Weekend Box Office: 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' Dunks 'Uncle Drew,' 'Sicario: Day of the Soldado' With $60M
'Sicario: Day of the Soldado,' a gritty U.S.-Mexico border drama, opens to a better-than-expected $19 million, followed by 'Uncle Drew' with $15.5 million.
Universal's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom easily dunked the competition in its second weekend, grossing $60 million in North America as it roars toward the $1 billion mark globally.
Overseas, the dinos devoured another $56.1 million from 68 markets for a foreign tally of $667.6 million — including $237 million in China — and global haul of $932.4 million. The film will join the billion-dollar club sometime this week.
Jurassic World 2, however, continues trailing notably behind 2015's Jurassic World, which finished its sophomore outing with a domestic total of $402.8 million after declining 49 percent. That compares to a decline of 59 percent for the sequel.
Nevertheless, the movie is a victory for both Universal and the summer box office, which closes out June on a high note, thanks in large measure to the combined strength of the dinos, Avengers: Infinity War, Deadpool 2 and Incredibles 2. Revenue to date for the summer is up a sizeable 15.3 percent over last year.
Incredibles 2, from Pixar and Disney, stayed at No. 2 in its third outing with roughly $45 million for a domestic total of $439 million. The record-breaking animated film has now passed up Toy Story 3 ($415 million) to rank as the No. 2 Pixar title of all time domestically behind Finding Dory ($486.3 million), not adjusted for inflation.
The weekend's two new films were a pair of smaller titles hoping to serve as counterprogramming to tentpole fare, Sicario: Day of the Soldado and Uncle Drew.
Sicario: 2, a follow-up to Denis Villeneuve's critically acclaimed 2015 film, placed No. 3 with a better-than-expected $19 million. This time out, Stefano Sollima sat in the director's chair, while Sony teamed with Black Label Media in making the adult drama (Lionsgate handled the first movie). Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin once again star, sans Emily Blunt.
The timely storyline follows a federal border agent (Brolin) who enlists Del Toro's character in a battle to stop the Mexican drug cartels from trafficking terrorists across the border into the U.S.
Critics and audiences like the sequel far less than the first film. Sicario 2, earning a B CinemaScore, shows a 64 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to 93 percent for Sicario.
Basketball comedy Uncle Drew — featuring an all-star cast of NBA legends — followed with $15.5 million-plus. The Lionsgate/Summit film likewise beat tracking, but wasn't able to break entirely free of the comedy slump gripping the box office.
Uncle Drew stars Lil Rel Howery as a thirtysomething man who, with the help of the titular character (Kyrie Irving), assembles a team of older basketball players in hopes of winning a street ball tournament in Brooklyn. The movie's roster of real-life basketball greats includes Irving, Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Lisa Leslie and Reggie Miller. Tiffany Haddish and Nick Kroll also star.
Directed by Charles Stone III, the pic was adapted from a digital series created by Pepsi. Uncle Drew should benefit from an A CinemaScore.
The specialty box office saw action as Neon's documentary Three Identical Strangers posted a strong theater average of $32,605 in its debut in five theaters, followed by Debra Granik's latest film, Leave No Trace, with a solid opening screen average of $24,018.
This year has been a boon for documentaries, between Ruth Gader Ginsburg film RBG and Won't You Be My Neigbhor?, about Fred Rogers. Won't You Be My Neighbor?, from Focus Features, stayed at No. 10 in its fourth weekend, earning $2.3 million from only 654 theaters for an early total of $7.5 million. RBG, which is winding down its theatrical run, has now earned $11.5 million.
More to come.
