'Spider-Verse' Raises $35M+ As 'The Mule' Kicks Up $17M+ In Pre-Christmas Period, But 'Mortal Engines' Breaks Down With $7M+
Holiday distractions prevented Sony's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse from getting any higher this weekend to what some were expecting would be a possible $40M start. That anticipation was fueled by the fact that this was a Marvel title coming off of stellar exits polls with an A+ CinemaScore, 5-Star PostTrak. But we need to remember, it's still the pre-Christmas period and business for all films remained static from their midday Friday projections.
Still $35.4M is a solid start to Spider-Verse heading into Christmas, besting Sony's own $30M projection. Rivals think this could go lower in the $33M-$34M range by tomorrow morning. Either way, rivals are impressed by the pic's start in a stubborn marketplace, a film that is fueled by an 80% definite recommend and destined for a great multiple during the Christmas season. Many believe the pic will pocket $65M easily by Christmas day. Again, it's about the long haul for Spider-Verse and The Mule this weekend, the latter which opened to $17.2M.
While it's highly anticipated that Aquaman, Mary Poppins Returns and Bumblebee would respectively be an easy 1,2,3 ranking at the box office, some distribution sources believe that Spider-Verse could interrupt that sequence over the 5-day Christmas stretch next weekend, potentially ranking third. Though Universal/Illumination's Sing debuted on the Wednesday before Christmas two years ago, its 3-day of $35.2M yielded a 7.6 multiple with a final domestic take of $270.3M. Should Sony meet its projection today on the film, Spider-Verse will easily rank as the top opening for a December release.
As we mentioned previously, exit demos for Spider-Verse were 67% non-families, with men 25+ repping 41% of moviegoers, followed by men under 25 at 26%. Both enjoyed the movie with men under 25 giving it 96% and men over 25 a 91% positive score. Boys under 12 outnumbered girls 70% to 30% in turnout. Diversity demos were 43% Caucasian, 21% Hispanic, 16% African American and 15% Asian. We hear that the pic's audience remained a mix of families and the college crowd with business solid throughout yesterday from matinees to evenings with a $13.1M take. Matinees yesterday for Spider-Verse were running ahead of Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked from December 2011. Friday's number for Spider-Verse includes last weekend's money from paid sneaks.
Imperative Entertainment was also a producer on The Mule, as the label found the material, developed the material, and approached Eastwood to star and direct.
It's a notable debut for Eastwood as an actor, ranking under 2000's Space Cowboys ($18M) and his $29.4M wide break on Gran Torino (which was a platform release before going wide in its fourth weekend at 2,808 theaters; overall a solid debut for a film that cost around $50M. Audiences love it more than critics giving it an A- CinemaScore and 4 stars on PostTrak to the pic's 64% RT fresh score. The over 50 crowd as expected were out in great numbers repping 54% of Friday night's CinemaScore audience. Those over 35 turned up at 78% while men slightly outnumbered females, 54% to 46%. A- grades throughout most demos. The Mule will have legs, and the pic played best in the Mid-West and South where eight of the top then runs hailed from.
Peter Jackson has launched some great blockbusters during mid-December including King Kong, the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit franchises, but his latest production, Mortal Engines, directed by his Oscar-winning VFX protege Christian Rivers isn't one of them with a disastrous domestic opening of $7.5M. This reported $110M production was co-financed by Media Rights Capital and Universal (the latter which reduced its exposure to around 30% thanks to participants such as slate financier Perfect World and also Legendary). Rival finance sources who crunch pic's production costs and revenues full-time for a living believe that Mortal Engines will lose around $105M on the low-end (that is should it be lucky and gross around $120M WW), however, they're betting it's more dire in the $150M red ink range. Already the WingNut produced movie has logged $25.1M abroad in its first week from plays in 43 territories including South Korea, Russia and Australia. Peg this film's tanking to the challenges of launching original sci-fi fantasy material and anything that centers around world creation, this despite the fact that the pic is based off a Scholastic non-bestseller by Philip Reeve.
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