‘Avengers’ muscles out competition
The weekend’s box office totals laid bare the haves and have-nots of Hollywood in brutal fashion.
The No. 1 movie in the United States and Canada — as could have been predicted a year ago — was the Disney-Marvel juggernaut “Avengers: Endgame,” which collected roughly $146 million. Total domestic ticket sales for the allstar superhero movie stand at $620 million, according to Comscore. The film has collected a jaw-dropping $2.2 billion globally since arriving in theaters less than two weeks ago.
That left three new movies to compete for scraps.
“The Intruder” (Sony) did the best. A thriller aimed at African American audiences and directed by Deon Taylor, “The Intruder” took in about $11 million, a respectable debut for a lightly marketed movie that cost just $8 million to make.
Lionsgate, which has been experiencing a box office drought, tried to compete with “Long Shot,” an R-rated comedy starring Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron. Despite strong reviews, the movie lived up to its title, selling about $10 million in tickets. “Long Shot” cost roughly $40 million to make and $30 million to market.
Lionsgate said Sunday that it expected “Long Shot” to find a broader audience over the next month, with the Mother’s Day and Memorial Day weekends holding promise.
The studio is one of a handful of smaller ones that have been struggling as streaming services have moved aggressively into their territory — midbudget action-adventures, comedies and dramas.
Lionsgate had held up “Long Shot” to Wall Street as one of a handful of movies that would signify a turnaround for its film division. (Another was “Hellboy,” which bombed last month.) The studio will try again with “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum,” which arrives in theaters May 17.
Another small studio, STXfilms, had an even gloomier weekend. In partnership with Alibaba Pictures, it rolled out “UglyDolls” — hyped before its release as the start of a franchise — to disappointing ticket sales of about $8.5 million.