Shared universes are the most trending thing in Hollywood these days, and just about every studio has at least one mega franchise with crossover potential. Warner Bros. is of course furthering their DC Extended Universe which continues with Wonder Woman and Justice League this year, but they have another burgeoning series they’ve been building up. In partnership with Legendary Pictures, Warner Bros is the company behind the new MonsterVerse, which combines Godzilla with King Kong. The franchise began in 2014 with a Godzilla reboot and took the next step earlier this month with the release of Kong: Skull Island.
Kong has received generally favorable reviews, many felt the movie was a fun genre romp that delivered enough Kong action to make up for the thinly-written human characters. That reception helped its commercial prospects, and WB needed Skull Island to be a hit as they lead up to 2020’s Godzilla vs. Kong film. As the new take on the Eighth Wonder of the World has progressed through its run, its domestic numbers are trailing behind its predecessor which is Godzilla.
Before Skull Island opened in theaters on March 10, 2017, the opening weekend estimates were $43.5 million in the U.S. It ended up greatly surpassing those projections, grossing an impressive $61 million in its first three days and dethroning Logan from the top spot on the charts. The overall reaction certainly gave it a nice boost, as did the star-studded ensemble that included fan-favorite actors like Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, and Brie Larson. It was a far behind from the debut of Godzilla ($93.1 million), but still a solid enough start that showed viewers were interested in what Legendary has in store. The decision to include a post-credits scene that teased more monsters was a smart decision, despite the studio’s initial hesitancy.
Kong held fairly well in its second weekend, dropping 54.4 percent to make $27.8 million. In all likelihood, it probably would have had stronger legs if it was positioned somewhere else on the release calendar. Coming out on March 17, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast dominated the marketplace and ended up shattering box office records with a whopping $174.7 million domestic start. It was clear from the outset that nothing, not even King Kong, was a fair match for the Mouse House’s latest live-action remake, and Skull Island took a bit of a hit. The film seems to be a bit front-loaded, given that it’s grossed approximately $77 million Stateside since its opening weekend, with a current total of $137.9 million in US and $400 million worldwide. Twenty days into its release, it’s not going to be able to top Godzilla, which had made $178 million at the same point in its run. With The Fate of the Furious coming out soon, there’s a chance Skull Island doesn’t even reach $500 million worldwide.
No comments:
Post a Comment