'Midway' Surprises 'Doctor Sleep' to Win Box Office With $17 Million Debut

Reiner Bajo/Lionsgate

Early November has yielded major box office hits like “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” in recent years, but no such juggernaut was in sight this weekend as Lionsgate’s “Midway” only needed a $17.5 million opening from 3,242 screens to take the No. 1 spot.

The chart-topping victory for Lionsgate and Roland Emmerich was a surprise for many analysts as Warner Bros.’ “Doctor Sleep” was expected to open to a $25-30 million opening. Instead, the $50 million sequel to Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” has collapsed with an opening of just $14.1 million from 3,855 screens.

With no film grossing over $20 million this weekend, overall grosses are estimated to drop almost 30% from the $163 million grossed in this weekend last year, when Universal/Illumination’s “The Grinch” opened to $67 million while “Bohemian Rhapsody” grossed $31 million in its second weekend. Movie theaters will likely have to wait until the release of “Frozen II” in two weekends for another major audience draw to arrive.

Also Read: Will the Box Office Rely on Disney Again This Holiday Season?

Despite the gloomy picture for the market, reps for Lionsgate tell TheWrap that the studio is pleased about how “Midway” performed, beating pre-weekend projections of a $12-14 million opening. With a reported $100 million budget — $75 million net — “Midway” took a much different path to release than other WWII films as director Roland Emmerich independently financed the film through foreign presales and equity deals with Chinese investors.

Lionsgate acquired distribution rights for the U.S. and U.K. and handled marketing for those markets, putting the bar for box office success lower for the studio than for the film overall. The film overperformed with older audiences, whom Lionsgate marketed the film to with USO events and social media ads in which WWII veterans that fought in the Battle of Midway were invited to view the film. While critics were characteristically tepid towards Emmerich’s film with 40% on Rotten Tomatoes, audience reaction was strong with an A on CinemaScore.

Also Read: 'Midway' Film Review: Impressive Visuals Go to War With Spotty Writing

“Doctor Sleep,” meanwhile, comes as a big shock for Warner Bros. during an autumn in which it kept moviegoers buying tickets with “It: Chapter Two” and “Joker,” the latter of which has only now fallen out of the top 5 in its sixth weekend and is on the verge of becoming the first R-rated release to gross $1 billion worldwide.

Trailers for “Doctor Sleep” were attached to those two films, leading a marketing campaign that heavily sold the film’s connection to “The Shining” via references to Kubrick’s 1980 masterpiece. Reception has been solid for the film with a 73% RT score, a B+ on CinemaScore, and Stephen King’s enthusiastic endorsement.

But female audiences under 25, a demographic that turned out for the “It” films, did not turnout for “Doctor Sleep” as CinemaScore polls showed an audience that heavily skewed older male: 57% male and 76% over 25. The result is the fourth box office bust for Warner Bros. since August, joining “The Kitchen,” “The Goldfinch,” and “Motherless Brooklyn.”

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Taking third is the Paramount comedy “Playing With Fire,” which is opening to an estimated $12.7 million from 3,125 screens. Produced on a $30 million budget, the film has a B+ on CinemaScore and 24% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Just behind in fourth is the final new release of the weekend, Universal’s “Last Christmas.” Also produced on a $30 million budget, the Paul Feig romance film opened to $11.6 million from 3,448 screens and received a B- CinemaScore grade and 49% RT score.

Completing the top 5 is Paramount’s “Terminator: Dark Fate,” which opened to a disappointing $29 million and has dropped 64% to a $10.5 million second weekend total. The film’s 10-day domestic total of $48.2 million is down 18.4% from the $59 million 10-day total of the sci-fi series’ last installment, “Terminator: Genisys.”

More to come…

'Terminator: Dark Fate,' 'Dark Phoenix' and 11 More Box Office Busts in 2019 (Photos)

