South Africa’s box office: Pirates hook SA

Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge (or Dead Men Tell No Tales) has come in first this weekend, ousting Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 from its three week reign at the top. The fifth in the franchise has managed to pull in only 31% on Rotten Tomatoes, and should relish the spot while it can: Wonder Woman (review), premiering this Friday, is looking set to be a box office favourite. But how did the other films fare this weekend? (26 – 28 May)

Fast and Furious 8 has been pushed down to third place, but is unperturbed as the highest life to date grosser, bringing in R 70 991 870 nationally — enough to buy around nine new Lamborghinis for F9. The film has been a box office hit globally, pulling in over US$1.2 billion on a production budget of US$250-million.

Also only being shifted down one spot is King Arthur over at number four. Unlike F8, King Arthur has been struggling to bring in its budget — the US$175-million film has so far only brought in US$120-million globally.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge was this weekend’s biggest movie in South Africa, according to Ster Kinekor

The biggest fall of the week, though, goes to Alien: Covenant, which fell hard from fourth to seventh. It somehow couldn’t even follow the pattern of being pushed down one spot by Pirates, as Beauty and the Beast (review) and Ozzy both stood strong in their coveted spots.

Ozzy, the animated film about the injustice of the prison system through the eyes of a dog (probably), is still in sixth as one of only two animated children’s movies in the top ten. Beauty and the Beast is still in fifth as it enters its sixth week on the list.

The second biggest fall of the week, then, is shared by Boss Baby and The Shack — falling two places to ninth and tenth respectively. But, hey, at least they weren’t Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul that saw it debut at ninth last week, then disappear from the chart completely.

Here are ten most-watched movies in SA this past weekend:

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge (Incl. 3D, IMAX & 4DX)
2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Incl. 3D, Imax & 4DX)
3. Fast and Furious 8 (Incl. Imax & 4DX)
4. King Arthur (Incl. 3D)
5. Beauty and the Beast (Incl. 3D, Imax & 4DX)
6. Ozzy
7. Alien: Covenant (Incl. IMAX)
8. Unforgettable
   
9. Boss Baby (incl. 3D)
10. The Shack

All stats were provided by Ster Kinekor Entertainment.