‘Maleficent’ Holds Box-Office Lead, Beats Three New Releases

(Bloomberg) -- When the final tally was in, Walt Disney Co.’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” held on to the top sport in North American theaters for a second weekend, beating back a challenge from the surprise R-rated hit “Joker.”

• “Maleficent” took in $19.4 million, researcher Comscore said Monday, topping the $19.2 million for “Joker.” The Warner Bros. film about the DC Comics super villain had initially been reported as the weekend winner. It’s become the top grossing R-rated movie of all time globally after four weeks. Both films easily outdrew three new releases that struggled to gain traction in a sluggish stretch for movies.

Key Insights

• None of the three new releases were projected to challenge for the lead. The horror film “Countdown” from STX Entertainment was expected to take in $8 million, and it took in $8.9 million. Sony Corp.’s action film “Black and Blue” was forecast to produce between $6 million and $7.2 million, and it brought in $8.4 million. “The Current War: Director’s Cut,” a 101 Studios film about the birth of electricity, was estimated at $2.8 million to $3.9 million. It came in at $2.6 million.

• Ticket sales aren’t keeping pace with a year ago. Box Office Pro had projected revenue from this weekend’s top 10 films would be little changed from the same weekend a year earlier. With Monday’s revisions, they were up almost 16%.
• But Hollywood and theater operators still need a 17% leap in ticket revenue this quarter just to finish 2019 in line with last year, a gap that may be too wide to close, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

Get More

• See the weekend release schedule.
• See Box Office Pro’s long-range forecast.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hailey Waller in New York at hwaller@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum, Kevin Miller

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