‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado.’
The sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 thriller Sicario has a new director but no Emily Blunt, which may partly explain why Sicario: Day of the Soldado posted modest opening figures in the US and Australia last weekend.
Another factor: A monster second weekend for Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
The top 20 titles in Australia harvested $18.8 million, down 14 per cent on the previous weekend according to Numero, despite lively debuts from Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation and Indian import Sanju.
Domestic flop Adrift fared little better in its first weekend here while French comedy-drama Two is a Family opened pretty well in art houses.
Meanwhile Clayton Jacobson’s Brother’s Nest collected $41,000 in its second weekend on 55 screens, falling by 33 per cent, reaping $155,000 for distributor Label.
The Jurassic World sequel directed by JA Bayona-helmed raked in $6.1 million, falling by a reasonable 41 per cent, which propels its haul to $19.9 million. The action adventure has amassed an estimated $264.8 million in 10 days in the US and $667.6 million after four weekends in international markets. So with $932.4 million in the kitty, $1 billion is not far away.
Thanks partly to Fallen World and Incredibles 2, the summer BO season has generated $2.7 billion already in the US, 28 per cent up on the same period last year, and some pundits are predicting a record summer. That brings the takings for the six months of 2018 to $6.2 billion, 9.3 per cent ahead of 2017.
Disney/Pixar’s Incredibles 2 flew to $26.1 million after earning $4.4 million in its third weekend, easing by 33 per cent. The superhero comedy directed by Brad Bird now ranks as the third biggest animated release of all time in the US, bagging $440 million. The international cume is $207 million and the $647 million global total has raced past the lifetime earnings of The Incredibles.
The third edition of Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania franchise drew $2.57 million in Oz, including previews, its first market. That’s 5 per cent up on Hotel Transylvania 2, which ended up grossing $11.4 million.
Directed by Stefano Sollima and starring Josh Brolin as US border federal agent Matt Graver and Benicio Del Toro as enigmatic assassin Alejandro as they square off with a cartel kingpin, Sicario: Day of the Soldado drummed up $1.22 million on 273 screens, including previews, for Roadshow. Pro-rata, that was well below the $19 million US debut, which itself was $7 million more than Sicario. The original film was a modest performer here, making $5.4 million.
The Warner Bros/Village Roadshow Pictures comedy Ocean’s 8 topped $15 million after scoring $1 million in its fourth outing. Gary Ross’ heist caper has minted $209.7 million worldwide, including $114.7 million domestically and $95 million internationally.
Director-writer Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju, a biopic which charts the turbulent life of Indian superstar Sanjay Dutt, collared a terrific $932,000 on 59 screens for Mind Blowing Films.
Based on a true story, Baltasar Kormákur’s Adrift stars Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin as a couple whose yacht is hit by a hurricane in the Pacific en route to San Diego. An interesting premise, but the survival saga yielded just $774,000 on 209 screens for Roadshow after making $31 million in the US.
New Line’s comedy Tag is hanging in, taking $397,000 in its third weekend and $2.7 million thus far.
Fox/Marvel’s Deadpool 2 ascended to $35.5 million after banking $221,000 in its seventh orbit. The superhero action/comedy has hauled in a phenomenal $719 million worldwide, with international’s $408.7 million outshining domestic’s $310.3 million.
Ari Aster’s horror/thriller Hereditary has grossed a decent $3.1 million after pocketing $173,000 in its fourth weekend for StudioCanal.
Hugo Gélin’s Two is a Family, which stars Omar Sy as a hedonistic guy who discovers he fathered a child with his former lover (Clémence Poésy), mustered $91,000 on 21 screens and a healthy $356,000 including festival screenings and previews for Palace.