Disney's 'Dumbo' Flies Off With Weekend Box Office, But Not Quite As High As Expected

"Dumbo" didn’t fly quite as high as expected, but the big-eared elephant still managed to give Walt Disney Co. DIS the biggest grossing film of the weekend as the new release beat out holdovers "Us" and "Captain Marvel."

MKM Parntners Analyst Eric Handler noted "Dumbo’s" $45 million domestic gross was short of MKM’s $55 million forecast, but said the overall box office gross for all films for the weekend modestly beat the firm’s projection, with a $128 million weekend gross coming in 11 percent higher than the same weekend last year. The $45 million gross was also just short of the studio’s $50 million expectation.

The box office gross finished the first quarter of 2019 down 16.3 percent, however, though that was expected by most analysts. MKM expects the industry to rebound in the second quarter, with projected revenue of $3.45 billion, up 3 percent year over year, with several potential blockbusters on tap.

'Us,' 'Captain Marvel' Still Bringing Viewers

"Us," from Comcast Corporation CMCSA’s Universal, saw its box office drop by more than 50 percent in its second weekend in theaters, but still was second to "Dumbo" with a $33.6 million gross. Disney’s "Captain Marvel" was third in its fourth weekend in theaters, which brought in $20.5 million.

"Dumbo," a live-action remake of the 1941 animated film, grossed more than $70 million internationally over the weekend, with No. 1 flights in France, Italy, Russia, the UK and Mexico, among other markets. It also was the top western film in China, where it grossed $10.7 million over the weekend.

With the overall $116 million global debut, "Dumbo" is the second-best opening for a Hollywood title so far this year, behind "Captain Marvel."

Disney shares traded around $111.80 Monday morning.

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Photo courtesy of Disney.