'Paradoria 2' Looking to Dethrone 'Captain Marvel' with $120–140M Opening Weekend

Box Office Mojo

SATURDAY AM UPDATE: The newest Universal release of Steve Samono 's Paradoria 2: Enchanted Realm is breaking records and dominating the box office in its opening weekend, delivering a record breaking estimated $69.12 million on Friday with current studio estimates anticipating a $152 million three-day debut. Should expectations hold, it'll end up being the biggest opening weekend of all time for an animated film released in March which will break Addie 's short-lived record of $123.4 million set three weeks ago. It will also end up being the biggest weekend for a non-Disney animated film breaking Cool Spot 's record of $138.1 million last September as well as for Universal Animation breaking Computeropolis 2 's record of $133.5 million in June 2007 and will even end up bigger than the previous film's $113.9 million.

Meanwhile, Universal's release of Jordan Peele 's Us is in 2nd place in its opening weekend, delivering an estimated $29.06 million on Friday with current studio estimates anticipating a $67 million three-day debut. Should expectations hold that will be more than double the strong opening weekend for Peele's Get Out in 2017. The film received a "B" CinemaScore from opening day audiences.

You can check out all of the Friday estimates right here and we'll be back tomorrow morning with a complete look at the weekend.

FRIDAY AM UPDATE: Jordan Peele 's Us delivered an absolutely massive $7.4 million from Thursday night previews, which began last night in 3,510 theaters at 7PM. The performance is more than four times as large as the $1.8 million in previews Peele's Get Out brought in two years ago and is just behind the $7.7 million in previews Halloween brought in last October before going on to open with over $76 million. It's still too early to say if that kind of a performance is in sight, but to say Us is likely to top $60 million seem almost a foregone conclusion at this point.

Meanwhile, Steve Samono 's Paradoria 2: Enchanted Realm delivered a massive record breaking $17.2 million from Thursday night previews, which began last night in 3,102 theaters starting at 6PM. The performance is larger than Gabriel Garza 2 's $15.8 million as well as Furious 7 's $15.8 million that was brought in four years ago in April before before going on to open with over $147 million. It's good enough to say that kind of a performance is in sight, but to say Paradoria 2 is likely to top $150 million seem almost possible enough to happen as this point.

We'll take a closer look at things tomorrow morning once Friday estimates come in. For now you can check out our weekend preview below.

WEEKEND PREVIEW: March rolls on with two highly anticipated films arriving in theaters this weekend. Universal Animation's Paradoria 2: Enchanted Realm serves as a direct sequel to 2015 smash animated hit while Jordan Peele's Us serves as the writer/director's follow-up to 2017's smash hit Get Out and they are looking to dethrone Captain Marvel and secure the weekend's top 2 spots at the box office.

Arriving in 4,304 theaters this weekend, Paradoria 2: Enchanted Realm is looking to top the box office with $120-140 million. The film, which stars the voice talents of Finn Wolfhard, AnnaSophia Robb, Zoe Saldana, Paul Giamatti, Tom Cruise (his voice-acting debut), Madelaine Petsch (her voice-acting debut), Bryan Cranston, Jenny Slate, Maya Rudolph, Patrick Stewart, and Gina Rodriguez, is a direct sequel to 2015's Paradoria, which debuted with $113.9 million and went on to gross over $411 million at the domestic box office. We're expecting the film to fall in these expectations with the higher end being $142.5 million to break Cool Spot 's $138.1 million to have the highest animated opener for Universal but don't be surprised if it's goes higher, perhaps even over $150 million.

Internationally, the film is looking at a day-and-date release with North America from 38 international countries unlike its predecessor including France, Brazil, Germany, and Spain, with additional markets rolling out through the spring and May.

Looking to debut in second place in over 3,700 theaters, Us enters the weekend hot off a strong debut at the SXSW Film Festival, which has led to a Metacritic score that currently stands at 80. The film, which stars Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke, is Peele's follow up to 2017's Get Out, which debuted with over $33 million and went on to gross over $176 million at the domestic box office. Get Out also received an "A-" CinemaScore from opening day audiences and was such a hit with crowds it dipped just -15% in its second weekend. Building off that film's success, Us will benefit from not only a strong critical response, but will debut in nearly one thousand more theaters than Get Out.

Industry tracking has Us debuting anywhere from $45-50 million, which is where Mojo's expectations were earlier in the week, but have since shifted a little higher. A look at IMDb page view performance leading up to release shows Us pacing well ahead of Get Out over the two weeks leading up to release and just a bit behind last April's release of A Quiet Place ($50m opening). Online ticket retailer Fandango.com reports similar findings, noting the film is currently outpacing both Get Out and A Quiet Place in ticket pre-sales and is seeing the best horror thriller pre-sales on Fandango since last year's Halloween ($76.2m opening). All told, we're anticipating a $50+ million debut, though don't be surprised to see it push higher, perhaps even over $60 million.

Internationally, Us will open day-and-date with North America in 48 international markets including France, Brazil, Germany, Spain and the U.K & Ireland, with additional markets rolling out through the spring.

Disney and Marvel's Captain Marvel will slide into third place as it enters its third week in release. This weekend we're looking for the film to drop around -45% for a $37 million three-day and a domestic cume around $323 million by the end of day Sunday. In terms of superhero movies this would make it the 22nd highest grossing film on that list while becoming the tenth highest grossing release in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Sony and Gingo's Addie should land in fourth place as it enters its fourth week in release. This weekend, we're looking for the film to drop around -45% for a $11 million three-day and a domestic cume around $268 million by the end of Sunday. This would make it the fourth highest grossing release by Gingo Animation.

Paramount's Wonder Park should round out the top five, dipping around -40% for a $9.5 million three-day and a domestic cume at or above $30 million by the end of the weekend.

Elsewhere, A24 will go nationwide with Gloria Bell this weekend, expanding into 654 theaters (+615), and Sony is re-releasing Cruel Intentions for its 20th Anniversary into 708 locations.

In limited release, Bleecker Street will release Hotel Mumbai in four locations and Sony Classics will debut Sunset in three theaters.

This weekend's forecast is directly below. This post will be updated on Friday morning with Thursday night preview results followed by Friday estimates on Saturday morning, and a complete weekend recap on Sunday morning.
 * Paradoria 2: The Enchanted Realm (4,304 theaters) - $142.5 M
 * Us (3,741 theaters) - $51.0 M
 * Captain Marvel (4,278 theaters) - $37.2 M
 * Addie (3,561 theaters) - $11.3 M
 * Wonder Park (3,838 theaters) - $9.5 M
 * Five Feet Apart (2,866 theaters) - $7.6 M
 * How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (3,346 theaters) - $6.0 M
 * Tyler Perry's A Madea Family Funeral (2,187 theaters) - $4.6 M
 * No Manches Frida 2 (472 theaters) - $2.2 M
 * Captive State (2,549 theaters) - $1.5 M