‘Toy Story 4’ (Photo credit: Disney/Pixar).
The fourth installment in the Disney/Pixar Toy Story franchise has smashed the opening weekend record for an animated title worldwide, ending a run of sequels and reboots which audiences showed they did not want or need.
Directed by Josh Cooley, Toy Story 4 grabbed $244.5 million, beating Incredibles 2‘s $235.8 million, although the $120.9 million domestic debut was only the fourth biggest for the genre, trailing Incredibles 2 ($182 million), Finding Dory ($135 million) and Shrek the Third ($121 million).
It was a buoyant weekend in Oz as Toy Story 4 and Universal/Illumination’s The Secret Life of Pets sequel drew kids and families and fans of Indian cinema turned out for Kabir Singh and Shadaa.
However Child’s Play, the remake of the 1988 horror movie about a ghastly voodoo doll named Chucky, found few takers for Roadshow. Among the specialty releases, Sony’s Never Look Away and Palace’s Claire Darling opened respectably while Umbrella’s Under the Silver Lake sank.
Meanwhile Damon Gameau’s 2040 advanced to $989,000 after earning $61,000 in its fifth frame, now on 55 screens, for Madman Entertainment. With a few figures still to be collected the feature doc will hit $1 million today. Wayne Blair’s Top End Wedding stands at $5.07 million after taking $32,000 in its eighth for Universal.
The top 20 titles generated $18.5 million, up 27 per cent up on the prior frame, according to Numero.
Tom Hanks and Tim Allen reprise their voice roles as Woody and Buzz Lightyear, joined by Tony Hale as Forky, an anxiety-ridden spork, Annie Potts as Bo Peep, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele and Keanu Reeves in the latest Toy Story.
The CGI animated comedy scored $8 million on 586 screens and $8.46 million with previews. “Excellent word-of-mouth and reviews have positioned the film as a ‘must see’ and will propel the box office in coming weeks as all States start holidays,” Wallis Cinemas programming manager Sasha Close tells IF.
Directed by Chris Renaud and co-directed by Jonathan del Val, The Secret Life of Pets 2 drew $2 million after banking $4 million from extensive advanced screenings.
The adventure comedy featuring the voices of Patton Oswalt, Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Tiffany Haddish and Harrison Ford is skewing younger than the first film, pocketing $194.7 million worldwide. The sequel has yet to open in China and six other major markets but has no chance of catching the original’s $507 million.
Speaking of reboots no one asked for, Sony’s Men in Black: International plunged by 51 per cent to $1.9 million in its second weekend. The F. Gary Gray-directed sci-fi comedy has mustered $6.6 million in Oz, a lousy $52.6 million in the US and $129.4 million internationally.
Disney’s Aladdin conjured up $1.6 million in its fifth, climbing to $29.2 million. The Guy Ritchie-directed musical fantasy has hauled in $287.5 million in the US and $522.6 million in the rest of the world for a global cume of $810.1 million.
Paramount’s consistent money-spinner Rocketman directed by Dexter Fletcher advanced to $16.4 million after making $1.5 million in its fourth, outperforming the US’s $77.3 million.
In Lars Klevberg’s Child’s Play Mark Hamill voices Chucky with Aubrey Plaza as a mum who gives her son (Gabriel Bateman) a doll for his birthday without knowing its creepy intentions. The thriller/horror rang up a reasonable $14 million in the US but a mediocre $806,000 on 221 screens here.
Studiocanal’s John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum reached $14.5 million after scoring $486,000 in its sixth. Directed by Chad Stahelski, the thriller has bagged $156 million in the US and $133.1 internationally.
Fox’s flop X—Men: Dark Phoenix staggered along to $5.1 million after clocking $319,000 in its fourth. Simon Kinberg’s superhero movie has scraped up a dismal $60.2 million in the US and $172.8 million in the rest of the world.
Transmission’s Red Joan, the Trevor Nunn-directed drama starring Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson, got to $1.7 million after collecting $243,000 in its third.
Kabir Singh, Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s remake of a South Indian movie about a short-tempered house surgeon who succumbs to drugs and booze when his girlfriend is forced to marry someone else, rang up $239,000 on 36 screens for Southern Star.
Shadaa, a Punjabi romantic drama directed by Jagdeep Sidhu, fetched $200,000 on 28 screens for White Hill Productions.
Sony launched German filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmark’s Never Look Away, which was nominated for this year’s best foreign language Oscar, on 27 screens, generating $112,000 and $158,000 including previews.
The saga of a young art student Kurt (Tom Schilling) who falls in love with fellow student Ellie (Paula Beer), dismaying her professor father (Sebastian Koch), ended up with $1.3 million in the US.
Julie Bertuccelli’s Claire Darling stars mother and daughter Catherine Deneuve and Chiara Mastroianni in the saga of a reclusive millionaire who is determined to sell all her belongings and her long-estranged daughter who is equally determined to stop her. The drama garnered $46,000 on 20 screens but had already minted $158,000 from festivals and previews.
David Robert Mitchell’s Under The Silver Lake, which stars Andrew Garfield as a guy who searches for the truth behind the mysterious crimes, murders and disappearances in his East L.A. neighbourhood, earned $13,000 from limited sessions at six cinemas.
Cinema Nova general manager Kristian Connelly was happy with the opening and terrific word-of-mouth for Never Look Away at his cinema but said Under The Silver Lake failed to connect with audiences, not helped by its “unclassifiable” mash-up of thriller/noir/homage/mystery/comedy.