After three underwhelming May weekends for movies, two different superheroes arrive to save the box office day. The most famous comic superheroine Wonder Woman [WONDR] finally gets her solo movie outing The 75-year-old icon is familiar to every American through pop culture and various cartoon series over last 45 years. Before Gal Gadot [GGADO] appeared in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice last year, Lynda Carter was the only actress to portray Wonder Woman, back in a 1970s TV show. Gadot’s Diana Prince was the best part of Batman v. Superman, so anticipation is sky high for her stand-alone prequel. Directed by Patty Jenkins, the PG-13 rated film is set during the first World War when mechanized warfare reach the island home of the Amazons. The strong female-led blockbuster arrives at the perfect time of the zeitgeist. Social media buzz has been on fire, further fueled by strong critical reviews. Curiously, there hasn’t been any comparative report of its advance ticket sales, so Wonder Woman seems unlikely to surpass Man of Steel, which opened to $116.6 million in 2013. However, positive word of mouth could push it close. Riding into 4165 theaters, Wonder Woman looks to lasso $108 million.
The weekend’s other superhero debut is Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie [CUNDP]. The PG-rated film from DreamWorks Animation is based on a book series popular with grade school kids. However, its poop humor is unlikely to have the mass crossover appeal of The Boss Baby, which opened to $50 million in April. Captain Underpants may pull in $30 million from 3434 locations.
The Pirates of the Caribbean sequels have all been extremely front-loaded. Following the same course, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales [PIRT5] is poised to sink more than 55% from its debut over a holiday weekend to $25 million.
Moviegoers have rejected the R-rated adaptation of the ‘90s TV series Baywatch [BAYWT], which could tumble to $8 million in its second weekend.
That’s the whisper on the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): WONDR, GGADO, CUNDP, PIRT5, BAYWT