Sony’s animated family film The Angry Birds Movie 2 took flight at the crowded North American box office Tuesday with a subdued $2.6 million.
From Sony and Rovio Entertainment, the big-screen adaptation of the mobile-phone game — a craze when it first hit the scene — opted to open midweek in hopes of luring families during the last gasp of summer. At the same time, kids are already returning to school. Comscore reports that by Friday, 56 percent of first to 12th graders will have returned to the classroom.
Facing plenty of competition, Angry Birds 2 opened in fifth place Tuesday behind Hobbs & Shaw ($4.3 million), The Lion King ($4.2 million), Dora and the Lost City of Gold ($3.3 million) and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark ($3.2 million).
Judging by Tuesday’s performance, Angry Birds 2 is headed for a six-day debut of $17 million-plus. That’s notably less than the $38.2 million opening of Angry Birds over the May 20-22 weekend in 2016, not adjusted for inflation. At the same time, the numbers could shift in the days ahead, not to mention that Sony is counting on a long run into September.
Angry Birds 2‘s starry voice cast sees Jason Sudeikis, Maya Rudolph, Josh Gad, Bill Hader, Danny McBride and Peter Dinklage reprise their roles from the film. Newcomers to the franchise include Nicki Minaj, Awkwafina, Sterling K. Brown, Rachel Bloom and Eugenio Derbez. (In a cute piece of casting, the children of Nicole Kidman, Viola Davis and Gal Gadot also have minor speaking roles as the hatchling chicks.)
The story follows the flightless birds and the scheming green piggies as they form an unlikely truce in order to battle a new threat endangering their respective islands.
Angry Birds 2 is helmed by Mark “Thurop” Van Orman in his feature directorial debut. He’s best known as creator-star of the Emmy-winning Cartoon Network hit show The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.
The family film is hardly the only new movie hitting theaters this week. Opening everywhere Friday are New Line’s Bruce Springsteen-inspired Blinded by the Light, Universal’s R-rated comedy Good Boys, Entertainment Studio’s sequel 47 Meters Down: Uncaged and Annapurna’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette?
All of the new entries face competition from a strong gaggle of holdovers, including Hobbs & Shaw, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Lion King.
