One thing is for sure – audiences are loving the franchise’s return. Typically, horror movies don’t fare well in the weekly CinemaScore polls done by the studios, with a grade in the C-range usually considered typical. Final Destination: Bloodlines managed to score a B+ rating, which is terrific and bodes well for word-of-mouth, meaning the film could end its run in the $100 million range. Even if not through, it will easily end its run as the highest-grossing film in the franchise to date, and will no doubt have WB/New Line Cinema rushing to get yet another instalment in the franchise out within a year or two (at max). 

Meanwhile, the battle for second place was a nail-biter, with Marvel’s Thunderbolts winning – but only by a hair – with them making $16.5 million in their third weekend for a $155 million domestic total. It seems unlikely to crack the $200 million mark, leaving this as one of the lowest-grossing Marvel movies. A lot of its thunder was taken by the zeitgeist-grabbing Sinners, which got back its 70mm IMAX screens this weekend, and made $15.4 million towards a $240 million domestic total. Is $300 million achievable? 

Indeed, Warner Bros was having a very good weekend, with them claiming three of the top four grossing movies at the box office, as A Minecraft Movie made $5.9 million for fourth place, with a $416 million domestic total. Amazon/MGM’s The Accountant 2 continued to show some staying power, making $4.5 million for fifth place, with the $58.7 million total not far off from what the studio’s The Beekeeper made in January 2024. Could The Accountant 3 still happen? Fingers crossed!

The Weeknd’s big screen debut, Hurry Up Tomorrow, posted an abysmal opening, with only $3.3 million this weekend on over 2000 screens. We slammed the movie pretty harshly in our review, and audiences seemed to feel the same way, with it earning a C-minus CinemaScore rating. A24 – after a rough start to the year. – finally seems to have a hit with the Tim Robinson/ Paul Rudd comedy, Friendship, which made $1.4 million on only 60 screens, meaning it had a terrific $23k per screen average.

Sadly, IFC/Shudder’s Clown in a Cornfield lost over 60% of its audience in week two for a $1.3 million gross and $6.3 million total. However, it’s still one of the highest-grossing IFC/Shudder releases to date, and it should make a mint on streaming. The Fathom re-release of Kiki’s Delivery Service proved to be another winner for the company, scoring just over a million dollars. The top ten was rounded off by Until Dawn, which made $800k for a total of just under $20 million.

Next weekend should be huge, as there are two major Memorial Day openings happening between Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch remake and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Which one is the priority for you next weekend? Let us know in the comments!

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It’s not hard to imagine that Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, which has become a bona fide cultural phenomenon, took a big bite out of Thunderbolts’ box office takings. In its fourth week, Sinners made $21 million, for an incredible $214 million total. Next week, it’s getting back its 70mm IMAX screens, which it had to surrender to Thunderbolts, so expect it to get a nice boost, especially considering how relatively light the competition will be until Memorial Day. 

A Minecraft Movie also made $7.9 million, with its domestic total blasting past $400 million, making it another major win for Warner Bros. The Accountant 2 managed to cross the $50 million mark this weekend, adding another $6 million to its coffers. That’s not a bad result for an action flick, with it potentially on track to match the $66 million made by The Beekeeper if it holds up at the box office for the next few weeks.

The next few movies were all relatively minor new openers. Shudder’s Clown in a Cornfield managed $3.6 million, while Lionsgate’s Shadow Force, which Joe Carnahan directed, died with $2.015 million. The Josh Hartnett action flick, Fight or Flight, underwhelmed with just over $2 million, with just over $900 per screen. That’s too bad because the reviews are pretty good on this one, but it’s still on the higher end for Vertical, as they are trying to expand their reach into the theatrical sphere (with mixed results). One thing to note is that these studios often only spend modestly on marketing, and aren’t expecting huge numbers. The idea is that a theatrical run is an excellent way of building interest for an eventual streaming release, and it’s not hard to imagine both Fight or Flight and Clown in a Cornfield becoming huge streaming hits. 

