Here’s an update on THE DICTATOR, opening today. It started the day reasonably well but growth has been slow throughout the matinees. It being an R-rated comedy (and today being a non-summer Wednesday) means that most of their business should be tonight, but it’s tough to figure how much since this is literally the first R-rated comedy in over a decade to open on a non-summer Wednesday. Right now the range for the day looks like $3.5-5.5 million. How to extrapolate a 5-day estimated gross from that is another largely open question, but it should be somewhere in the high teens/low 20s with upside to go higher if the reviews/WOM carry it.
We will circulate their final Wednesday gross in the morning. As for the updates on WHAT TO EXPECT and BATTLESHIP (and all others), the first one will be at about noon on Friday and we will send regular updates throughout the weekend.
Forecast (May 18-20):
1. The Avengers - $53.2 million (-48%)
2. Battleship - $38.7 million
3. What to Expect - $21.9 million
4. The Dictator - $17.5 million ($24.5 million five-day)
5. Dark Shadows - $14.6 million (-51%)