LOS ANGELES -- In a weekend when Warner Bros.' The Legend of Tarzan swung higher than expected and Disney-Amblin's The BFG fell short of projections, it was Finding Dory that reigned supreme at the box office again, taking the No. 1 spot for the third consecutive week.
The Disney-Pixar film raked in an estimated $51.4 million over the four-day Fourth of July weekend, pushing its domestic earnings to about $382 million and making it the fifth-highest-grossing North American animated release of all time, tying the total run of Dory predecessor Finding Nemo.
Tarzan, the latest adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1912 creation, landed in the No. 2 spot, bringing in about $46.6 million. That may be dwarfed by the film's $180 million production budget, but the studio has high hopes for it globally and at home, where good word of mouth is echoed by the movie's A-minus grade from audience polling firm CinemaScore.
"The bigger story here is really about the worldwide result," said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. executive vice president of distribution. "We have some really large markets yet to open up internationally, including China."
The unlikely Cinderella story of the weekend is Universal's The Purge: Election Year, the most recent film in James DeMonaco's Purge series, produced by Blumhouse and Platinum Dunes. The third picture in the franchise, set in a futuristic United States where crime is legal for 12 hours each year, earned about $36.1 million, dwarfing its $10 million production budget.
"The Purge: Election Year is one of the few sequels that's not family oriented or based on a comic book that will outperform the last film in the series," said Nick Carpou, Universal's president of domestic distribution. "In fact, the CinemaScore [B-plus] is better than the other two films, so audiences are satisfied coming out. It's a success story all the way around, even here as we are in the middle of it."
Less of a success story was the Steven Spielberg adaptation of Roald Dahl's beloved children's book The BFG, the story of a lonely little girl among giants. The film brought in about $23 million through Monday, falling $8 million short of early weekend projections. Disney retains hope for the movie's word of mouth, in light of its A-minus CinemaScore.
"We hold out hope and feel good about what midweek business ought to be this coming week," said Disney distribution head Dave Hollis, and he underlined the importance of the global marketplace, pointing out that the picture had yet to open in some lucrative overseas locations.
International box office remains key for studios.
Finding Dory continues to be a hit overseas, earning $34.4 million over the usual three-day weekend. The BFG earned $3.4 million in Australia and Russia.
The Legend of Tarzan opened in 19 markets internationally, including Russia and Korea, and made an estimated $7.1 million.
Back home, rounding out the top five was Independence Day: Resurgence from 20th Century Fox and Roland Emmerich. The sequel to the 1996 global blockbuster took in about $22 million over the long weekend, bringing its cumulative domestic total to $77.8 million.
In sixth place was Warner Bros.' Central Intelligence, which made $15.4 million, edging it toward a cumulative $95 million at the box office.
Columbia's The Shallows was No. 7 and brought in $10.5 million, followed by STX Entertainment's Free State of Jones, earning $5.3 million, Warner's The Conjuring 2, bringing in $4.5 million, and Lionsgate's Now You See Me 2, earning $3.7 million.
Just missing the top 10, the Daniel Radcliffe/Paul Dano film, Swiss Army Man, had a strong showing as it expanded its screen count to 636 from three in its second week of release. It grossed about $1.7 million.
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 comScore:
Finding Dory, Disney, $51,436,383, 4,305 locations, $11,948 average, $381,785,985, three weeks.
The Legend of Tarzan, Warner Bros., $46,582,405, 3,561 locations, $13,081 average, $46,582,405, one week.
The Purge: Election Year, Universal, $36,139,295, 2,796 locations, $12,925 average, $36,139,295, one week.
The BFG, Disney, $22,716,809, 3,357 locations, $6,767 average, $22,716,809, one week.
Independence Day: Resurgence, 20th Century Fox, $21,681,926, 4,091 locations, $5,300 average, $77,838,999, two weeks.
Central Intelligence, Warner Bros., $15,405,059, 3,166 locations, $4,866 average, $94,842,133, three weeks.
The Shallows, Columbia, $10,528,240, 2,962 locations, $3,554 average, $36,779,887, two weeks.
Free State of Jones, STX Entertainment, $5,302,556, 2,781 locations, $1,907 average, $16,368,267, two weeks.
The Conjuring 2, Warner Bros., $4,516,713, 2,008 locations, $2,249 average, $95,950,251, four weeks.
Now You See Me 2, Lionsgate, $3,703,623, 1,788 locations, $2,071 average, $59,443,068, four weeks.
Swiss Army Man, A24, $1,673,746, 636 locations, $2,632 average, $1,828,034, two weeks.
Our Kind of Traitor, Roadside Attractions, $1,208,306, 373 locations, $3,239 average, $1,208,306, one week.
X-Men: Apocalypse, 20th Century Fox, $1,113,712, 630 locations, $1,768 average, $153,711,167, six weeks.
Me Before You, Warner Bros., $1,014,281, 523 locations, $1,939 average, $53,901,076, five weeks.
Captain America: Civil War, Disney, $951,229, 367 locations, $2,592 average, $405,599,617, nine weeks.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Paramount, $941,965, 719 locations, $1,310 average, $79,689,467, five weeks.
The Jungle Book, Disney, $783,587, 294 locations, $2,665 average, $359,618,185, 12 weeks.
Warcraft, Universal, $607,565, 411 locations, $1,478 average, $45,896,490, four weeks.
Love & Friendship, Roadside Attractions, $513,593, 185 locations, $2,776 average, $12,658,917, eight weeks.
Alice Through the Looking Glass, Disney, $464,580, 192 locations, $2,420 average, $75,744,909, six weeks.
MovieStyle on 07/08/2016