The rest of the top 10 mainly consisted of holdovers, with Sony’s Until Dawn making $2 million for an $18 million total. The Rami Malek action flick, The Amateur, started to wrap up its run with $1.1 million, with it so far falling just short of the $40 million mark. Finally, Angel Studio’s King of Kings rounded out the top 10 with $680k, and a solid $59 million total, making it the studio’s second biggest hit ever after Sound of Freedom.

In limited release, the A24 Tim Robinson/ Paul Rudd comedy Friendship made $451k on only six screens, with its $75k per screen average being the best of the year so far. 

Next weekend sees the release of Final Destination: Bloodlines, which should have no trouble taking the top spot from Thunderbolts. Check back later this week for our predictions!

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One reason it might not have opened as big as other movies is the fact that Ryan Coogler’s Sinners has become a runaway success for Warner Bros. Despite losing its premium screens, the movie only dipped a mere 27% to $33 million this weekend and has a $179 million domestic total. A $250-300 million total is well within reach for this R-rated action/horror hybrid, with it certainly one of the year’s success stories. Another movie that likely got a bite taken out of it by Sinners is The Accountant 2, which fell a hefty 60% in week two to $9.8 million and a $41 million domestic total. It’s running quite a bit behind what the original did nine years ago, leaving a third film in doubt – unless it’s done specifically for streaming.

A Minecraft Movie also continued to be a huge hit, grossing $13 million for a total just under $400 million. Until Dawn fell 54% to $3.65 million and a $14.5 million total. The Rami Malek thriller, The Amateur, started wrapping up its run with $1.8 million in sixth place, with a not bad $36.9 million total, while King of Kings added another $1.3 million to it’s $57.3 million total, making it Angel Studios’ second biggest film even after Sound of Freedom. A24’s Warfare also began wrapping up its tour of duty with $1.25 million and a $24 million total, which isn’t bad considering the thrifty $20 million budget, while the Telugu-language Hit: The Third Case came in ninth with $1.1 million and a $2.2 million total.

The Nicolas Cage thriller, The Surfer, had a modest semi-wide opening, grossing $725 thousand at just over 1000 screens. Still, that’s way better than the troubled Alec Baldwin western, Rust, which managed to open on 115 screens but only grossed $25,000. According to Deadline, that’s only about $217 a screen. Ouch.

Next weekend should once again be dominated by Thunderbolts and Sinners, with Joe Carnahan’s Shadow Force not expected to pull in a massive audience. The next potential blockbuster is Final Destination: Bloodlines, which opens on May 16th. 

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Meanwhile, the second-place battle was tight, with the re-release of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith narrowly beating The Accountant 2. Sith made $25.2 million compared to The Accountant 2’s $24.4 million (slightly better than we predicted). Indeed, that’s a giant number for the Sith re-release, with it only having a limited one-week run as Disney likely doesn’t want anything competing with Thunderbolts next weekend. With an A-minus CinemaScore rating, the hope is that The Accountant 2 will rally in week two, as the opening is a little soft, although (not adjusted for inflation) it’s almost exactly what the first movie made nine years ago.

A Minecraft Movie, by far the year’s highest-grossing movie, added another $22.7 million to the till, boasting a huge $379 million domestic gross. Another video game adaptation out this weekend, Sony’s Until Dawn, didn’t fare nearly as well, only making $8 million. Given the low $7 million budget, it’s unlikely to spill too much red ink for the studio, but I’m sure they’re disappointed as the film likely had franchise potential.

Angel Studio’s King of Kings, their animated retelling of the life of Christ, fell 77% this weekend, which isn’t a surprise as the film’s box office was hugely boosted by the Easter holiday last weekend. With a $54 million domestic gross, it’s still Angel’s second biggest movie ever, after Sound of Freedom, and a much-needed box office win for them. 20th Century Studios’s Rami Malek thriller, The Amateur, made $3.8 million for a $33.8 million domestic haul. While that’s only a modest stateside number, international business on this one has been brisk, likely to pass $100 million internationally. But the time it hits Hulu, it should break even for the studio, which Disney owns. 

Sadly, A24’s terrible 2025 is only getting worse. Their terrific Warfare only made $2.6 million for a modest $21.8 million total (only a third of what director Alex Garland’s Civil War made last year). At the same time, their family adventure movie, The Legend of Oshi, tanked with a terrible $1.4 million this weekend. Between that, Opus, and Death of a Unicorn, the studio really needs a hit, although I think their film Friendship, which I loved at TIFF, could be a cult hit in the waiting. 

