Warner Bros./Legendary’s “Pokemon: Detective Pikachu” got off to a solid start at the box office with a $58 million opening, but that won’t be enough to take “Avengers: Endgame” off the No. 1 spot in its third weekend.
The Marvel Studios record-buster stayed atop the charts with an estimated total of $63 million, the fourth highest total ever earned by a film in its third weekend. That brings the film’s domestic total to $723.5 million, passing the domestic run of “Black Panther” for No. 3 on the all-time North American charts.
“Avengers: Endgame” also passed $600 million in China and $100 million in the U.K., and is set to pass $100 million in Korea this coming week. Worldwide, the film now has a total of $2.48 billion, roughly $300 million away from passing “Avatar” as the highest grossing film in box office history.
Back in the world of “Pokemon,” “Detective Pikachu” marked a strong return for Legendary to the Warner Bros. lot after their four-year partnership with Universal. By comparison, “Detective Pikachu” nearly matched the $61 million opening of the last WB/Legendary co-production, “Kong: Skull Island,” which was released in March 2017 as part of the MonsterVerse series they started together in 2014. WB and Legendary will continue that series later this month with “Godzilla: King of Monsters” on May 31.
“Detective Pikachu” earned mildly positive reviews with a 63% Rotten Tomatoes score, but won over hardcore “Pokemon” fans with an A- on CinemaScore. The question now is whether a $150-200 million domestic run will be possible with family films like “Aladdin” and adult blockbuster fare like “John Wick: Chapter 3” on the horizon. Such competition could leave “Detective Pikachu” being a frontloaded affair at the box office if moviegoers who don’t know the difference between a Greninja and a Graveler don’t show interest in later weekends.
In third place is MGM’s “The Hustle,” which is hitting tracker expectations with a $13.5 million opening with a $13.5 million opening from just over 3,000 screens. For star Rebel Wilson, it nearly matches the $14.2 million opening for her last film, “Isn’t It Romantic?,” which had a domestic run of $48.7 million. “The Hustle” was panned by critics with a 16% Rotten Tomatoes score but did decently with a primarily female audience with a B- CinemaScore.
Second weekend holdovers complete the top five as Sony/Screen Gems’ “The Intruder” and Lionsgate’s “Long Shot” each earned $6.7 million this weekend, giving “Intruder” a 10-day total of $21 million and “Long Shot” a total of $20.3 million.
In sixth is STX’s “Poms,” an ensemble film starring Diane Keaton that was hoping to bring in older female audiences on Mother’s Day weekend. Instead, that demographic seems to have gone off to see “The Hustle,” as “Poms” only grossed $5.1 million this weekend, below projections for a $7-10 million opening. By comparison, “Book Club,” another Diane Keaton film featuring a quartet of older women, opened to $13.5 million on Mother’s Day weekend last year.