Cars 3 Has The Franchise’s Worst Opening, Wonder Woman Continues to Hit Above Her Weight Class And Tupac’s Bio-Pic Could Be 2017’s Summer Breakout Hit
It was no surprise that Cars 3 was going to own the top spot at North America’s box office this weekend. Even the most conservative estimates pegged the latest entry in the Pixar franchise to win a Father’s Day weekend crowded with new titles. Yet despite opening number one, its 53.7 million dollar opening fell short of expectations (predictions were that is was going to open in the low 60 million dollar range). But perhaps more telling is that this was by far the lowest opening for any Cars movie. Back in 2006, the first Cars opened with 60.1 million while Cars 2 opened with 66.1 million in 2011. Wen you factor in inflation, Cars 3’s lower opening is an even bigger disappointment and after everything is factored in, this is the second lowest opening for any Pixar film (exceeded only by 2015’s The Good Dinosaur).
Pixar’s attempts to breathe new life into the franchise by transitioning the property to a new central character was always going to be a hard sell given Cars relatively low place on Pixar’s popularity totem pole. Still, it may not be all doom and gloom. While Cars has never been Pixar’s box office champ (or even in that conversation), it has proven a goldmine for merchandising. If Cars 3 can keep that particular gravy train rolling, it should pay for itself and then some in the long run. And if that pans out, there’s no reason why Disney can’t consider doing a direct to DVD/streaming release or a few animated shorts using the new protagonist. But as it stands now, it seems unlikely that Cars will ever grace the big screen again.
Wonder Woman meanwhile, may wind up being the box office champ DC needs and audiences deserve. While there was plenty of reason to celebrate her 103 million dollar opening two weeks ago, it was still the lowest opening of any of DC’s movies despite unprecedented critical praise. But while she may not have enjoyed the enormous opening other DC movies did, she has turned out to be far more durable and consistent.
She took the box office title her second weekend out as a result of a meager 43.3% drop (in comparison, Suicide Squad dropped 67% while Batman Vs. Superman fell 69% in its second frame). And while she was knocked down to second place this weekend, she experienced a mere 29.5% third weekend drop. That’s the strongest third weekend for any super hero movie ever (hell, it’s one of the strongest third weekends for any genre, period). The extra 41.2 million she nabbed in North America means she now has just over 275 million domestically has passed 570 million worldwide. While her foreign totals may be a topic for future conversation, she is now officially outpacing both Man of Steel and Suicide Squad (not to mention a number of Marvel movies as well).
But Wonder Woman wasn’t Hollywood’s only success story this weekend. Lionsgate’s Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez On Me opened in third with a surprisingly strong 26.4 million (and if there was ever a studio in need of a hit right now, it would be Lionsgate). Eyez was originally predicted to do about half that much and now everyone will be watching to see how strong its box office legs are. While it isn’t going to Straight Outta Compton levels of success, it should prove to be a more than pleasant hit as well as a breakout for star Demetrius Shipp Jr. In fact, there’s already some Oscar buzz beginning to build around Shipp’s portrayal of the controversial music legend, promising a possible awards box office bump for Eyez later down the road.
And Lionsgate can desperately use all of it.
