The summer seems to have taken a turn for the more "relaxed" as, for what feels like the third straight weekend in a row, the supposed "big" release of the week has come in below expectations. In the tradition of Godzilla and Dark Phoenix, MIB: International went into the weekend with Sony projecting a modest $30 million return and that is right where it landed hitting just over the mark with $30,035,838 in weekend actuals. This is the lowest opening in the franchise by over $20 million as all three previous installments opened over $51 million. Luckily, Sony budgeted responsibly with the $110 million production as International fared better...well, internationally. With $73.7 million from thirty-six markets, the film had a global debut just over $102 million and with a few weeks worth of breathing room as far as target demo is concerned Sony should simply hope they recoup the marketing budget in the next two weeks and then hand this one over to the cable/satellite companies to replay until they convince us we really missed out on something with this one. Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 4 opens this week and only another Annabelle and Danny Boyle film open next week, so it's possible. Of course, Toy Story 4 is set to invade 4,500+ theaters this weekend which will undoubtedly cut down on the some 4,200 screens MIB opened on last week. The other major new release of the week, 2019's Shaft, starring Richard Roundtree, Samuel L. Jackson, and third generation Shaft, Jessie T. Usher, finished outside the top five. Warner Bros. was expecting the film to debut around the $15 million mark, but was only able to muster $8.9 million from its 2,952 locations. While the budget is unknown on this one I kind of doubt we'll be seeing another Shaft feature any time soon. Both Late Night, Amazon Studios big purchase out of Sundance this year, and Jim Jarmusch's zombie comedy The Dead Don't Die expanded this past weekend as well with the former coming in at number nine with $5.1 million and $8.2 million overall-not great given Amazon paid $13 million for it out of the festival-while the latter opened outside the top ten and will, by default, be Jarmusch's biggest film to date as The Dead Don't Die has now earned $6.3 million worldwide on a budget that can't have been much more than that if that much at all. As always, be sure to follow the official Initial Reaction YouTube channel as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter where you can find a new review (or reviews) each week!
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