Tom Cruise and "The Mummy" comfortably headed the Chinese box office with a $52 million opening. In an era where the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Comics Extended Universe is already up and running, Universal needed a huge start to get Dark Universe off the ground.
With that, Dark Universe was born: a franchise in which the classic monsters of cinema's past - Frankenstein, Dracula, The Invisible Man, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Wolf Man - would all be brought back to the screen in a modern setting.
Despite flopping in the United States, "The Mummy" managed to break a local record for highest opening day ticket sales when it opened on June 6. And domestically, "Wonder Woman" ($202 million) is the year's fifth-biggest film - with "Fate of the Furious" ($224.5 million) and "Logan" ($226.2 million) next in its sights. In the end, it seems there is an audience for the film, just not in America.
Because studios ultimately generate the most profits from ticket sales in the USA and other Western nations, though, "The Mummy" may not be as profitable as films that perform better domestically. While the critical reaction to the Joel Edgerton film was strong (86% on RT), audience reaction was very negative with a lowly D CinemaScore. It is still scheduled to open in a number of territories in the next few days so numbers are expected to go up albeit not significantly. Suicide Squad came in even worse at a $43 million gross and a 67% drop.
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EOne's A Dog's objective hasn't lost its bite, snaring $220,000 in its sixth lap on 104, virtually unchanged from last week, to reach $4.5 million. Things are still looking on par for a final gross of $75 million or so in the US.
Everything, Everything closed out the top ten with $1.6 million, down 51%. The budget was $10 million and marketing was low thanks to a focus on digital spending.
Looking ahead to next weekend, four new movies open in wide release, such as Disney Pixar's animated sequel Cars 3, Open Road Films' Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez On Me, Sony Pictures' R-rated comedy Rough Night and Entertainment Studios' 47 Meters Down.
The other notable debuts included the critically acclaimed A24 horror feature "It Comes at Night", which crept up to a $6 million first weekend for director Trey Edward Shults. Where available, the latest global numbers also are included.
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