Box Office Preview: 'Jurassic World 2' to Roar Past 'Uncle Drew,' 'Sicario 2'
'Incredibles 2' is also tipped to do big business this weekend as 2018 domestic box office revenue crosses $6 billion faster than any year in history.
Look for the dinos and a family of animated superheros to stomp past this weekend's two new nationwide entries, Uncle Drew and Sicario: Day of the Soldado at the box office.
If tracking is correct, Sicario 2 and Uncle Drew will each open in the $10 million-$13 million range, while Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom could easily earn $60 million plus in its sophomore outing after debuting to $148 million. Incredibles 2 is likewise expected to be a major player in its third session after grossing $80.4 million last weekend.
Neither Sicario 2 nor Uncle Drew had aspirations to be all-audience summer blockbusters. Rather, they hope to serve as counterprogramming to more broad appeal fare as Jurassic and Pixar offerings.
Thanks in large part to such hits as Fallen Kingdom and Incredibles 2 — not to mention Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther — domestic box office revenue has already crossed $6 billion this year, faster than any other in history (Disney lays claim to much of the boom). Last year was the previous best, when revenue clocked in at $5.6 billion at the same point in time. All told, domestic revenue is up more than 8 percent over 2017.
Uncle Drew, from Lionsgate/Summit, stars Lil Rel Howery as a thirty-something man who, with the help of the titular character (Kryie Irving), assembles a team of older basketball players in hopes of winning a street ball tournament in Brooklyn.
The movie boasts an impressive roster of real-life basketball greats, including Irving, Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Lisa Leslie and Reggie Miller. Tiffany Haddish and Nick Kroll also star.
Comedies are under siege at the box office and it remains to be seen whether Uncle Drew can score a winning game over the course of time. Directed by Charles Stone III, the movie was adapted from a digital series created by Pepsi.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a follow-up to the critically acclaimed U.S.-Mexico border drama Sicario, directed by Denis Villeneuve and released by Lionsgate in fall of 2015. This time out, Stefano Sollima sat in the director's chair.
Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin once again star — sans Emily Blunt — alongside Isabela Moner, Jeffrey Donovan, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, and Catherine Keener.
Sony teamed with Black Label Media on the $35 million sequel, whose timely storyline follows a federal border agent (Brolin) who enlists Del Toro's character in the battle to stop the Mexican drug cartels from trafficking terrorists across the border into the U.S.
Black Label and Sony, along with producer Thunder Road, are hoping to lure adults who are looking for an alternative to popcorn fare. Comparing the sequel's opening to the first film is complicated by the fact that Sicario debuted in only a few theaters before expanding.
