There are plenty of options for moviegoers in theaters this weekend, with Disney's live-action Moana and Evil Dead Burn set to attract vastly different audiences.
Following Thursday and Friday's showings, audiences have awarded them a CinemaScore. Moana has an A-, which, without context, is pretty good. However, almost all of Disney's live-action movies have been graded A, meaning Moana sits above only the B+-graded Haunted Mansion and Snow White movies.
Evil Dead Burn has a B, which isn't a good score, but is typically considered fine for a horror movie. Either way, it has the same score as 2023's Evil Dead Rise, which most fans consider one of the franchise's better entries.
CinemaScore is a market research firm that surveys audience reactions to newly released movies. After attending opening-night screenings, moviegoers rate films on an A+ to F scale, providing insights into audience satisfaction. Widely used in the film industry, CinemaScore helps gauge the initial reception of movies and influences box office predictions based on audience feedback.
What does all this mean for box office takings? Well, Moana is already sinking, with opening weekend projections plummeting to between $40 million and $45 million. The hope had been that it would debut with $60+ million, but Moana is currently performing as poorly as Snow White in 2024 ($42.2 million).
As Deadline explains, "At $40M-$45M stateside and sporting a $250M production cost before a hundred million more or so in P&A, not even a prayer to Maui himself will save this film, unless families decide to take the time to do so Saturday. But no rival studio is seeing anything even near a $50M 3-day."
Minions & Monsters will take second place with a better-than-expected -46% hold at $20 million, while Toy Story is eyeing $18 million from its fourth weekend. Evil Dead Burn takes fifth with $15 million, which is a solid result, given that it only cost $20 million to produce. Still, it's going to need legs in the weeks ahead.
The trades aren't currently reporting on Supergirl's numbers, but it has lost 1000 screens during week three and will debut on Digital platforms on July 28. That means Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Studios have given up on it.
What are you heading to theaters to watch this weekend?