Box Office

Tomorrowland a rickety No. 1

George Clooney (left) and Hugh Laurie star in the Disney film Tomorrowland. It came in first at last weekend’s box office and made about $43 million.
George Clooney (left) and Hugh Laurie star in the Disney film Tomorrowland. It came in first at last weekend’s box office and made about $43 million.

LOS ANGELES -- The future doesn't look so bright for Tomorrowland.

Disney's expensive fantasy adventure essentially had Memorial Day weekend to itself, and still only pulled in a modest $43 million in its first four days in theaters, according to Rentrak estimates on Monday.

It's a disappointing debut for a film that cost a reported $180 million to produce. Disney put its full weight behind the Brad Bird-directed film with an ambitious George Clooney-led promotional campaign.

"It's not ever ideal to be below your estimate before the weekend starts, but it feels like it's too early to judge the run," said Disney's Distribution Executive Vice President Dave Hollis.

Going into the weekend, tracking put the film in the $40 to $50 million range. And yet, he said, this is the gamble that studios must take when trying to introduce an original film to the marketplace.

Hollis noted that Tomorrowland will be one of the only PG-rated family films in theaters until Disney and Pixar's Inside Out opens June 19, which could be promising for its longevity -- especially considering that many schools have yet to close for the summer.

"We are optimistic that originality and the vision that Brad Bird put on the screen is something that people will find and evangelize and hopefully get other folks to show up," said Hollis.

Rentrak's senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian said that the mystery behind Tomorrowland's plot might have hurt the film.

"When audiences are spending their hard-earned cash on a blockbuster or tent-pole movie, they kind of want to know what they're getting going in, for better or worse," he said.

Well-received holdovers Pitch Perfect 2 and Mad Max: Fury Road helped prop up the holiday weekend totals. Both films experienced modest drops and earned $38 million and $31 million, respectively.

Avengers: Age of Ultron placed fourth with about $28 million.

Meanwhile, Fox's Poltergeist remake debuted in fifth place, with an estimated $26.3 million.

Director Gil Kenan's update of Tobe Hooper's 1982 horror classic cost $35 million to produce. The studio expected an opening in the low $20 million range.

"I think for our filmmakers, who had set out not to just remake a classic but to introduce a new generation of fans to the genre, it was very successful," said Fox's domestic distribution chief Chris Aronson.

Audiences for the PG-13 rated film were 59 percent under the age of 25.

Overall, though, there wasn't much to celebrate over this past holiday weekend. Memorial Day weekends are usually reserved for high-earning franchise fare.

The past two years saw the more than $100 million debuts of X-Men: Days of Future Past and Fast & Furious 6.

"The industry went into this weekend knowing we weren't going to break any records," Dergarabedian said. "This is more a case of audiences, somewhat, turning their back on original content when it comes to big blockbusters."

But hope is certainly not lost for a banner 2015 at the box office, with more blockbusters like Jurassic World and Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation yet to open.

"Summer is not going to be a bummer this year. This is a bump in the box office road," Dergarabedian said.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Tuesday by Rentrak:

  1. Tomorrowland, Disney, $42,679,200, 3,972 locations, $10,745 average, $42,679,200, one week.

  2. Pitch Perfect 2, Universal, $38,252,200, 3,560 locations, $10,745 average, $125,738,795, two weeks.

  3. Mad Max: Fury Road, Warner Bros., $31,287,441, 3,722 locations, $8,406 average, $94,717,720, two weeks.

  4. Avengers: Age of Ultron, Disney, $28,198,906, 3,727 locations, $7,566 average, $411,369,385, four weeks.

  5. Poltergeist, 20th Century Fox, $26,341,432, 3,240 locations, $8,130 average, $26,341,432, one week.

  6. Hot Pursuit, Warner Bros., $4,585,038, 2,577 locations, $1,779 average, $30,030,278, three weeks.

  7. Far From the Madding Crowd, Fox Searchlight, $2,992,810, 865 locations, $3,460 average, $6,155,415, four weeks.

  8. Furious 7, Universal, $2,834,135, 1,653 locations, $1,715 average, $347,723,320, eight weeks.

  9. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Columbia, $2,639,058, 1,878 locations, $1,405 average, $66,456,767, six weeks.

  10. Home, 20th Century Fox, $2,477,568, 1,444 locations, $1,716 average, $168,792,497, nine weeks.

  11. The Age of Adaline, Lionsgate, $1,966,497, 1,643 locations, $1,197 average, $40,355,912, five weeks.

  12. Ex Machina, A24 Films, $1,808,566, 896 locations, $2,018 average, $22,379,637, seven weeks.

  13. Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Eros Entertainment, $1,271,751, 136 locations, $9,351 average, $1,271,751, one week.

  14. Woman in Gold, The Weinstein Co., $1,195,930, 662 locations, $1,807 average, $30,700,880, eight weeks.

  15. Cinderella, Disney, $556,356, 356 locations, $1,563 average, $197,998,802, 11 weeks.

  16. I'll See You in My Dreams, Bleecker Street, $379,411, 26 locations, $14,593 average, $454,384, two weeks.

  17. Get Hard, Warner Bros., $344,367, 255 locations, $1,350 average, $89,362,050, nine weeks.

  18. Where Hope Grows, Roadside Attractions, $342,876, 221 locations, $1,551 average, $971,395, two weeks.

  19. The Longest Ride, 20th Century Fox, $342,722, 329 locations, $1,042 average, $36,856,747, seven weeks.

  20. The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Lionsgate, $317,368, 266 locations, $1,193 average, $128,734,480, 10 weeks.

MovieStyle on 05/29/2015

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