War epic ‘Midway’ bests ‘Doctor Sleep’ at the box office

Despite a fresh injection of four big movies into marketplace including a Stephen King aptation, a World War II epic, a glossy, holiday-med romantic comedy and a family friendly comedy, audiences largely stayed away from aters this weekend and rth American box office is hurting.

Down nearly 27% from last year, sluggish weekend allowed for a few big surprises however. biggest surprise was fact that Roland Emmerich film “Midway,” which slightly overperformed, snagged first-place spot over Warner Bros.′ “Doctor Sleep,” a film that came in well under expectations and has left many in business scratching ir hes as to why.

Lionsgate on Sunday estimated that “Midway” earned $17.5 million from 3,242 screens. studio acquired film about Battle of Midway that features a large ensemble cast including Nick Jonas and Patrick Wilson.

“As expected, everyone is ecstatic,” said David Spitz, Lionsgate’s president of domestic distribution.

“Midway” cost a reported $100 million to produce and studio is projecting that film will have grossed $20.1 million by end of Veteran’s Day Monday.

Reviews didn’t seem to play into account with box office at all this weekend. Critics were t kind to “Midway” (it’s currently at 40% on Rotten Tomatoes), but audiences, who were largely male (60 and older (87% were over 25) h given film an A CinemaScore.

And although $17.5 million is t a massive number on its own, it was a significant upset since going into weekend experts thought . 1 spot would easily go to Warner Bros.′ “Doctor Sleep,” high-profile Stephen King aptation starring Ewan McGregor. But audiences slept on well-reviewed (73% on Rotten Tomatoes) sequel to King’s “ Shining” and it grossed only $14.1 million from over 3,800 locations. film from director Mike Flanagan even utilized classic imry of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film version of “ Shining,” which factored heavily into marketing.

Budgeted at around $50 million, “Doctor Sleep” was expected to open to over $25 million. studio was disappointed with result. But it’s at least partially attributable to “general malaise” at box office this weekend.

“re’s way to sugarcoat this, this was a pretty awful weekend for overall marketplace,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box office tracker Comscore.

In a more mir surprise, Paramount Pictures’ John Cena-led “Playing With Fire,” a family friendly comedy about firefighters, opened in third place with $12.8 million over Universal Pictures’ Wham!-inspired romantic comedy “Last Christmas.” Starring Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding, “Last Christmas” took fourth place with $11.6 million. But Universal is optimistic about its prospects, considering matic nature of film and holiday weekends to come.

“We have a fantastic storyteller in Paul Feig and a ridiculously charming cast,” said Universal’s distribution he Jim Orr.

Once again, bright spots at box office are in awards-friendly limited releases. Amazon opened Shia LaBeouf’s autobiographical film “Honey Boy” in four locations, where it earned a strong $288,824. And Lauren Greenfield’s Imelda Marcos documentary “ Kingmaker” opened in two locations to $23,600. Both “Parasite,” which earned $2.6 million from 603 locations, and “Jojo Rabbit,” which ded $3.9 million from 802 locations, also continue to perform well as films expand a little bit each week.

But it’s still one of worst early vember weekends in years and Dergarabedian ted that smaller films are t going to move needle on overall box office for year, which remains down 5.5%.

“It’s definitely a little bit of a challenged box office,” Orr said.

Although Walt Disney Co.’s “Frozen 2” is on horizon to help pick things up, Dergarabedian said that at this point, 2019 might t best record 2018 box office year.

“I think it’d be really tough at this point (to surpass 2018). But it’s t a ‘Chicken Little’ situation,” Dergarabedian said. “When we compare to any or year it’s a solid year.”

Still, he ded, “For vember, this is a very slow weekend.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canian aters, according to Comscore. Where available, latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1.“Midway,” $17.5 million ($21.6 million international).

2.“Doctor Sleep,” $14.1 million ($13 million international).

3.“Playing With Fire,” $12.8 million ($2.5 million international).

4.“Last Christmas,” $11.6 million ($3.1 million international).

5.“Terminator: Dark Fate,” $10.8 million ($29.9 million international).

6.“Joker,” $9.2 million ($20.3 million international).

7.“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” $8 million ($19.9 million international).

8.“Harriet,” $7.2 million.

9.“Zombieland: Double Tap,” $4.3 million ($5.1 million international).

10.“ dams Family,” $4.2 million ($13.2 million international).