LOS ANGELES -- Two aquatic tales -- one geared for families, the other for scare-seeking teens and adults -- helped to buoy the weekend box office, with Disney/Pixar's Finding Dory retaining the No. 1 spot and the shark-attack thriller The Shallows exceeding expectations in its first weekend to come in fourth.
Finding Dory was expected to finish the weekend with an estimated $73 million, bringing its domestic haul to $286.3 million after two weekends on screens. The animated sequel to Finding Nemo has so far brought in $396.9 million worldwide.
Independence Day: Resurgence finished its first weekend with about $41 million, near the low end of estimates. Fox's sequel to its 1996 sci-fi blockbuster cost an estimated $165 million to make and faced largely negative reviews.
The original Independence Day earned about $50.2 million domestically on its opening weekend.
Reaching for sleeper status, The Shallows brought in an estimated $16.8 million on its opening weekend, beating industry expectations by about twofold.
The thriller, released by Columbia Pictures, stars Blake Lively as a surfer who comes under attack by sharks. It cost $17 million to make, according to Sony.
"It was crafted creatively to be done on a modest budget, but yet [they] put out a story that was going to grab audiences. It had a tremendous amount of social media outreach," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at Sony Pictures.
The weekend's remaining new general release was the Civil War drama Free State of Jones, starring Matthew McConaughey. The STX release grossed $7.6 million to finish in fifth place.
Central Intelligence, starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, continued to do strong business, coming in third on its second weekend, with an estimated $18.2 million. The Warner Bros. comedy has so far grossed $69.2 million domestically.
The Conjuring 2 earned about $7.7 million to finish in fifth place with a total of $86.9 million. Now You See Me 2 brought in an additional $5.6 million to bring its total to $52 million.
In its fifth weekend, X-Men: Apocalypse earned an estimated $2.5 million, to bring its domestic total to $151.1 million.
Rounding out the top 10 were Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows with about $2.5 million and Warcraft with $2.2 million.
In limited release, The Neon Demon got muted audience interest, earning $589,014 for its opening weekend for a per-theater average of $752, according to data provided by comScore.
The Nicolas Winding Refn gorefest set in the world of Los Angeles fashion opened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival this year to divided reviews and was acquired by Amazon, which partnered with Broad Green Pictures for its domestic release.
A favorite at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Swiss Army Man, earned about $114,000 in its opening limited release on three screens for a per-theater average of $38,000.
The unconventional buddy picture stars Paul Dano as a suicidal young man who encounters a flatulent corpse, played by Daniel Radcliffe.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by comScore:
- Finding Dory, Disney, $72,959,954, 4,305 locations, $16,948 average, $286,277,856, two weeks.
- Independence Day: Resurgence, 20th Century Fox, $41,039,944, 4,068 locations, $10,088 average, $41,039,944, one week.
- Central Intelligence, Warner Bros., $18,241,416, 3,508 locations, $5,200 average, $69,173,874, two weeks.
- The Shallows, Sony, $16,800,868, 2,962 locations, $5,672 average, $16,800,868, one week.
- The Conjuring 2, Warner Bros., $7,702,194, 3,033 locations, $2,539 average, $86,903,628, three weeks.
- Free State of Jones, STX Entertainment, $7,572,206, 2,815 locations, $2,690 average, $7,572,206, one week.
- Now You See Me 2, Lionsgate, $5,593,399, 2,745 locations, $2,038 average, $51,997,613, three weeks.
- X-Men: Apocalypse, 20th Century Fox, $2,489,881, 1,679 locations, $1,483 average, $151,141,872, five weeks.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Paramount, $2,464,351, 1,947 locations, $1,266 average, $77,181,906, four weeks.
- Warcraft, Universal, $2,247,420, 1,952 locations, $1,151 average, $44,003,890, three weeks.
- Me Before You, Warner Bros., $1,937,092, 1,538 locations, $1,259 average, $51,239,843, four weeks.
- Alice Through the Looking Glass, Disney, $1,852,805, 495 locations, $3,743 average, $74,279,668, five weeks.
- Captain America: Civil War, Disney, $1,368,558, 753 locations, $1,817 average, $403,857,288, eight weeks.
- The Jungle Book, Disney, $1,257,732, 478 locations, $2,631 average, $358,041,523, 11 weeks.
- The Neon Demon, Broad Green Pictures, $589,014, 783 locations, $752 average, $589,014, one week.
- Love & Friendship, Roadside Attractions, $468,809, 281 locations, $1,668 average, $11,864,703, seven weeks.
- The Angry Birds Movie, Sony, $454,961, 443 locations, $1,027 average, $104,934,754, six weeks.
- The Lobster, A24, $403,662, 210 locations, $1,922 average, $7,381,526, seven weeks.
- The Nice Guys, Warner Bros., $400,341, 291 locations, $1,376 average, $34,986,172, six weeks.
- Maggie's Plan, Sony Pictures Classics, $273,940, 203 locations, $1,349 average, $2,257,796, six weeks.
MovieStyle on 07/01/2016