Pixar’s latest performs…well, really really good

After a couple of quieter weeks we finally saw some summer-type excitement hit theaters. Disney-Pixar’s super family returned after more than a decade and it created a stampede.

What is going to be worth the watch is the coming weeks as the release field becomes a choked arena. Next week sees “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”, soon after followed by “Ant Man and the Wasp”, “Skyscraper” with The Rock, and the new “Mission Impossible”. It will be a bit of a slugfest in theaters through July.

THE INCREDIBLES 2 – $181.0 Million
The waiting has been the hardest part. 14 years since the first installment has not meant it lost an audience; it gained in affection. Exceeding both Disney’s target and the most positive projections, this is a monstrous opening that beats “Finding Dory” as the highest grossing animated feature. Opening with the fourth widest release ever Thursday saw an attention-grabbing $18.5 million and the crowds just kept pouring in, leading to the third highest debut this year, and eighth highest of all time. “I2” earned more this weekend than the entire box office total from last week.To get a sense of how big this was is to measure it against the original. It is debuting with over $100 million more, which debuted with $70 million. This weekend’s haul is already 70% of the total box office of the first entry.

2. OCEANS 8 – $19.6m
Continuing to show strength it fell -53% which is about as expected, but when up against a titanic opening it is actually an impressive hold.

3. TAG – $14.6m
In a market that has been rough on adult comedies this is a possible misfire of scheduling. While it may have had a chance at finding an audience in other weeks it was not a wise move as a counter-programming effort. “I2” drew about ⅔ of its audience as adults so that, and “Oceans”, hoovered up most of the target ticket buyers.

4. SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY – $9.1m
While Disney is cheering this weekend the truth is it was needed to compensate for this disappointing performance. In a rarity for a major Disney release this title dropped over 1,100 screens before a month in release. To get a sense of how poorly this one lagged so far “Solo” has not crossed the $200 million mark after 3 weekends. It has earned $192 million, nearly passed by ‘Incredibles 2” after just 3 days. The foreign numbers have not helped either, so this is likely to be a money-loser.

5. DEADPOOL 2 – $8.8m
As a successful comparison to “Solo” it now shows on more screens, while released a week earlier. It has made $100 million more than the Star Wars title. That should shake some heads.

6. HEREDITARY – $7.0m
This acclaimed drama/horror (there has been some debate how to categorize it) dropped a light -49%. It needed some staying power as it is not a saturation release, playing on just under 3,000 screens.

7. SUPERFLY – $5.7m
Sony tried to rush this remake of the 70s blacksploitation hit into the summer marketplace, but it was run over by the competition. The studio attempted to glean some early money by releasing the title on Wednesday, but it fell below the studio’s projection of a $9 million opening.

8. AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR – $5.6m
It has drawn $665 million domestic, $2 billion global, and is still showing on 2,000+ screens after 2 months.

9. ADRIFT – $2.1m
About to be cast away, as this week it dropped one third of its screen count.

10. BOOK CLUB – $1.95m
The decent run for this adult female comedy has brought in over $60 million.