Friday, June 10, 2016

"Conjuring 2" & "Warcraft" Hook Thursday Night Audiences; "Now You See Me 2" Collects $1.75M


Warcraft Movie - Tour of Lion"s Pride Inn Set with Production Designer Gavin Bocquet

This weekend at the box office, its a throw-down between undead spirits, a pierced Orc-looking guy, and a group of thieving magicians.

Warner Bros. says that New Lines Conjuring 2drew $3.4M last night at roughly 2,700 theaters. The sequels industry projection is in the low $30M, poised to take No. 1. Thats the strongest pre-show result for a horror film since 2013sConjuringwhich made $3.3M. The

Warner Bros Pictures

firstConjuringwas a surprise hit opening to $41.9M and legging out a 3.3 multiple to $137.4M stateside, $318M worldwide. The James Wan-directed movie earned an A- CinemaScore which is unheard of for a horror movie. Quite often if a horror film earns a B+, thats fantastic. Critics gave the firstConjuringan 86% fresh Rotten Tomatoes score, and the sequel carries a 74% grade. Women are the target audience here with Conjuring 2,after part 1 drew 53% females, 59% over 25.Many analysts seeConjuring 2meeting its opening weekend forecast, however, there is a faction who believe that in certain horror aficionados minds, the sequel, also by Wan, will play like a threequel, and arrive in the high $20Ms following the release of 2014sAnnabelle.Even though it was a spinoff movie, someConjuringfans registered it as a sequel and it left a bad taste in the mouth of the franchise fans earning a B CinemaScore and a 29% pan by critics.Annabelleposted a great opening at $37.1m, but had shorter legs with a 2.3 multiple and $84.3M domestic B.O. Still a huge hit considering its $6.5M production cost.

Universal is reporting that Legendarys feature adaptation of the popular video game Warcraftcollected $3.1M last night from 2,632 theaters. Industry projections have the pics domestic opening in the low $20Ms. Already Warcrafthas broken records in China with a $90M two-day haul and has cleared close to $80M in offshore markets for a total of $170M overseas.Warcraftis booked at 3,396 venues and also counts Imax and 3D in its mix. Whos watching Warcraft? Its a videogamers movie, says one distribution exec.

How does Thursdays figure forWarcraftstack up comp-wise? Its higher than the $2.1M made by Paramounts Herculeswhich won on to make $29.8M, and its lower thanWorld War Zs $3.6M preview night ($66.4M FSS) andPacific Rims $3.6M too (FSS of $37.3M). Both Uni and Legendary co-financedWarcraft whichcost $160M and carries a global P&A in vicinity of $110M. Some industry sources say it will need $450M before the Duncan Jones movie hits breakeven. It was always expected thatWarcraftwould come up short here in the U.S.,given the wane of the video games heyday here. Overall, global subscribers have fallen over the last 11 years for World of Warcraftfrom a high of 12M in 2005 to 5.6M last summer. A lot of that has to do with the games expansion packs which can wildly deflate or spike subscribers. China was always a valuable market for the Blizzard Entertainment game counting roughly half of its worldwide subs. At one point in 2011, China counted 3.2M subscribers, up from 1.5M in 2005.As one razor-sharp executive assessed Warcrafts B.O. prospects earlier this week, Its about whether or not it will turn out OK worldwide or be a complete bomb. Dont drink the juice and believe that its really more than it is.

In pre-sales, Fandango is showingConjuring 2andWarcraftneck-in-neck.

Lionsgates Now You See Me 2,thesequel to its beloved 2013 magician heist movie, made $1.75M. That beats the first films $1.5M preview night which went on to a $29.4M opening and a $117.7M domestic opening. This installment is expected to make in the mid to high $20M range, however, one observer thinks it could truly pop and surprise. Lets leave it at that for now. Critics were divided on the first one at 49% Rotten Tomatoes score, but arent that thrilled about the sequel at 35%.Now You See Mereceived an A- CinemaScore, and while it seemed to be flying under the radar prior to its release, Rentraks (now ComScore) PreAct noticed that Lionsgates marketing materials were clicking on social media, and that the Louis Leterrier-directed movie was bound to break out.

Among films already in play on Thursday, ParamountsTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadowsled the day with $2.2M and a weeks total of $46.2M. The film is expected to decline at least 50% from its opening weekend for a second FSS of $17.7M and a 10-day run of $63.9M.

The Conjuring 2 is expected to steal women away fromMGM/New LinesMe Before You,hence the Emilia Clarke-Sam Claflin romance will see a -45% hold for a $10.3M weekend and a 10-day total of $37.9M.

Source: http://deadline.com/2016/06/warcraft-conjuring-2-now-you-see-me-2-weekend-box-office-1201770307/

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