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World Box Office Update: After two weeks, Guardians at $250 million domestically

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King Arthur couldn’t draw the sword from the stone and Snatched grabbed its share of the Mother’s Day pie, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 hung on to the top prize once again.

Disney and Marvel’s GOTG2 closed its second weekend at the domestic box office with $65 million, to reach a domestic cume just short of a quarter-billion dollars. International sales were good for $52.2 million and this took the combined global figure to $630.6 million. Japan was its biggest new market at $3 million, already 37% ahead of the first Guardians’ opening number. Number one overseas market China reached $80.5 million while its second largest foreign territory, the UK, finished at $42.5 million. Russia is next on $23.1 million, followed closely by Germany at $23 million.

Another deep space adventure, Fox’s Ridley Scott directed Alien: Covenant, landed in 34 overseas markets with $43.8 million. This follow up to 2012’s Alien series origin film Prometheus sees the crew and passengers of long range colony ship Covenant have their mission rudely interrupted by the familiar long headed monsters that have awed and terrified throughout the series 28 year run.

Michael Fassbender returns as both the android David from Prometheus and an upgraded version of the robot, this time called Walter, who is once again on board to monitor the ship and crew’s functioning. The ship picks up a distress signal that turns out to be from the ship piloted by Noomi Rapace’s character Elizabeth Shaw at the end of the previous film. It’s infested with aliens, and a peaceful terraforming mission quickly turns into a desperate fight for survival.

Series newcomer James Franco plays the captain of the ship Covenant and is joined by Katherine Waterston as his wife and the mission’s lead scientist. Danny McBride plays the ship’s pilot and Billy Crudup appears as his first mate. Alien: Covenant lands in the US on Friday.

Back on earth, and in North America in particular, Fox’s Amy Schumer comedy Snatched took second place with $19.4 million. The mother-daughter bonding movie enjoyed a 25% boost from its Saturday figures for a big $8.05 pull on Sunday, Mother’s Day, when it’s subject matter was a targeted perfect fit. Schumer stars as a neurotic thirty-something on vacation with her mom Linda, played by Goldie Hawn in her first film role since 2002.

Their retreat is awkward but not unpleasant until Schumer’s character meets a seductive kidnapper played by Tom Bateman and the pair is forced to work out their differences while escaping captivity. It made $3.2 million from 9 foreign markets, of which $2.6 million was in Australia.

The biggest loser in this tightly guarded pre-summer holiday market was Warner Bros.’ AAA budgeted King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. This Guy Ritchie directed sword and buckler epic made just $14.7 million in the US and $29.1 million from 51 foreign markets. With a reported budget of $175 million before P&A, it’s looking like the studio could take up to a $150 million hit on this one. Alien: Covenant’s stateside landing next week will likely be the nail in the coffin but Warner Bros.’ will look to recover most of that loss with Wonder Woman, that goes global on June 1.

Next week’s other major US launches are Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, the fourth entry in this reliable teen series, and the young adult drama Everything, Everything.

Courtesy HFPA

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