By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --"Pokémon Detective Pikachu" gave "Avengers: Endgame" a run for its money this weekend at the box office, but the superheroes managed to hold onto the throne once again.
The Walt Disney Co. said Sunday that the Marvel blockbuster earned an estimated $63.1 million from its third weekend in North American theaters, bringing its domestic grosses to $723.5 million, surpassing the totals for "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Infinity War."
Internationally, it added $102.3 million, bringing its global total to just shy of $2.5 billion where it remains the second biggest worldwide release of all time behind "Avatar" ($2.8 billion.)
But three weeks into "Avengers" dominance, the market finally had some room for another film to make a substantial impact. Warner Bros. managed to draw a significant audience to its live-action "Pokémon Detective Pikachu," which opened on 4,202 screens and earned an estimated $58 million from ticket sales.
"What a terrific result," said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. head of domestic distribution. "It's so much fun to watch 'Detective Pikachu' have this kind of opening."
And there's no bad blood that "Endgame" powered past "Pikachu" in the end.
"It was fun to win Friday night, but as they say in golf, you play your own game and I'm thrilled with our result," Goldstein added.
It even beat "Endgame" internationally by a very slight margin with $103 million.
Ryan Reynolds voices the popular Pokémon character in the film, which notched a record of its own: Biggest video game adaption opening. The previous record-holder was the Angelina Jolie "Tomb Raider" from 2001, which opened with $47 million, not adjusted for inflation.
"Typically movies based on video games haven't been all that successful," Goldstein said.
It was a mixed bag for other newcomers looking for a piece of the market, including two women-led comedies strategically launching on Mother's Day: "The Hustle" and "Poms," which both attracted an overwhelmingly female audience.
"The Hustle," a gender-flipped spin on "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" with Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson, landed in third place with $13.6 million despite lackluster reviews.
Less lucky was the Diane Keaton cheerleading comedy "Poms," which grossed only $5.1 million in its debut against similarly negative reviews from critics. "Poms" placed sixth behind the thriller "The Intruder" ($6.6 million) and the Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron rom-com "Long Shot" ($6.1 million), which are both in their second weekends.
In smaller releases, "Tolkien," a biopic about the "Lord of the Rings" author starring Nicholas Hoult opened in ninth place on 1,495 screens with $2.2 million, while the documentary "The Biggest Little Farm" debuted in five locations and earned $101,012.
And while not every film was a hit this weekend, the diversity of content is important to the marketplace, noted Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. Overall, the industry-wide box office continues to get stronger as the year goes on. The weekend is up around 23%, and the year is down around 9%. Three weeks ago, pre-"Endgame," that year-to-date deficit was at 17%.
"It should never be about just one type of movie," said Dergarabedian. "That used to be the thing about summer, it was about drawing in the 18-24 year olds with superhero movies and action movies. In today's world, summer offers a much more eclectic and diverse mix and that's paying dividends for Hollywood."
And May has more big movies to come, including "Aladdin," ''Rocketman," ''John Wick 3: Parabellum and "Godzilla: King of the Monsters."
"May could be a monster at the box office," Dergarabedian said.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Avengers: Endgame," $63.1 million ($102.3 million international).
2. "Pokémon Detective Pikachu," $58 million ($103 million international).
3. "The Hustle," $13.6 million ($13.7 million international).
4. "The Intruder," $6.6 million.
5. "Long Shot," $6.1 million ($1.6 million international).
6. "Poms," $5.1 million ($736,000 international).
7. "Uglydolls," $3.9 million ($522,000 international).
8. "Breakthrough," $2.5 million.
9. "Tolkien," $2.2 million ($200,283 international).
10. "Captain Marvel," $1.8 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Comscore:
1. "Pokémon Detective Pikachu," $103 million.
2. "Avengers: Endgame," $102.3 million.
3. "The Hustle," $13.7 million.
4. "Capernaum," $8.3 million.
5. "Mom," $5.6 million.
6. "We'll End Up Together," $5.1 million.
7. "Miss & Mrs. Cops," $4.2 million.
8. "The Curse of La Llorona," $3.5 million.
9. "Pet Semetary," $2.4 million.
10. "Sweet Family," $2.2 million.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More