Finally, ninth place belonged to the restored Pink Floyd at Pompeii concert film from 1971, which made a terrific $2.6 million. Between this and Sith, it’s clear that specialty releases are something studios should focus on a lot more. Heck, it seems inevitable that Disney puts out some more Star Wars this year. Ya know, it’s The Empire Strikes Back’s 45th anniversary this year. Just sayin’….

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It looks like our box office predictions for the weekend ended up coming true after all. In a surprise reversal, Sinners, which looked like it was going to have to settle for a second-place debut at the Easter box office, rallied thanks to performing stronger-than-expected on Saturday evening. As it stands, Ryan Coogler’s vampire pic will dominate the weekend box office, with a $45.6 million gross compared to A Minecraft Movie’s still potent $41 million (in its third weekend). Boasting an amazing A CinemaScore rating, word of mouth may well propel Sinners to a stateside finish north of $100 million. Notably, this is the first time a horror film has ever gotten such a strong rating, with only movies like A Quiet Place 1 & 2 managing anything north of a B in the last decade. However, it will likely be up to foreign gross to see if the film ultimately turns a profit theatrically (the $100 million budget is seen as risky for a horror film).

Whatever the case, Warner Bros can claim the two top spots this weekend, with A Minecraft Movie passing $344 million in its third week of release, making it the runaway smash hit of the year (so far). Another studio that has some bragging rights is Angel Studios, whose animated movie about Jesus, King Of Kings, only fell a mere 11% in week two to post a $17.2 million weekend, with a total north of $45 million. It’s already the studio’s second top-grossing movie behind their smash hit Sound of Freedom. 

The Rami Malek thriller, The Amateur, also held up decently, only losing 51% of its audience in week 2 to make $7.2 million, with a $27 million total. While a finish in the $40 million region is nothing to brag about, those are still decent numbers for a low key thriller, with it not too far off from the kinds of grossing routinely pulled in by Jason Statham (although it’s unlikely Malek’s film will have the same kind of international pull Statham’s has). 

Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare rounded out the top five with $4.85 million and a $17.1 million gross, which is mediocre for such a well-reviewed film. A24 has struggled at the box office this year, but hopefully, movies like Friendship and Bring Her Back, which seem more old-school in their appeal, will help them rally. 

Meanwhile, the really solid Blumhouse title Drop has proven to be a flop, with it only grossing $3.35 million for a $13.4 million total, making it a rare misfire commercially for the company. The rest of the top ten is largely filled with specialty releases. The anime musical, Colorful Stage made $2.76 million, while the re-release of Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice wasn’t far behind with $2.7 million. Finally, the last round of The Chosen Last Supper episodes was in ninth place with $1.8 million and a $11.6 million total. Finally, Disney’s ultra-flop, Snow White, rounded out the top ten with only $1.17 million and an $84 million total, which is disastrous for a movie that cost over $250 million. 

Next weekend sees the release of The Accountant 2. Will it be able to nab the top spot from Sinners and A Minecraft Movie? Let us know in the comments!

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As expected, A Minecraft Movie dominated the box office this weekend. It only fell a modest 51% in week two for $80.6 million over the three-day weekend, which is about what we predicted earlier this week. It’s a terrific showing for a movie no one seemed sure there was an audience for, but it has seemingly grabbed the cultural zeitgeist in a way that’s hard to reverse engineer. It’s undoubtedly a huge win for Warner Bros, with them also opening the buzzy Ryan Coogler vampire epic, Sinners, this coming weekend. If they get two hits in a row, suddenly their iffy box office track record for 2025 will start to look much better.

This weekend, another box office success story has to be Angel Studios’ King of Kings, with them posting their biggest hit since Sound of Freedom, with the animated biblical epic scoring a $19.05 million weekend. The studio, which recently lost the rights to The Chosen series has had a mixed track record at the box office recently, but with a hit like this, the studio can boast that they certainly know what their audience likes. In fact, faith-based movies had a bit of a moment this weekend, with not one but two collections of episodes from The Chosen in the top ten, with The Last Supper Part 3 in sixth place with $5.8 million, while its predecessor rounded out the top 10 with just under $1 million. Those may seem like modest numbers but don’t forget that The Chosen is actually streaming online as well.

