YOUR COMPLETE WEEKEND BOX OFFICE TRACKING, PREDICTIONS, & ANALYSIS (4.21.16)

	The Jungle Book	$56.8 million
	The Huntsman: Winter’s War	$26 million
	Barbershop: The Next Cut	$12.1 million
	The Boss	$4.9 million
	Zootopia	$4.4 million

After a stunning first weekend that earned it the second place spot for record April openings, The Jungle Book has earned itself the title of fifth biggest movie in 2016 after only 5 days and continues to prove itself throughout the week. The latest live action Disney film will easily take 1st place again this weekend, with a drop of only 45%. Though its daily numbers aren’t close to touching superhero fare like Deadpool and Batman v Superman, Jungle’s post-opening Tuesday take of $8.7 million is above Alice in Wonderland’s same-day of $8 million. Though Jungle opened $13 million shy of Alice, strong weekday showings and no family friendly competition spell good news for Jungle’s chances at catching up or at least getting close. With $219 million in so far overseas, the real test will be whether or not it can catch up to Alice’s $691 million total in foreign territories.

The original Huntsman opened at $56 million, but Winter’s War is looking at a far lower number, likely shy of $30 million in 2nd place. Though it’s already earned over $43 million after opening in nearly 20 countries two weeks ago, Winter’s War is seeing far worse reviews than the original, which will impact it at home with well-loved The Jungle Book as its main competitor. Universal’s hoping clever, widespread marketing will make up what the film lacks, and the campaign has been careful to distance the film from its Kristen Stewart-led predecessor. Powerhouse trailers have instead capitalized on the sequel’s big stars, adding Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain to the mix, and focused on beautiful visuals set to the music of indie darling Halsey. Stunning visuals won’t be enough to drive crowds to theaters or up its opening numbers, though, especially since all higher-price IMAX screens are currently owned by Jungle.

	Opening Weekend	Current Gross	Facebook Likes	Tweets
The Jungle Book	$103.261 million	$119.001 million	1,043,979	215,027
The Huntsman	N/A	N/A	5,135209	37,720
Barbershop 3	$20.242 million	$23.153 million	N/A	90,184
The Boss	$23.587 million	$41.917 million	N/A	N/A
Zootopia	$75.063 million	$308.701 million	14,625	47,266

Third place will go to Barbershop: The Next Cut, falling some 40% in its second weekend. Thought it opened lower than any of the other films in its series, don’t count the third Barbershop out. After all, the first one opened similarly back in 2002, but longevity is what helped it gross $75.8 million, thanks to 21 weeks in theaters. The Boss will follow in 4th, down around 50% in its third weekend. In this week’s upset, Zootopia will overtake Batman v Superman for 5th place, and even challenge The Boss for 4th. Thanks to glowing reviews and despite Disney competition from The Jungle Book, Zootopia should only fall some 45%.

Meanwhile, Batman v Superman will drop about 60% in its fifth weekend to take 6th place. The superhero flick has proved sluggish in day to day numbers in comparison to its record-breaking opening. As suspected, a better comparison at this stage is Deadpool’s numbers, which were similar approaching the 30 day mark. This is especially telling as Deadpool opened some $28 million behind BvS, and the latter has had a harder time holding onto theaters. Seventh place will belong to Criminal, falling 45% in only its second weekend out. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 will place 8th with $1.9 million, and Miracles from Heaven 9th with $1.1 million, both down around 40%. And 10th place belongs to God’s Not Dead 2, falling 50% with a take of just under a million.

	Rotten Tomatoes			IMDb		Metacritic
	Critics	Users	# of Ratings	Stars	# of Ratings
The Jungle Book	94	92	43,084	8.0	31,167	77
The Huntsman	19	N/A	75	6.2	5,652	38
Barbershop 3	93	78	8,454	6.2	696	67
The Boss	20	48	17,871	5.2	3,066	40
Zootopia	98	95	61,519	8.4	60,307	78

The limited market is busy this weekend, with thriller Green Room expanding and six other films opening. Elvis & Nixon, starring Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey as the titular characters, tells the story of President Richard Nixon’s strange encounter with Elvis Presley. Released by Amazon Studios and Spacey’s own Bleeker Street, the film’s been receiving moderate reviews so far. Another dramedy, A Hologram for the King, stars Tom Hanks as a washed-up businessman who is sent to Saudi Arabia to secure a new contract. Based off Dave Eggers’ novel of the same name, the film’s seen moderate to positive reviews thus far.

Buddy cop flick Compadres will see limited release as well, about a disgruntled Mexican cop forced to work with a teenage hacker. Released by Lionsgate, the film’s already grossed $4.2 million in Mexico. Starring Bruce Willis, action movie Precious Cargo is being released by Lionsgate Premiere. Willis plays a crime boss after thieves who stole his loot of precious gems. Last but not least, Tale of Tales will see two domestic locations this weekend. The fantasy horror film stars Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, John C Reilly, and Toby Jones and is an adaptation of Giambattista Basile’s 17th Century Pentamerone, which tells the earliest known versions of famous fairytales, and which greatly influenced the Brothers Grimm almost 200 years later.

(Sources: boxoffice.com, rottentomatoes.com, imdb.com, metacritic.com. Starred figures are estimates. Tweets represent figures for this week only. Figures represent numbers at time of writing, and may have changed. Tracking Board does not report Rotten Tomatoes user ratings for movies that have not yet seen wide release.)

Parker Mills | Contributor