{"id":214002,"date":"2019-05-12T23:13:29","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T03:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=214002"},"modified":"2019-05-12T23:13:29","modified_gmt":"2019-05-13T03:13:29","slug":"pikachu-tries-to-dethrone-the-avengers-but-just-misses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/05\/12\/pikachu-tries-to-dethrone-the-avengers-but-just-misses\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Pikachu’ tries to dethrone the ‘Avengers,’ but just misses"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
\u201cPokemon Detective Pikachu\u201d gave \u201cAvengers: Endgame\u201d a run for its money this weekend at the box office, but the superheroes managed to hold onto the throne once again. (File Photo<\/a>: POK\u00c9MON Detective Pikachu\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LOS ANGELES \u2014 \u201cPokemon Detective Pikachu\u201d gave \u201cAvengers: Endgame\u201d a run for its money this weekend at the box office, but the superheroes managed to hold onto the throne once again.<\/p>\n

The Walt Disney Co. said Sunday that the Marvel blockbuster earned an estimated $63.1 million from its third weekend in North American theatres, bringing its domestic grosses to $723.5 million, surpassing the totals for \u201cBlack Panther\u201d and \u201cAvengers: Infinity War.\u201d<\/p>\n

Internationally, it added $102.3 million, bringing its global total to just shy of $2.5 billion where it remains the second biggest worldwide release of all time behind \u201cAvatar\u201d ($2.8 billion.)<\/p>\n

But three weeks into \u201cAvengers\u201d dominance, the market finally had some room for another film to make a substantial impact. Warner Bros. managed to draw a significant audience to its live-action \u201cPokemon Detective Pikachu,\u201d which opened on 4,202 screens and earned an estimated $58 million from ticket sales.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a terrific result,\u201d said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. head of domestic distribution. \u201cIt’s so much fun to watch ‘Detective Pikachu’ have this kind of opening.\u201d<\/p>\n

And there’s no bad blood that \u201cEndgame\u201d powered past \u201cPikachu\u201d in the end.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fun to win Friday night, but as they say in golf, you play your own game and I’m thrilled with our result,\u201d Goldstein added.<\/p>\n

It even beat \u201cEndgame\u201d internationally by a very slight margin with $103 million.<\/p>\n

Ryan Reynolds voices the popular Pokemon character in the film, which notched a record of its own: Biggest video game adaption opening. The previous record-holder was the Angelina Jolie \u201cTomb Raider\u201d from 2001, which opened with $47 million, not adjusted for inflation.<\/p>\n

\u201cTypically movies based on video games haven’t been all that successful,\u201d Goldstein said.<\/p>\n

It was a mixed bag for other newcomers looking for a piece of the market, including two women-led comedies strategically launching on Mother’s Day: \u201cThe Hustle\u201d and \u201cPoms,\u201d which both attracted an overwhelmingly female audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hustle,\u201d a gender-flipped spin on \u201cDirty Rotten Scoundrels\u201d with Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson, landed in third place with $13.6 million despite lacklustre reviews.<\/p>\n

Less lucky was the Diane Keaton cheerleading comedy \u201cPoms,\u201d which grossed only $5.1 million in its debut against similarly negative reviews from critics. \u201cPoms\u201d placed sixth behind the thriller \u201cThe Intruder\u201d ($6.6 million) and the Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron rom-com \u201cLong Shot\u201d ($6.1 million), which are both in their second weekends.<\/p>\n

In smaller releases, \u201cTolkien,\u201d a biopic about the \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d author starring Nicholas Hoult opened in ninth place on 1,495 screens with $2.2 million, while the documentary \u201cThe Biggest Little Farm\u201d debuted in five locations and earned $101,012.<\/p>\n

And while not every film was a hit this weekend, the diversity of content is important to the marketplace, noted Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. Overall, the industry-wide box office continues to get stronger as the year goes on. The weekend is up around 23%, and the year is down around 9%. Three weeks ago, pre-\u201dEndgame,\u201d that year-to-date deficit was at 17%.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should never be about just one type of movie,\u201d said Dergarabedian. \u201cThat used to be the thing about summer, it was about drawing in the 18-24 year olds with superhero movies and action movies. In today’s world, summer offers a much more eclectic and diverse mix and that’s paying dividends for Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n

And May has more big movies to come, including \u201cAladdin,\u201d \u201cRocketman,\u201d \u201cJohn Wick 3: Parabellum and \u201cGodzilla: King of the Monsters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMay could be a monster at the box office,\u201d Dergarabedian said.<\/p>\n

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest\u00a0international\u00a0numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cAvengers: Endgame,\u201d $63.1 million ($102.3 million\u00a0international).<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cPokemon Detective Pikachu,\u201d $58 million ($103 million\u00a0international).<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cThe Hustle,\u201d $13.6 million.<\/li>\n
  4. \u201cThe Intruder,\u201d $6.6 million.<\/li>\n
  5. \u201cLong Shot,\u201d $6.1 million.<\/li>\n
  6. \u201cPoms,\u201d $5.1 million.<\/li>\n
  7. \u201cUglydolls,\u201d $3.9 million.<\/li>\n
  8. \u201cBreakthrough,\u201d $2.5 million.<\/li>\n
  9. \u201cTolkien,\u201d $2.2 million.<\/li>\n
  10. \u201cCaptain Marvel,\u201d $1.8 million.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    LOS ANGELES \u2014 \u201cPokemon Detective Pikachu\u201d gave \u201cAvengers: Endgame\u201d a run for its money this weekend at the box office, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":214010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-214002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","mauthors-lindsey-bahr","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214002"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214011,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214002\/revisions\/214011"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}