Overall, it was a pretty good weekend, with 20th Century Studios’ The Amateur, starring Rami Malek, having a surprisingly excellent showing with $15 million. While some may scoff at that number, these are Jason Statham-level numbers, so clearly, audiences still like these meat-and-potatoes-style action flick. Hopefully, the excellent Accountant 2 manages to continue action’s winning streak at the box office.

Sadly, Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s excellent Warfare had a more modest opening than expected, only earning $8.3 million, making it the third underperformer in a row for A24 following Opus and Death of a Unicorn. Luckily, the budget was pretty low on this one, and word-of-mouth may give it some legs at the box office. Blumhouse’s rather good thriller, Drop, tanked with a poor $7.5 million, which is a shame. 

Meanwhile, Jason Statham’s A Working Man made about $3 million plus, with the total gross being about $33 million. While it will fall short of The Beekeeper’s $66 million, it should still finish with a solid $40 million or so domestically. Disney’s Snow White continued to die at the box office, with a $2.8 million gross and an $81 million domestic total – pretty bad for a movie that cost at least $250 million. Ouch. Finally, Blumhouse had another movie in the top 10, with The Woman in the Yard making $2.1 million for a $20 million total.

Next weekend is Easter so it should prove to be a good one for Sinners, King of Kings and Minecraft. Could Sinners top Minecraft at the box office? Let us know in the comments!

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There’s going to be a lot of celebrating tomorrow morning at Warner Bros’s Burbank lot. For the first time since Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice in the fall, the studio has a legitimate box office smash, with A Minecraft Movie blowing past industry expectations to make a whopping $157 million this weekend. That’s more than twice what we predicted earlier this week, but even the most optimistic industry forecasts didn’t expect this to make more than $100 million. It’s now the highest opening for a video game movie ever, beating the $146 million The Super Mario Bros Movie earned in 2023.

This comes along at just the right moment for WB, who have suffered from a huge slate of pricey box office bombs, including Furiosa, Joker: Folie a Deux, Alto Knights, and the recent Mickey 17. Will this be enough to turn around the company’s fortunes? It’s hard to say, but one thing is for sure: expect A Minecraft Movie 2 in theaters before long. Notably, the film is also a huge hit for Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess, re-teaming him with his Nacho Libre star Jack Black. 

Otherwise, the Jason Statham action flick, A Working Man, had a decent hold this weekend, only falling 53% to $7.276 million, with a $27 million domestic total. That’s not too far off from what The Beekeeper made in its second weekend, with that one legging out to a terrific $66 million domestically. While A Working Man likely won’t have those kinds of legs, it will no doubt turn a solid profit for Amazon/MGM and will be a considerable streaming success once it moves to Prime Video in a few months.

One noteworthy thing about the top 10 is that it features not one but two collections of episodes from the hit Christian series The Chosen. The Last Supper Part 2 opened slightly below expectations with $7 million, while Part 1 was further down the charts at 7, with $1.8 million and a $18 million total. For episodes you can stream, those are mighty respectable numbers. 

Disney’s Snow White proved to be just as much of a disaster as everyone anticipated, with its free fall at the domestic box office continuing this weekend. It fell another 58% to just over $6 million and a $77 million domestic total. There’s little else for Disney to do now but cut their losses and throw the movie on Disney Plus. It’s proven to be one of the biggest bombs of the year – that’s for sure. Blumhouse’s The Woman in the Yard is also proving to be one of its more obscure offerings, grossing $4.5 million for a $16 million plus domestic total. That said, given how low they keep their budgets, that’s not an awful result. A24’s Death of a Unicorn, despite its high-profile stars (Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega), continued to die at the box office, making $2.6 million for a $10.7 million domestic total. Between this and Opus, A24’s off to a rough start at the box office this year – although next weekend’s Alex Garland flick, Warfare, might turn things around. 

