Weekend Box Office Post Mortem : Legend of Tarzan Upgraded (Again) From $20.6M to $21.0M

Word of mouth continues to propel Legend of Tarzan to “better than estimates” outcomes — this time with the film’s weekend total upgraded from 20.6 to 21.0 after the actuals came in.  If we roll the tape back to Friday, the projections were $15 going into the weekend, $15-18 after Friday, then $20.1 on Sunday morning, $20.6 on Sunday night, and now $21.0 when all the actuals are in.  All of this is a good sign that word of mouth, embodied in the A- Cinemascore, continues to be strong.  There is also strong anecdotal evidence of repeat viewings.

Based on the two weekends, we now have enough datapoints to make a fairly solid projection that would have a floor of $120M, and a ceiling of $150M.

With domestic settling in and becoming relatively known — the focus will turn to international, where the tale has yet to be told.

But for today, those rooting Legend of Tarzan on can savor a good second weekend, and growing respect from the industry for a film that audiences continue to embrace in spite of strong headwinds from critics.