No, don’t get your hopes up, yea who actually helped boost Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland to a billion dollar monstrosity. The sequel is here and it’s not crushing all beneath its Jabberwocky feet. Debuting in third place, Alice Through the Looking Glass is set for somewhere between a so-so run and a quick downward spiral.
Or maybe I’m just biased. I really dislike the first movie and, according to reviews, this one makes the first look like Oscar bait. So, schadenfreude for everyone!
But the real news is the surprising and heavy tumbles of Captain America and The Jungle Book. Both dropped a massive five spots, going from sitting tidy for the long run to likely out of the charts within the next two weekends. The Captain may be floundering because he’s been near the top for a while and maybe some cinemas reduced the number of screenings. Mowgli and co’s sudden drop is far more unexpected, suggesting that local audiences aren’t as enamoured with it as other markets have been.
Meanwhile the dubious duo of X-Men: Apocalypse and Angry Birds stayed put at the top. A nod also to The Perfect Match, again proving that movies with strong black casts appeal to South African audiences. I’m curious to see if Bastille Day, starring Idris Alba, will enjoy success locally. A 5th place debut is not great, but not bad for an action thriller. Those usually chart lower.
Also new to the party are The Boss, the much-maligned Melissa McCarthy comedy arriving long after its showtime in other markets. It’s really 50/50 if it works – South Africans like raunchy comedies, but usually not ones with female leads.
- 01. X-MEN: APOCALYPSE (Incl 3D, Imax & 4DX) (LW: 1)
- 02. ANGRY BIRDS (Incl 3D) (LW: 2)
- 03. ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (NE)
- 04. THE BOSS (NE)
- 05. BASTILLE DAY (NE)
- 06. THE PERFECT MATCH (LW: 6)
- 07. BAD NEIGHBOURS 2 (LW: 5)
- 08. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (Incl 3D, Imax & 4DX) (LW: 3)
- 09. THE JUNGLE BOOK (Incl 3D, Imax & 4DX) (LW: 4)
- 10. MOTHER’S DAY (LW: 7)
(LW = Last Week; NE = New Entry)
Last Updated: June 1, 2016
