The 50th weekend of the year is ringing up $80M per ComScore, off -13% from a year ago; but that’s only because last year there were two wide-entries, ironically failed fanboy titles, in Sony’s dud Kraven the Hunter ($11M) and New Line’s misfire Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim ($4.5M). If you subtract those two movies, you essentially had the potency of carryovers (Moana 2 was No. 1 with $26.4M and Wicked No. 2 with $22.6M), and this weekend those are Disney’s third frame of Zootopia 2 with $26.3M, -39%, and Universal/Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 with $19.5M, -70%.
The greater glory for Zootopia 2 is offshore with an overall global haul of $1.13 billion making it officially the No. 1 MPA global release of the year (besting Disney’s own Lilo & Stitch), and the 7th highest grossing MPA animated title overall. The pic is the No. 2 MPA release in China with $502M behind only Avengers: Endgame (reported, unadjusted total is $632.1M). Disney owns three of the top five spots for MPA titles in the Middle Kingdom.
Last weekend, Disney became the highest grossing MPA studio YTD, with $5.1 billion, surpassing Warner Bros’ $4.2 billion. Disney is the first and only studio to cross that mark YTD, and the only studio to achieve such a feat in back-to-back years. It’s also Disney’s third time since 2018; no other studio has reached $5B in that span.
Zootopia 2‘s third frame earned $5.2M in global Imax screens raising its cume for the large format exhibitor to $56.6M, and making the movie the second-highest grossing MPA animated title to cross $50M at the Imax box office.
In general, this weekend before the big Christmas tentpole, historically excels with a wide family entry (Jumanji, Wonka, Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse). We already have Zootopia 2 and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 doing well, so, none needed. But Disney decided to go wide with James L. Brooks’ seventh directorial, Ella McCCay, at 2,500 theaters, which sadly didn’t find an audience with a Disney-reported $2.1M. It’s also the octogenarian’s worst reviewed movie ever at 22% on Rotten Tomatoes and his lowest wide release opening as director (his Terms of Endearment back in 1984 debuted to $3.5M at 260 theaters). The opening here is even lower than Oscar winner Robert Zemeckis’ Tom Hanks-Robin Wright re-team last year, Here, which really pressed on moviegoers’ nerves with its fixed camera shtick, opening at $4.8M.
Disney selected this date as Brooks’ canon historically has gone in the mid-to-late December corridor (Broadcast News, How Do You Know, Spanglish, etc). If reviews were good, the hope was that an older female audience would show up. While you could say that the director shouldn’t have gambled entirely on a fresh face to star in the movie in the sublime Emma Mackey, even if this movie starred a more bankable name, i.e. Anne Hathaway, it would still have an uphill battle ala Brooks’ failed $120M Reese Witherspoon-Owen Wilson romcom, How Do You Know which opened to $7.4M, topped off at $30.2M domestic and north of $48M global. And that movie came out at a time when Witherspoon and Wilson could open movies. What remains true then, remains true now and that is prestige drama/dramedies, which audiences use to find in theaters thanks to Brooks, are too prevalent on TV at home. Why leave the house to watch them? In 2010, it was HBO, and nowadays it’s streaming. Brooks is one of the most lucrative content creators for Disney in The Simpsons. It stands to reason that they’d fully support the guy’s passion projects, especially, if it’s a new Simpsons movie they crave. Ella McCay is very 1980s in its sensibility and set-up: a newly christened state lieutenant governor who has to contend with the off-kilter men in her life including her father, her little brother, her husband and her boss. It’s really not a bad movie; it’s just the sign of the times in regards to what transcends and doesn’t on the big screen. Once upon a time, Ella McCay, would have clicked.
