The sequel to 'Mamma Mia & # 39; in the lead for an opening of $ 41 million – Variety

"Mom Mia! Here We Go Again" is heading for an impressive opening weekend of $ 417 million on 3,317 sites in North America, according to first estimates Friday

"The Equalizer 2 "Denzel Washington is expected to finish second with $ 33 million at 3,388 sites, followed by the second weekend of" Transylvania Hotel 3: Summer Vacation "with about $ 23 million. The opening of the horror sequel "Unfriended: Dark Web" will begin with a moderate take of about 4 million dollars on 1,549 rooms.

The weekend is a rare example of three sequels opening wide-screen at the same time. The only other event occurred from December 16 to 18, 2011, with the launches of "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol", "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked." [19659004] Universal "Mamma Mia!" Here We Go Again "was rolled out Thursday night with $ 3.4 million in preview from 7 pm." The Equalizer 2 "from Sony was launched with 3 , $ 1 million in previews premiered at 4:00 pm Thursday.

Universal's sequel to her musical "Mamma Mia!" From 2008 had followed for a three-day count between 30 and $ 36 million.The predecessor – based on the long London musical on Abba songs – opened with $ 27 million the same weekend ten years ago and $ 145 million in the country and $ 615 million worldwide for a budget of $ 52 million.

In relationship

"Mom Mia! Here We Go Again" is both a sequel and a prequel, highlighted again by the songs of Abba. Most of the original actors – Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard, Colin Firth, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters and Dominic Cooper – take over their roles with Cher and Lily James joining the sequel. Ol Parker made from his own script. Critics were enthusiastic with a score of 77% on Rotten Tomatoes.

"The Equalizer 2" was planned for a launch in the range of $ 27 to $ 32 million with studio tips at the lower end. Washington resumes its role of CIA retired agent Robert McCall in the first aftermath of Washington's career. Antoine Fuqua takes over the management of Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Melissa Leo and Bill Pullman. McCall tries to avenge the murder of Leo's character while he masterfully succeeds in fending off a string of badbadins

If estimates hold, "Equalizer 2" will have a slightly opening weekend lower than the first film launched in 2014 with $ 35 million and generated $ 192 million worldwide, including 101 million in North America. Critical reception for "Equalizer 2" was mixed with a 49% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Sony's second weekend "Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation" is expected to lead the rest of the pack in third, followed by the third weekend. "Ant-Man and the Wasp" from Disney-Marvel to about $ 15 million. The second image of "Skyscraper" Dwayne Johnson will be measured at the sixth weekend of the "Indestructible 2" Disney-PIxar for fifth place with about 10 million dollars each. "Incredibles 2" earned $ 543 million nationally on July 18 and is the ninth largest North American of all time

The fifth weekend of "Jurbadic World: Fallen Kingdom" is will finish in the seventh row, making it the 37th film with $ 380 million in domestic revenue. The third weekend of Universal "The First Purge" and "Unfriended: Dark Web" of BH Tilt will fight for the eighth place with about 4 million dollars each.

"Unfriended: Dark" is an underperformance of the forecasts Between 6 and 8 million dollars, it is 1,549 sites this weekend. Blumhouse's original film, "Unfriended", opened to double that number in 2014 with $ 15.8 million en route to a national total of $ 32.5 million.

"Dark Web" follows a group of friends – Colin Woodell, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Betty Gabriel and Andrew Lees – who discover a laptop with disturbing files. Critics were mixed with a 56% rating on Rotten Tomatoes

The national box office jumped in the second quarter, thanks to "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Incredibles 2." As of July 18, the total for 2018 is up 7.9% to $ 6.89 billion, according to comScore. Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible – Fallout", the sixth film in the franchise, will begin next weekend in the middle of the 50-65 million dollar period.