Easter tends to be a relatively decent money maker for movie theaters, however this year, that was not the case. The total domestic box office gross of this past weekend was $110 million, a whole 21% drop compared to last year’s Easter Weekend. This is the lowest Easter box office gross since 1994.
Topping this low weekend was Warner Bros’ The Curse of La Llorona. The horror film opened at $25 million with a budget of $9 million, serving to be a very profitable film for WB’s horror department. The film was a huge draw for the Latino market which tends to see movies during Easter weekend and given the subject matter. Elsewhere in the box office, Shazam still holds up relatively well, making about $17 million on its third weekend, grossing a total of $121 million domestically. Audiences will be less attentive to Shazam! when Endgame comes out within the next week, but for the time being, is still holding as a profitable film in Warner Bros’ DC Cinematic Universe.
The other major new release of Easter weekend was the faith-based drama known as Breakthrough. The Christian-centered film had the third highest opening with around $11 million and, given its relatively low budget, is being well received by its target audience. It is a small success for 20th Century Fox. Disney also released the documentary, Penguins, as a part of their Disney Nature series of films and it opened with $2.3 million in 1,815 theaters. Given this is the usual performance of a typical film from Disney Nature, the small documentary is doing about as well as expected. This is all slow until next weekend when Avengers: Endgame comes out and destroys all box office records, making this small box office weekend even more pitiful in comparison.
Full Box Office Top Ten Below.
1. The Curse of La Llorona (Warner Bros.) NEW – Cinemascore: B-; Metacritic: 40; Est. budget: $9 million
$26,505,000 in 3,372 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $7.860 Cumulative: $26,505,000
2. Shazam! (Warner Bros) Week 3; Last weekend: #1
$17,340,000 (-29) in 4,183 theaters (-123); PTA: $4,145; Cumulative: $121,342,000
3. Breakthrough (20th Century Fox) NEW – Cinemascore: A; Metacritic: 47; Est. budget: $14 million
$11,100,000 in 2,824 theaters; PTA: $3,391; Cumulative: $14,607,000
4. Captain Marvel (Disney) Week 7; Last weekend: #6
$9,100,000 (+6%) in 2,653 theaters (-322); PTA: $3,430; Cumulative: $400,026,000
5. Little (Universal) Week 2; Last weekend: #2
$8,451,000 (-45%) in 2,667 theaters (no change); PTA: $3,169; Cumulative: $29,380,000
6. Dumbo (Disney) Week 4; Last weekend: #5
$6,800,000 (-28%) in 3,225 theaters (-481); PTA: $2,109; Cumulative: $101,255,000
7. Pet Sematary (Paramount) Week 3; Last weekend: #4
$4,850,000 (-50%) in 3,146 theaters (-439); PTA: $1,542; Cumulative: $49,583,000
8. Missing Link (United Artists) Week 2; Last weekend: #9
$4,370,000 (-27%) in 3,437 theaters (+24); PTA: $1,271; Cumulative: $12,777,000
9. Us (Universal) Week 5; Last weekend: #7
$4,264,000 (-37%) in 2,264 theaters (-504); PTA: $1,883; Cumulative: $170,445,000
10. Hellboy (Lionsgate) Week 2; Last weekend: #3
$3,880,000 (-68%) in 3,303 theaters (no change); PTA: $1,175; Cumulative: $19,276,000