Next up on the chart were two Indies that didn’t make much of an impression this weekend. Finn Wolfhard’s Hell of a Summer, from Neon, had a modest $1.75 million opening, while The Friend, starring Bill Murray and Naomi Watts, made $1.6 million, despite rave reviews (including one from us). Finally, the top 10 was rounded out by Captain America: Brave New World, with $1.3 million and a total that’s only a hair away from crossing the $200 million mark.

Next weekend, we see the release of two lower-profile action flicks, Warfare and The Amateur, neither of which is likely to pose much of a threat to A Minecraft Movie’s domination. Will you go see either? Let us know in the comments!

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Magic mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all? Jason Statham, evidently, as his latest action flick, A Working Man, has topped the weekend box office, poisoning the apple of Snow White, which continued its disappointing run by dropping to the number two spot.

A Working Man once again proved that Jason Statham’s fanbase is a continuously loyal one, as the movie – which reunites him with The Beekeeper director David Ayer – earned $15.2 million in its debut weekend, a chisel in its $40 million budget. For a movie that banks on Statham himself (and not an established franchise like Fast and the Furious), that’s pretty good, landing in The Beekeeper territory.

Now onto Snow White, which opened last week with just $47 million. The live-action (well, mostly) remake of the Disney classic was bound to fall but we didn’t expect it to do so in such embarrassing fashion, as it slipped nearly 70%. While that still put it as the weekend’s runner-up, it only took in another $14.2 million. For a movie that has a budget pegged upwards of $270 million, this is easily one of the biggest red marks for Disney. Hopefully this will make them reconsider their desire to remake their animated classics (although a lot are still on the calendar)…or at least convince Hollywood to stop casting Gal Gadot.

The rest of the box office was far less dramatic, although a curious choice came in at #3: The Chosen: The Last Supper ($11.5 million), which is actually part of an Amazon MGM Studios deal that sees the fifth season of the faith-based series getting a theatrical release before hitting Amazon. It’s an interesting strategy that is evidently paying off, pulling solid numbers for a movie that has a niche audience.

Blumhouse’s The Woman in the Yard snuck through the gate with $9.4 million. That single-digital number isn’t all that far from the movie’s $12 million budget, although the studio’s non-franchise fare usually at least opens in the doubles. Failing to sparkle was Death of a Unicorn, which poked its way into the top 5 with $5.8 million. You’d think that a movie starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega would have fared far better at the box office but with mid reviews, an R rating and nothing really to grab an audience outside of the cast, it just didn’t have the magic to land.

One delight that made the top 10 was Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke, now out courtesy of a 4K transfer. No doubt IMAX screens helped boost it to $3.5 million, but I’d also like to think those who were disgusted by OpenAI’s Studio Ghibli-inspired feature headed to the theater as a move of support. And considering its initial domestic run back in 1999 only saw it in 129 theaters, we’re calling this a win all around. Right behind it was Captain America: Brave New World, which, with another $2.75 million to its name, still stands as the highest-grossing movie of 2025 so far.

Meanwhile, Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag is trying to nudge towards $20 million domestically with its $2.15 million this weekend. Soderbergh isn’t normally a splash at the box office but his movies are almost always worth seeing so good on him for hanging in the top 10 (even if Black Bag won’t recoup its budget, not even earning back half of it on the domestic front). The number nine and 10 spots would go to Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 and the Jack Quaid action flick Novocaine, which is a lot of fun and well worth checking out. Mickey 17 took in $2 with a, while Novocaine earned $1.45 million in its third week. That might seem numb, but considering it has already recouped its budget, any extra bucks are welcome.

As it happens, Chris Bumbray’s box office predictions for this week’s totals underestimated Jason Statham’s ability to put in work. Our editor-in-chief, Chris Bumbray, thought Snow White would retain its top spot, but David Ayer and Jason Statham’s A Working Man hammered its way to the top of the list with a $15.2M debut over Snow White‘s $14.2M. Ah, well. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, right?

Next week will no doubt find a new champ at the box office, as A Minecraft Movie is looking to be a real blockbuster, proving to do well with advanced ticket sales ahead of its release. Other new titles include Lionsgate’s Pedro Pascal-starring Freaky Tales, horror-comedy Hell of a Summer (which is Finn Wolfhard’s co-directorial debut), The Luckiest Man in America (about the infamous Press Your Luck scandal) and Eric Laure (Michael Shannon’s own directorial debut). Mid-week, Screamboat – the latest horror movie taking advantage of copyright lapses – will also open.

