Four new films enter the box office arena this weekend, but Shazam! [SHAZM] will prevail again. With good word of mouth, Shazam! should hold 50% of its debut at around $26 million.
Lionsgate reboots Hellboy [HELB3] as a violent, R-rated splatter fest starring David Harbour [DHARB] instead of Ron Perlman. The original Hellboy opened in 2004 to $23.2 million, while its sequel followed up with a $34.5 million debut in 2008. Both were rated PG-13 and directed by Guillermo del Toro, who has no involvement with the reboot. Hellboy will only interest older males who don’t care about its poor reviews. Descending in 3303 theaters, Hellboy may summon $16 million in a close race for second.
Marsai Martin stars as the Little [LITLE] version of Regina Hall [RHALL] in a reverse-Big with a PG-13 rating from Universal. Mixed reviews could prevent the comedy from reaching a broader audience. Playing in 2667 theaters, Little could raise $15.5 million.
LAIKA’s stop-motion animated Missing Link [MSLNK] features Hugh Jackman [HJACK] as the voice of an explorer who befriends a Bigfoot voiced by Zach Galifiankis [ZGALI]. Annapurna takes over distribution for LAIKA, whose last film Kubo and the Two Strings was released by Focus to $12.6 million in 2016. The PG-rated Missing Link is likely to open in the same territory of $12 million from 3413 locations.
The horror remake Pet Sematary [PETSM] is likely to tumble more than 55% in its second weekend to $10.5 million.
Aviron targets teenage girls with the romance After [AFTR1] based on a popular YA novel. The PG-13 rated After could steam up 2138 theaters with $6.0 million.
That’s the whisper on the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): SHAZM, HELB3, DHARB, LITLE, RHALL, MSLNK, HJACK, ZGALI, PETSM, AFTR1