‘Gringo.’
In a downer weekend at Australian cinemas Disney/Lucasfilm’s Solo: A Star Wars Story fell to earth after its underwhelming debut while Nash Edgerton’s Gringo misfired.
The poor start for Edgerton’s Mexican-set crime comedy-thriller is no surprise after it bombed in the US in March.
Meanwhile Indian imports Veere Di Wedding and Carry on Jatta 2 began brightly but French biopic Gaugin and US political drama LBJ struggled.
The top 20’s receipts dropped by 31 per cent to $11.7 million, according to Numero. Fox/Marvel’s Deadpool 2 regained the top spot, capturing $3.57 million in its third weekend, falling by 40 per cent. The superhero action/comedy starring Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin and Julian Dennison has amassed $29.6 million in Oz, $US254.6 million in the US and an even more impressive $US344 million in the rest of the world. So the global total will pass $US600 million today.
The Star Wars origin story directed by Ron Howard reached $11.6 million after raking in nearly $3.5 million, down 47 per cent. That drop wasn’t as severe as the US where the sci-fi adventure which stars Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton and Woody Harrelson collected just $US29.3 million, plunging by 65 per cent, which was the lowest second weekend ever for Disney’s Star Wars titles.
The film has taken $US148.9 million in the US and $US115.3 million in the rest of the world, a global total of $US264.2 million, which is well short of its reported production budget.
Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War climbed to $60.1 million after earning $868,000 in its sixth outing. The superhero adventure directed by Anthony and Joe Russo now ranks as the third biggest blockbuster of all time internationally, amassing $US1.32 billion. The US total of $US643 million is the sixth highest ever.
Melissa McCarthy fans clearly are enjoying the Warner Bros. comedy Life of the Party, which is approaching $5 million after grossing $455,000 in its fourth weekend, easing by 23 per cent.
Catalan writer-director Isabel Coixet’s drama The Bookshop fetched $423,000 in its second weekend, down just 18 per cent, banking $1.3 million for Transmission Films.
Veere Di Wedding, a Hindi female buddy comedy directed by Shashanka Ghosh, which stars Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania, rang up $341,000 on 41 screens for Zee Studios.
Punjabi director Smeep Kang’s romantic comedy Carry on Jatta 2, a sequel to the 2012 hit which stars Sonam Bajwa, Gippy Grewal, Gurpreet Ghuggi, Binnu Dhillon and Jaswinder Bhalla, generated a tidy $328,000 on 39 screens for White Hill Productions.
STX launched the Amazon Studios-backed Gringo in the US on 2,404 screens, taking $2.7 million- among the lowest per-screen average ever for a wide release – and it limped along to $US4.9 million before vanishing from cinemas.
So Roadshow’s decision to open the film, which stars David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton and Thandie Newton, on 196 screens is puzzling, resulting in an opening weekend tally of $303,000.
Word-of-mouth is sustaining Simon Baker’s drama Breath which minted $228,000 in its fifth weekend (off 20 per cent), making $3.8 million for Roadshow.
Mike Newell’s WW2 romance/thriller The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society advanced to $6.3 million after pocketing $203,000 in its seventh weekend for StudioCanal, easing by a trifling 18 per cent.
Vincent Cassel stars as the titular painter during his Polynesian period in French writer-director Edouard Deluc’s Gaugin, which drew just $24,000 on 21 screens for Madman, and a more respectable $100,000 including film festival screenings.
Rob Reiner’s LBJ follows Woody Harrelson’s Lyndon Johnson’s see-saw career as he goes from being a powerful Senate majority leader to a powerless vice president and then US president following the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Maybe moviegoers are tired of US politics, current and historical, judging by the $17,000 debut on 11 screens, including previews, for Umbrella Entertainment.