What did you catch at the movies this weekend?

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Disney’s live action remake of Snow White was never going to open to boffo box office. The toxic early buzz and poor tracking suggested that the Mouse House was fighting an uphill battle with this one, but given how well their live-action remakes did in the past, no one expected the film to open to less than $50 million – including us. That number was seen by some as a worst-case scenario, considering the $270 million price tag.

However, Deadline is now reporting that the movie is opening far worse than anyone expected, with a $43 million weekend, which is even less than the flop remake of Dumbo (which cost half of what Snow White did) made. Unless the box office picks up notably in the next few weeks (similar to what happened with Mufasa: The Lion King), Disney is going to lose a mint on this one, with it the second major misfire of the year, following Captain America: Brave New World. Ironically, that film, which is going to go down as one of Marvel’s lowest grossers, ended up in third place this weekend (higher than expected) with a $4.1 million weekend and a $192.1 million domestic total, which means it should still break $200 million domestically. It’s still the year’s highest grosser, although with it unlikely to pass $500 million internationally, it will likely fail to turn a profit for Disney. However, they have two more kicks at the can this year with Thunderbolts and Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Steven Soderbergh’s adult-skewed Black Bag proved to be the recent release with the most staying power, falling 42% for a $4.4 million weekend. Given the $50 million price tag, the $14.88 million total is likely not very good for distributor Focus Features, but at least it’s showing a small bit of resilience in theaters. Last week’s champ, Novocaine, fell much steeper than expected, 57%, to fifth place, with only $3.76 million and a total of $15.76 million. It was narrowly defeated by Mickey 17, Warner Bros’s sci-fi flop, which made $3.8 million for a $40 million total. 

That wasn’t WB’s only disappointment this weekend. Their crime drama, The Alto Knights, had a horrible opening, only mustering $3 million in over 2500 theaters. The Robert De Niro-vehicle (he plays two roles) had to overcome bad reviews and little-to-no marketing from a studio that clearly lost faith in it. It was followed at the box office by a movie the studio actually produced but then sold, The Day the Earth Blew Up, and an animated Looney Tunes film, which made $1.83 million for a $6 million-plus total. While those aren’t great numbers, Ketchup is apparently still in business with WB, with them looking to buy their shelved Coyote vs ACME. 

Neon’s The Monkey continued to show serious muscle at the box office, making $1.55 million for a $37 million domestic total, while Dog Man made $1.5 million, with the $95 million total not too far from the century mark. The faith based film, Last Supper, made $1.33 million for a $5.3 million total.

Other new releases fared even worse than Alto Knights, with IFC/Shudder’s Ash proving to be a disaster, with it making only $716k on over 1100 screens. That’s only $631 a screen – OUCH. The long-shelved Jonathan Majors flick, Magazine Dreams, didn’t do any better, making $700k on 815 screens – making it seem like the actor won’t be making a comeback anytime soon. Another notable flop is A24’s Opus, which plummeted 72% in week 2, with only $282k and a horrible $1.8 million total, making it one of the indie company’s few horror disasters. The Sam Raimi-produced Locked, which stars Bill Skarsgard and Anthony Hopkins did better, with $829k on 971 screens, with it also available digitally.

Next weekend, Jason Statham will return to theaters with A Working Man. Will the Stallone-penned film be a sleeper hit in the vein of The Beekeeper, or will it be an Expend4bles-sized flop? Let us know in the comments!

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It was a good news/ bad news situation at the box office this weekend for Paramount Pictures. On the one hand, their heavily hyped action comedy, Novocaine, starring The Boys’ Jack Quaid, managed to finish in the top spot (as we predicted). The bad news is that it happened to lead the slowest weekend of the year, with the $8.7 million gross certainly nothing to write home about. That said, considering that the movie sports a thrifty $18 million budget, it didn’t need to have a massive opening, and if word of mouth is good, it could become something of a sleeper. However, the B CinemaScore rating isn’t wild for an action comedy, so it’s possible it won’t be able to have as strong of a hold as the studio is no doubt hoping for.

