2019-09-04 The Hollywood Reporter

Behind the Headlines

The Report

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 12 SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

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Exit polls of six very different summer films reveal a common appeal to young people

The 18-to-34 age group helped
boost other family films to diz-
zying results, including Disney’s
The Lion King and Pixar’s Toy Story
4. “That’s most impressive, con-
sidering this was supposedly the
audience that was glued to their
phones,” says Paul Dergarabedian
of Comscore. Adds Cathleen Taff,
president of worldwide distribu-
tion at Disney, “Nostalgia was
certainly a factor as we saw
millennials overdeliver.”
Disney’s 2019 global ticket
sales sit at an all-time industry
best of $8.4 billion, eclipsing
the record $7.6 billion the stu-
dio achieved in all of 2016 and
representing more than
44 percent of all market share.
However, Fox titles inherited
by Disney have stumbled badly,
led by June’s X-Men spinoff Dark
Phoenix, which lost more than
$100 million after topping out
at a franchise-worst $252 mil-
lion globally. There were other

notable summer casualties.

Warner Bros. will lose millions

among The Kitchen, Shaft and

Godzilla: King of Monsters, made

in partnership with Legendary.

Sony’s Men in Black: International

reboot also was a big miss,

although the studio scored a win

with Quentin Tarantino’s Once

Upon a Time in Hollywood, the

only original summer tentpole

to cross $100 million domesti-

cally and north of

$250 million glob-

ally. Even Hollywood

played younger than

expected, drawing

much of its strength

from the 18-to-34 set. Exceptions

were Rocketman and Yesterd ay,

which were among the few titles

that worked with older consumers

(20 percent of Rocketman’s op en-

ing-weekend audience was 55

and older, and 13 percent for

Yesterd ay). Notes Warners presi-

dent of domestic distribution Jeff

Goldstein: “Some of the movies

just didn’t stack up. And there’s

a big gap right now between the

haves and have-nots.”

Ta ff

2

3

8

9

10

11

16

17

15

Rank Title STUDIO Releasedate

Spider-Man: Far From Home* SONY July 2

4 Toy Story 4* DISNEY^ June 21

7 Ne Zha WELL GO USA^ Aug. 29

The Secret Life of Pets 2 UNIVERSAL June 7

John Wick: Chapter 3 LIONSGATE/SUMMIT May 17

Annabelle Come Home WARNERS/NEW LINE June 26

Ye sterday UNIVERSAL June 28

The Lion King* DISNEY July 19

5 Aladdin DISNEY^ May 24

6 Hobbs & Shaw* UNIVERSAL^ Aug. 2

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu WARNER BROS. May 10

Godzilla: King of the Monsters WARNER BROS. May 31

12 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood* SONY^ July 26

Rocketman PAR AMOUNT May 31

19 The Hustle UNITED ARTISTS RELEASING^ May 10

18 Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark* CBS FILMS^ Aug. 9

1

The Chinese

movie is

one of

the biggest

success

stories

in anima-

tion history

(and a

huge sur-

prise). It’s

now the

No. 2 film

of all time

in China,

where it

has earned

north of

$664M.

(It’s started

playing

in other

countries

as well.)

Avengers: Endgame DISNEY April 26

DEMO DETAILS Gen Z and Millennials to the Rescue

The Hot and the Not

THE ROCK

Dwayne Johnson is

back. Hobbs & Shaw has

redeemed the actor after

Rampage and Skyscraper

underwhelmed. The Fast

& Furious spinoff has been

a sleek machine overseas

($529 million and counting).

KEANU REEVES

Few could have predicted

that the third outing in the

John Wick series would

see the biggest uptick

of any summer franchise

installment. It adds even

more momentum to

Warners’ Matrix sequel.

LULU WANG

Her Sundance dramedy

The Farewell, starring

Awkwafina, was the biggest

specialty hit of summer

($16 million). It was a win

for distributor A24, home of

Midsommar and The Last

Black Man in San Francisco.

W

IN

NE

RS

LO

SE

RS

MELISSA MCCARTHY/

TIFFANY HADDISH

The Kitchen marked the

worst wide opening of either

actress’ career ($5.5 million)

and is sure to lose millions

in what was a lousy

summer for Warners and

female-fronted pics.

SHARKS

In summer 2017 and 2018,

movies about the ocean

predators took a sharp bite

(The Meg, 47 Meters Down).

Sequel 47 Meters Down:

Uncaged is swimming

42 percent behind the first

title in the new franchise.

JOHN TRAVOLTA

The actor suffered a career

low when The Fanatic — in

which he plays a crazed

celebrity stalker — opened

to less than $15,000 from

52 theaters over Labor Day

weekend. It’s the fourth

straight bomb for the actor.

↑37%

↑28%

↓2%

↓54% 14 Dark Phoenix FOX^ June 7

↓52%

↓27%

↑88%

↓43% 13 Men in Black: International SONY^ June 14

↓27%

↓73% 20 The Angry Birds Movie 2* SONY^ Aug. 13

FRANCHISE

REPORT CARD

Is there real fatigue or

just a bad crop of

movies this summer?

Of the 10 (proper)

franchise installments

making the top 20

chart, a mere three

earned more than

their predecessors.

The Elton

John biopic

was a

solid swing,

but it paled

in com-

parison to

Bohemian

Rhapsody

($904M).

In hind-

sight, it

might have

been wise

to put some

distance

between

the two,

but it would

have been

tough for

Paramount

to change

course.

The Lion King Aladdin Toy Story 4 Booksmart

< 17

15%

18-

40%

25-

27%

35-

8%

> 55

45-54 5%

6%

18-

37%

25-

27%

35-

8%

45-

4% < 1718%

> 55

5%

18-

37%

< 17

24%

25-

24%

35-

7%

45-

4%

> 55

4%

18-

36%

< 17

5%

25-

37%

35-

12%

45-

5%

> 55

5%