There have been plenty of box office hits in 2019 from "Avengers: Endgame" to "Joker" to "Us." But as always, there are films that end up taking a dive once they hit theaters. Some have been failed attempts to revive flailing franchises. Others are poorly reviewed films that moviegoers barely notice on the cinema marquee. Either way, they've made this list.
"Replicas" $9.2 million grossed ($30 million budget) -- Keanu Reeves has had a great 2019. "John Wick: Chapter 3" was a hit, a viral video of his E3 appearance became a meme, and sequels to "Bill & Ted" and "The Matrix" are in his future. But back in January, he starred in this critically panned sci-fi tale of a neuroscientist who defies the law and scientific ethics to create clones of his dead family.
Entertainment Studios
"The Kid Who Would Be King" $32 million ($60 million budget) -- Unlike other films on this list, critics were pleasantly surprised by this family film about a British schoolboy who discovers that he is the reincarnation of King Arthur. But it fell victim to early-year box office doldrums as audiences ignored the critics' praises, turning "The Kid Who Would Be King" into one of several busts for 20th Century Fox in the final months before the Disney merger.
20th Century Fox
"Serenity" $14.3 million ($25 million budget) -- Both critics and audiences panned this thriller starring Anne Hathaway as a woman and her boat captain ex-husband (Matthew McConaughey), whom she offers to pay $10 million to murder her abusive new husband. "Serenity" didn't even gross that amount in North America with just $8.5 million to go with a D+ from CinemaScore polls.
Aviron
"Miss Bala" $15 million ($15 million budget) -- In 2011, "Miss Bala" became a hit at Cannes and was Mexico's selection for the Foreign Language Oscar. But this remake starring Gina Rodriguez was far less fortunate, barely making back its production budget.
Sony
"Captive State" $8.7 million ($25 million budget) -- It's an interesting concept: a sci-fi allegory for U.S. imperialism, as an alien race conquers Earth and turns it into a vassal state. But between middling reviews and the pop culture dominance of "Captain Marvel," "Captive State" never went anywhere.
Focus Features
"The Beach Bum" $4.4 million ($5 million budget) -- Another swing and a miss for Matthew McConaughey, though he did get praise from critics for this Harmony Korine stoner comedy that also stars Snoop Dogg, Zac Efron, Jonah Hill, of all people, and Jimmy Buffett.
NEON
"Hellboy" $44.6 million ($50 million budget) -- And now we get to the summer blockbuster bombs, starting with Lionsgate's failed attempt to revive "Hellboy" with David Harbour instead of Ron Perlman and loads of gore instead of Guillermo del Toro's guiding hand. The result was one of the most panned films of the year that quickly met its box office demise once "Avengers: Endgame" hit theaters two weeks after its release.
Lionsgate
"Men in Black: International" $253 million ($110 million budget) -- Sony may have taken a bit of a loss on this "MIB" spinoff, but any write-downs were quickly erased by the success of "Spider-Man: Far From Home" later in the summer. But this was a bust because it was a failed attempt to turn "MIB" into another "Jurassic World," replacing original cast members with hot new talent. While Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson were lauded for a good attempt, critics and audiences agreed that there's no replacing Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.
Sony
"Dark Phoenix" $252 million ($200 million budget) -- 19 years of "X-Men" films at Fox ended with the biggest thud possible, as Simon Kinberg's panned take on Jean Grey's villainous turn became the most high-profile bomb of the summer. Simon Kinberg blamed himself for the bomb, which was identified as the main reason why Fox reported a $170 million operational loss in its first financial quarter under Disney ownership.
Disney/Fox
"The Kitchen" $15 million ($38 million budget) -- Warner Bros. is enjoying a great autumn thanks to "Joker" and "It: Chapter Two," but the end of summer was a rough period for them with two big bombs. The studio took a risk on Andrea Berloff's adaptation of "The Kitchen," a Vertigo graphic novel about mob wives who take over their dead husbands' business. But despite starring Melissa McCarthy, Elisabeth Moss and Tiffany Haddish, critics panned the film's script and audiences swiftly ignored it.
Warner Bros.
"The Goldfinch" $9.6 million ($45 million budget) -- Then, a month later, WB had another bust with an adaptation of Donna Tartt's Pulitzer-winning novel "The Goldfinch." But critics at the film's Toronto premiere weren't impressed and, like "The Kitchen," audiences took one look at reviews and moved on.
Warner Bros.
"Zeroville" $68,000 (Budget unknown) -- Over the past several years, James Franco has spent much of his time working on very obscure films that barely see any theatrical release. His latest, an adaptation of Steve Erickson's "Zeroville," became the biggest bomb of his career with just $8,900 grossed on its opening weekend. You read that right.
myCinema
"Terminator: Dark Fate" $102 million and counting ($185 million budget) -- After three maligned sequels, the "Terminator" franchise was expected to get a boost from the return of original star Linda Hamilton and creator James Cameron as producer. But despite better reviews, "Dark Fate" barely did better than its predecessor, "Terminator: Genisys," as casual audiences have lost interest in the series while hardcore fans were put off by the shocking fate of the once destined savior of humanity, John Connor.
Paramount

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You might not even have been aware that some of these films existed

There have been plenty of box office hits in 2019 from "Avengers: Endgame" to "Joker" to "Us." But as always, there are films that end up taking a dive once they hit theaters. Some have been failed attempts to revive flailing franchises. Others are poorly reviewed films that moviegoers barely notice on the cinema marquee. Either way, they've made this list.

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