Ragesh Dipu
Disney and Pixar’s ‘Toy Story 4’ is heading toward an estimated $135M haul from the domestic market in its opening weekend, reports Variety. The movie, which opened up with a $47.4M from 4,575 screens on Friday, is expected to rake $120M to $135M, according to various industry estimates. But the estimated figures fall below the $140M weekend haul projected by Disney. ‘Toy Story 4’ also ends up as the third highest opening weekend grosser behind the benchmark set by ‘Incredibles 2,’ $182M in 2018. ‘Finding Dory’ is in second place with a $135M.
If the forecast holds, ‘Toy Story 4’ will retain its position at the third place which was previously held by ‘Shrek the Third,’ which opened to $121M in 2007. The increasing word of mouth is favorable for the movie to lure more Saturday and Sunday moviegoers. Moreover, the film has met with widespread critical and audience praise with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 98% and an “A” on CinemaScore on Friday.
While ‘Toy Story 4’ heads toward a hopeful weekend, United Artists’ ‘Child’s Play’ manages to finish second with moderate Friday gross of $6M from 3,007 screens. The estimated earnings of the studio fall between $15M to $16M. The horror reboot pitted itself against ‘Toy Story 4’ with a campaign in which the murderous doll Chucky slaying Woody and other toys. ‘Child’s Play,’ which stars Mark Hamill and Aubrey Plaza, has received a 60% Rotten Tomatoes score and “C+” on CinemaScore.
‘Aladdin’ and the Genie hold on to the third place with $14M in its fifth weekend. The Disney flick earned a $289M domestic gross so far. Illumination and Universal’s ‘The Secret Life of Pets 2’ and Sony’s ‘Men In Black: International’ round out the top five. While ‘Pets 2’ is expected to collect $10.5M this weekend, ‘Men In Black: International,’ which suffers a drop of 65%, is set to finish the weekend with $10.5M.
Lionsgate’s R-rated espionage thriller from Luc Besson, ‘Anna‘ heads for a modest opening of $4M from 2,114 screens. The movie, which features Russian model Sasha Luss as a mysterious beauty and a deadly assassin, also stars Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy and Helen Mirren. The film earned $325,000M from 1,700 screens in Thursday night previews alone. The other two major contestants, ‘Dark Phoenix’ and ‘Shaft’ end up with disappointing returns.
While the other movies fall behind, ‘Toy Story 4’ is expected to reign the box office until Sony’s ‘Spider-Man: Far from Home‘ hits theaters on July 2.
Cover Image Courtesy: Pixar/Disney (Toy Story 4)
