Disney/Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Endgame Encore” has risen to the top spot on the box office charts on a weekend filled with new films that have given theaters plenty of great business but have left some of them, such as Paramount’s “Heart of the Beast” and Universal/DreamWorks’ “Forgotten Island,” facing an uncertain future despite strong reception.
“Endgame Encore,” which features a modified ending and new post-credit scenes to set up the upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday,” earned $11.2 million from 3,060 locations on Friday as industry estimates project a $26 million weekend for the film. That will bring the Marvel film’s lifetime domestic gross to $884 million and bring it within $100 million of the all-time global box office record held by “Avatar.”
Sony/TriStar’s “Resident Evil” is No. 2 with $23.8 million in its second weekend, dropping 60% from its $60 million opening. “Endgame Encore” may be peeling away general audiences despite the strong early reception for Zach Cregger’s horror film, but the film is still pacing to be a theatrical success for Sony as it passes $100 million domestic and $200 million worldwide this weekend.
A24’s “Primetime” and Paramount’s “Heart of the Beast” are in a narrow race for the No. 3 slot, with industry estimates giving “Primetime” the edge with an $8.5 million opening day and a $20.5 million weekend from 2,874 locations. “Heart of the Beast” took a $7.4 million opening day from 3,435 locations as it is headed for a $20 million opening.
“Primetime” stars Robert Pattinson as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen in a surrealist, dramatized take on the NBC show’s rise and fall in the mid-2000s. While Pattinson’s performance has received Oscar buzz and “Primetime” has received generally positive critical and audience reception, its more incisive look at the show and true crime television in general has turned off some who were expecting a more straightforward biopic as the film has earned a B on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 87% critics and 82% audience.
Still, while “Primetime” isn’t being received as strongly as other new releases, it will be a theatrical success for A24 as it carries the lowest production budget of the bunch at a reported $15 million.
“Heart of the Beast,” a more straight-laced survival thriller starring Brad Pitt as a Special Forces vet stranded in the Alaskan wilderness with his combat dog, has gotten stronger audience scores including an A- on CinemaScore and RT scores of 87% critics and 95% audience. But with a much higher $80 million budget, it will have its work cut out for it trying to turn a theatrical profit over the course of October.
It will be even more of an uphill battle for “Forgotten Island,” which earned a mere $4.3 million from 3,548 locations and is now heading for an $11.5 million opening that is among the lowest ever for DreamWorks Animation, just a few steps above the studio’s all-time low of $5.5 million for “Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken” in 2023.
This is in spite of very strong reviews from critics that have given the film a 94% Rotten Tomatoes score and rave reception from those who have seen the film, including an A on CinemaScore and PostTrak scores of 82% “definite recommend,” the audience poll’s highest rating, and 96% overall positive.
“Forgotten Island” will have a staggered overseas release and little family/animated competition in October aside from Fathom/Laika’s more adult-skewing PG-13 offering “Wildwood.” But with an $80 million budget, even the 4x multiple of DreamWorks’ “The Wild Robot,” which opened to $35.7 million domestic in September 2024, wouldn’t be enough to turn a theatrical profit. With this start, “Forgotten Island” would have to defy the post-COVID struggles plaguing all of original theatrical animation just to break even.