Indeed, the race for number one didn’t end up being all that close after all. It was the race for second place that was a nail-biter, with Mickey 17 and Black Bag making around $7.5 million a piece. In the end, sources say Mickey 17 eeked out a win, but only by about $10k, with a $7.51 weekend, a 60% drop from it’s poor opening. With a $33 million total to date, this $118 million movie will hemorrhage red ink for WB, who likely have another pricey flop on the horizon next week with Alto Knights, which is barely being promoted. At least Mickey 17 is making up some of the shortfall overseas, having made about $57 million internationally to date.

Despite the star-studded cast, Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag couldn’t attract much of an adult audience. It made $7.5 million against a $50 million budget. The opening isn’t that far off from what Focus’s Conclave made, but that papal drama was playing on 1000 fewer screens and also had a ton of Oscar buzz, which propelled it into becoming a word-of-mouth hit. 

Captain America: Brave New World was in fourth place with $5.47 million, with a $185 million domestic total. It will likely gross UNDER $200 million domestically, which is disastrous for Marvel. The international cume will likely be well under $500 million, which means the studio likely lost a mint on it. Ketchup Entertainment’s The Day the Earth Blew Up made $3.17 million – not a bad opening for a tiny upstart studio. Another low-key release was the faith-based The Last Supper, which earned $2.82 million on just over 1500 screens.

Next up were two holdover family flicks, with Paddington in Peru making $2.77 million for a $41 million domestic total – the highest of the trilogy. Dog Man wasn’t far behind with $2.5 million and a $92.8 million total. Neon’s The Monkey has had more staying power than initially thought, with it in ninth place with $2.46 million for a $35.2 million total. Finally, Last Breath rounded out the top 10 with $2.3 million for an $18 million total. A24’s Opus had a disastrous opening, making only $1 million on over 1700 screens. Ouch. With a C+ CinemaScore, the A24 cult seems to have given this one a big pass.

Next weekend sees the release of Disney’s controversial Snow White. Will it be enough to reinvigorate the box office? We’ll have to wait and see!

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If you were waiting for the dam to break at the box office, allowing a torrent of dollars to flood a sleepy post-Oscars weekend, prepare to get caught in an undertow of disappointment. After a brief delay, acclaimed South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho returned to theaters this weekend with Mickey 17, a quirky sci-fi epic starring Robert Pattinson that, despite its stumble during its box office debut, dethroned Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World after three weeks at the top of the charts. While Bong Joon Ho’s Snowpiercer, Okja, and the Best Picture-winning film Parasite are beloved cinematic treats, Mickey 17 only managed $19.1 million in ticket sales during its opening weekend.

Ho’s previous film, Parasite, earned $376,264 during its U.S. theater debut, making its $125,421 per-theater average a 2019 record-setter. At the time of its release, Ho’s unsettling social thriller managed the best per-screen haul since La La Land, an impressive feat for the acclaimed film about twisty class war and symbiotic relationships between two families of opposite means. Mickey 17 is decidedly different because the plot brings Ho back to the science-fiction genre, with bankable stars like Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, and Mark Ruffalo leading the bill.

Certainly, an opening under $20 million is a disaster, but one I think we all saw coming. I optimistically predicted a $23 million start, but that wasn’t to be. It’ll be on the foreign grosses now to prevent Mickey 17 from losing a ton of money. It follows Joker: Folie a Deux as a major flop for WB, with several big-budget, risky projects on the horizon like Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (which I think will do well), A Minecraft Movie, and the P.T. Anderson/ Leonardo DiCaprio movie due this summer, which apparently cost a ton (we should finally get a title and trailer at CinemaCon next month). 

Captain America: Brave New World managed to hang in there, falling 43% to an $8.5 million weekend, with a total of $176 million domestically. Will it break $200 million domestically? We’ll have to wait and see. Focus Features’s Last Breath made $4.2 million for a $14.6 million total, which isn’t bad for an indie, although Focus certainly gave it a major studio release, on over 3000 screens. Neon’s The Monkey made another $3.9 million for a $31 million total, with it ranking as one of Neon’s biggest hits ever. 