Ella McCay gets a B- Cinemascore, which is better than How Do You Know‘s C- and the same as Brooks’ 1994 I’ll Do Anything. Screen Engine/Comscore PostTrak audiences were hard on the film with 2 stars, 62% and a 39% definite recommend. Female leaning movie at 57% with 59% over 45. The under 25 are non-existent in 12%. Though an even play across the country, it’s very light. Highest grossing venue was AMC Lincoln Square with $5K. Not a diverse turnout in 68% Caucasian, 15% Hispanic and Latino, 6% Asian American and 4% Black.
Social media analytics firm RelishMix counts a reach of 65 million across TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, X and Instagram which is -59% other drama/comedies before opening, i.e. Ticket to Paradise, Marry Me and Fly Me to the Moon.
Reports RelishMix, “Mixed-negative leaning chatter for Ella McCay zeroes in on script, tone, and casting logic. Others critique the aesthetics and character logic, from ‘Too many cliches’ to ‘a 29-year-old British French actress playing a 34-year-old state Governor of Rhode Island, yep sounds about right.’ The screaming-therapy hook creates friction: ‘Screamers. Nope’ pairs with ‘I was kind ok with it… but then they started screaming.’ Some viewers target Jamie Lee Curtis with ‘Jamie Lee Curtis? Hard pass sadly’ and ‘Can’t say I’m looking forward to that one, despite the great cast’ underline the skepticism toward Ella McCay.”
Updated Sunday chart:
1. Zootopia 2 (Dis) 3,835 (-165) theaters, Fri $6.2M (-39%), 3-day $26.3M (-39%), Total $258.97M/Wk 3
2. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (Uni) 3,579 (+167) theaters, Fri $5.6M (-81%), Sat $8.4M Sun $5.37M 3-day $19.5M (-70%), Total $95.4M/Wk 2
3. Wicked: For Good (Uni) 3,480 (-505) theaters, Fri $2.27M (-50%) Sat $3.65M Sun $2.6M 3-day $8.55M (-51%), Total $312.1M/Wk 4
4. Dhurandhar (Moviegoer) 377 (-13) theaters, Fri $939K (=81%), 3-day $3.5M (+78%), Total $7.9M/Wk 2
The Aditya Dhar directed movie, starring Ranveer Singh is putting up impressive numbers in NYC, Toronto, Austin, DC, Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco and Dallas to name a few. The movie is inspired by true events set in the gritty criminal vein of underworld with a backdrop of Indian patriotism, featuring action sequences, Shakespearean betrayals, and tradecrafts of espionage.
5. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (LG) 2,411 (-218) theatres, Fri $725K (-30%) Sat $1M Sun $635K 3-day $2.38M (-32%) Total $59.3M/Wk 5
6. Ella McCay (20th) 2,500 theaters, Fri $850K, Sat $700K Sun $550K 3-day $2.1M/Wk 1
6. Jujutsu Kasen: Execution (Gkids) 1,700 (-133) theaters Fri $606K Sat $846K Sun $650K 3-day $2.1M (-79%), Total $14.5M/Wk 2
8. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Uni) 2,250 theaters, Fri $490K Sat $800K Sun $560K, 3-day $1.85M, Total $264.2M/Wk 1 (re)
9. Eternity (A24) 2,067 (-319) theaters, Fri $551K (-38%) Sat $656K Sun 535K 3-day $1.77M (-37%), Total $12.99M /Wk 3
10. The Shining (1980) (re) 400 theaters, Fri $580K Sat $540K Sun $440K, 3-day $1.56M, Lifetime total $47.7M/Wk 1 (re)
This was a 45th anniversary Imax release of the film. Global take was $1.65M.
11. Hamnet (Foc) 749 (+3) theaters Fri $460K (-46%) Sat $570K Sun $470K 3-day $1.5M (-35%), Total $7M/Wk 3
Notable:
Silent Night, Deadly Night (Cineverse) 1,640 theaters, Fri $474K, Sat $361K Sun $285K 3-day $1.1M/Wk 1
Soft results but 81% fresh with critics off 62 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and an 81% audience score for this Mike P. Nelson directed redo of the 1984 cult horror movie which originally grossed $2.5M.