over 3,700 theaters. That’s a staggering 72% drop, the harshest we’ve seen for a film’s second week in quite a while. The film opens in Japan next week, and overseas ticket sales aren’t nearly as dire. The X-Men sequel now has $204.1 million worldwide.

Rocketman (Paramount) lost nearly 600 theaters in its third week, but it still managed to hold onto the #5 spot with $8.8 million domestically. It’s belting out $133.1 million worldwide off a reported budget of $40 million. That’s a far cry from Bohemian Rhapsody financially, but it’s still striking a chord with plenty of audiences.

Shaft (Warner Bros) debuted at #6 this week with one bad, shut your mouth, opening weekend: just $8.3 million in nearly 3,000 domestic theaters. The 2000 remake of Shaft made almost triple that amount 19 years ago, not adjusting for inflation. Clearly, this really was more “Shaft” than audiences could handle.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Warner Bros) dropped three spots to #7, making $8.1 million domestically in its third week at the box office. The film now has $339.4 million to boast against a reported budget of $170 million. That’s at least close enough for the film to break even, judging by rough estimates of the marketing budget.

John Wick: Chapter 3 (Lionsgate) fell just one spot to #8, making $6.1 million domestically in its fifth week with a lighter drop than any other film in the Top 10. Worldwide, it’s made $276.1 million, with almost half that total being domestic. It’s no Aladdin, but John Wick: Chapter 3 is easily one of the most optimistic success stories of the summer, especially when it comes to sequels and R-rated blockbusters.

Late Night (Amazon Studios) expanded its limited release to over 2,000 theaters this weekend, but it only made $5.4 million domestically. That’s less than Booksmart did in its own opening weekend earlier this summer, despite being criticized for not having an initial limited release. Amazon acquired the comedy for $13 million, which will likely see better returns when it hits their streaming service in a few months.

Last, we have Ma (Universal), which fell four spots to #10 with just $3.6 million after three weeks at the box office. It will finish its run just outside the Top 20 films under Blumhouse Productions, with returns similar to Sinister and The Gift.

 

And They’re Out

As I predicted last week, Avengers: Endgame (Marvel) finally bowed out of the Top 10 after a truly momentous eight weeks at the box office, becoming the second highest-grossing film of all time with $2.74 billion. That’s just $46 million away from the current record-holder, Avatar.

Detective Pikachu (Warner Bros) is also finishing up its journey as a “trainer” for more movies under the Pokémon brand. After six weeks at the box office, it’s made an impressive $420.2 million worldwide.

Booksmart (Annapurna) fell off as well, now at $19.7 million domestically after a month at the box office. We don’t know how the film is really doing internationally (likely below $500k to date), but its low reported budget of $6 million means this film will graduate as only a minor stumble for the studio.

Check back with Atom Insider later this week as we preview all the new releases hitting theaters this Friday.

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