‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ Bites Into Newcomers With $45 Million Weekend
By Dave McNary
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Sony’s second weekend of “Spider-Man: Far From Home” is dominating North American moviegoing with around $45 million, taking in more than the combined totals of the next three titles — “Toy Story 4,” “Crawl” and “Stuber.”
Should Saturday estimates hold, “” will wind up the weekend with $275 million in domestic grosses in its first 13 days at 4,634 locations. The 23rd entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe should top the $44 million second weekend of 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” which also starred Tom Holland as the teenage webslinger. “Spider-Man: Far From Home”has also generated $392 million internationally for a global tally of $635 million.
Disney’s fourth weekend of “” will finish a distant second with $21 million, followed by the openings of Paramount’s alligator disaster movie “” with about $11 million and Fox’s buddy comedy “” with about $8 million.
“Toy Story 4” is showing impressive staying power with a 37% decline. The fourth installment in the 24-year-old animated comedy franchise will finish the frame with $347 million in its first 24 days in North America — placing it 51st on the all-time domestic grosser list behind “American Sniper.” It’s 2019’s third highest performer behind “Avengers: Endgame” at $850 million at “Captain Marvel” at $426 million.
“Crawl” is performing slighty above expectations, which had been pegged for around $10 million in 3,170 venues. The R-rated horror film follows a father and daughter (played by Barry Pepper and Kaya Scodelario) who are forced to escape a relentless attack from a pack of alligators after a Category 5 hurricane hits their Florida town.
“Crawl” has generated surprisingly postive reviews for a critter pic, scoring an 89% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It received a B Cinemascore from audiences. Alexandre Aja directed from a script by Michael and Shawn Rasmussen.
“Stuber” is performing in line with expectations, which had ranged from $7 million to $10 million at 3,050 locations. It’s Disney’s first R-rated title in six years since “The Fifth Estate.” Fox began developing “Stuber” in 2016 and it premiered in March at the SXSW Film Festival, shortly before Disney closed its acquisition of the Fox film assets.
The film centers on Kumail Nanjiani as an Uber driver who unwittingly becomes part of an arrest operation with Dave Bautista portraying an aggressive LAPD officer. Directed by Michael Dowse from a script by Tripper Clancy, “Stuber” also stars Iko Uwais, Natalie Morales, Betty Gilpin, Jimmy Tatro, Mira Sorvino and Karen Gillan.
“Spiderman: Far From Home” is the 10th title to take in more than $40 million in its second weekend during July, according to Comscore. The North American box office is continuing to lag last year’s pace with a total of $6.05 billion as of July 10, down 8.7%. Disney’s “The Lion King” is widely expected to jolt domestic business next weekend with a launch of as much as $150 million.
