Brolin the big box-office winner
The Summer of Josh Brolin swelters on.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado, in which he stars alongside Benicio Del Toro, opened to a better-than-expected $19 million in domestic ticket sales over the weekend. The film cements Brolin’s unlikely rise from character actor to an anchor of three franchises, following his villain turns in Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2.
Day of the Soldado was distributed by Columbia and financed by Black Label Media for $35 million, and follows an escalating battle between Mexican cartels and the U.S. government. The decision to make a sequel to the brutal 2015 drama raised some eyebrows when first announced, especially because of the absence of Emily Blunt, one of the first film’s stars. But the opening weekend of Day of the Soldado outpaced that of its predecessor, which opened wide to $12.1 million.
While the first Sicario received stronger reviews — 93 percent positive on Rotten Tomatoes, compared with 62 percent for its sequel — this installment might have been boosted by the increased visibility of its two leading men in a string of blockbusters and its timely material, as debates rage about the U.S.-Mexico border.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom from Universal and Incredibles 2 from Disney-Pixar took first and second place with about $61 million and $46.4 million, respectively, and both are thriving internationally. Fallen Kingdom now sits at $932 million globally, while Incredibles 2 has made $647 million, surpassing its predecessor’s lifetime gross before even opening in major European markets.
Uncle Drew, the basketball film spun out of a Pepsi commercial starring a makeupclad Kyrie Irving and Lil Rel Howery, also did well, opening to $15.2 million. While critics mostly found the film bland, it scored an A in CinemaScore exit polls.
The ad and marketing campaign included spots during the NBA playoffs and finals, a Wheaties box featuring Irving as Uncle Drew, and an Uncle Drew capsule collection from Nike.
Lionsgate, which distributed the movie, knew the film had built-in marketability because of the celebrity of the stars, but was also pleased to discover that the film in early screenings appealed to nonbasketball fans too.
The A CinemaScore, which suggests that the film will have good word-of-mouth buzz, could bode well for the film over the Fourth of July holiday and into the rest of the summer.
The biggest surprise this week was the performance of Sanju, an Indian film that made $2.7 million despite being shown in just 356 theaters in North America. The Fox International Pictures film retells the life story of Sanjay Dutt, a celebrated Indian actor who has faced legal issues.
Rounding out the top five, Warner Bros.’ Oceans 8, in its fourth week, added $8.3 million in ticket sales, for a cumulative $115 million.
Focus Features’ Mr. Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? added 306 theaters (for a total of 654) and $2.4 million in its fourth weekend, a cumulative gross of $7.6 million.
Bleecker Street’s Leave No Trace opened in nine theaters with a solid $216,161 for a pert heater average of $24,018. NEON debuted Three Identical Strangers with a strong $163,023 in just five locations, a per-theater average of $32,605.