'Independence Day' box office points to biggest bust of the summer
It might be a little early in the summer to point to a "worst" box office performance, but Independence Day: Resurgence is definitely looking like a bust.
The Roland Emmerich-directed sequel to the 1996 blockbuster Independence Day drew in an estimated $41.6 million in its opening weekend. That's good enough for second place, but not a positive sign for the weeks ahead.
The numbers look worse outside of the United States.
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Independence Day opened in multiple overseas markets -- including China, which is typically very Hollywood-friendly -- but it's not planting the landing with foreign audiences, either. Official numbers aren't in yet, but with an estimated $28 million, it's looking like a number two finish in China behind Now You See Me 2.
For the sake of comparison, consider Warcraft. Universal's video game adaptation is roughly even with Resurgence in critical reception -- 33% to 30% -- on RottenTomatoes. Both movies also opened at roughly equivalent domestic numbers: $41.6 million for Resurgence versus $43.9 million for Warcraft.
Yet Warcraft was a smash hit overseas, with almost $340 million in foreign ticket sales during its opening sprint. China alone accounted for $145 million of that figure in a four-day period. Resurgence just doesn't seem to have the same juice.
It wasn't even a close race on the domestic front. Disney Pixar's Finding Dory once again swam into first place with an estimated second weekend take of $73.2 million.
The movie opened last week with a record-setting $135.1 million at the domestic box office, which means it shed just 46% of its opening sales in its second weekend.
It's a commendable feat given that most movies lose 50-60% during the same stretch of time. That suggests interest in Dory is only growing and that the movie is attracting repeat business.
The rest of the weekend's top five favors newer releases. The Kevin Hart/Dwayne Johnson buddy comedy Central Intelligence, released last week, slots in at number three with an estimated $18.4 million.
Two newcomers then fill out the four and five slots: Blake Lively shark thriller The Shallows ($16.7 million) and Civil War slave drama Free State of Jones ($7.8 million), respectively.
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Topics Film
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