Family flicks continued to rake in the dough, with Paddington in Peru making $3.9 million for a $36 million total (it’s made more than any other film in the franchise domestically), while Dog Man made $3.5 million for an $88 million total. Mufasa: The Lion King made $1.7 million in eighth place, with a $250 million total.

Just above it was Best Picture winner Anora, which was re-released and grossed $1.86 million, with a $18.4 million domestic total. The Angel Studios release, Rule Breakers, only did modest business, making $1.59 million. However, In the Lost Lands, the latest from Paul W.S. Anderson, grossed a disastrous $1.04 million, for a per-screen average of $761 dollars. Ouch.

Next week sees the release of Paramount’s buzzy action comedy Novocaine, which should be able to take the top spot at the box office from Mickey 17. However, 2025’s box office doldrums seem likely to continue for another few weeks at least. 

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Given how slow the box office is this Oscar weekend, it’s no surprise that Captain America: Brave New World was able to hold onto the top spot (as we predicted), with its only real competition being Focus Features’s low-key Last Breath. However, it’s becoming clear that despite being in the top spot for three weekends in a row, the MCU’s latest movie isn’t connecting with the large audiences Marvel used to take for granted. With a $15 million weekend and a 47% drop in week three (which isn’t all that bad), the movie now sits at $163.3 million domestically. The chances of it crossing the $200 million mark seem dim, and it appears like the pricey flick (whose budget was inflated by multiple re-shoots) won’t be able to turn a profit for the studio.

Granted, it’s not an all-out disaster like The Marvels, which probably lost hundreds of millions, but it’s clear MCU fans aren’t connecting with the new movies like they used to. The burden is now on Thunderbolts and Fantastic Four: First Steps to recapture some of the old MCU magic, lest people start saying superhero fatigue is proving to be the genre’s deadliest foe. I’m sure over at Marvel, they’re hoping the Russo Bros will be able to recapture the zeitgeist with Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, especially given that Robert Downey Jr will be back in the fold – albeit as a villain this time.

Meanwhile, Last Breath (which we enjoyed) grossed a respectable $7.8 million opening. Woody Harrelson and Shang-Chi star Simu Liu star in this fact-based, deep-sea rescue thriller. While it was never going to be a blockbuster, this isn’t a bad opening for a niche movie, although it’s a bit of a surprise Focus opted to blast this out on over 3000 screens. Neon’s The Monkey, directed by Osgood Perkins, turned out not to be as front-loaded as everyone assumed, with it only falling 56% to $6.37 million for $24.6 million total. It should finish its run with a solid $35-40 million gross before moving on to streaming. 

Paddington in Peru and Dog Man were neck-and-neck for fourth place, with the polite English bear edging it out by only $300k, grossing $4.5 million for a $31.3 million gross. It should be able to make just about the same amount Paddington 2 made domestically ($40 million). Dog Man made $4.2 million, with an $84 million domestic total, meaning I’d expect a Dog Man 2 in theaters before long.

Disney’s Mufasa managed to hang in there, with it ending up in sixth place with $1.9 million for a $248 million total. The Chinese animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2 (which has already made an insane $2 BILLION overseas) made $1.7 million for a $17.8 domestic total. It’s now the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Sony’s Heart Eyes grossed $1.3 million for a domestic total just shy of $30 million (will that be enough to merit a sequel?), while Unbreakable Boy lost 60% of its audience to gross $1.2 million for a $4.5 million domestic total. That’s pretty bad for a movie with an A+ CinemaScore. The anime release, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX-Beginning, rounded out the top 10 with a 1 million dollar weekend.

Overall, 2025 is off to a rough start, as last year, by this point, we had Dune: Part Two in theatres, with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and Godzilla x Kong on the way. This year we have Mickey 17, which seems destined to underperform, and Disney’s Snow White, which has bad buzz. Will either be able to exceed expectations? We’ll have to wait and see.

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After Captain America: Brave New World opened with a decent – but underwhelming – $100 million four-day opening last weekend, many wondered whether or not the film would be able to sustain any kind of momentum at the box office. While the movie had a better week-to-week hold than The Marvels (which fell a disastrous 78%) and Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania (-70%), the 68% week-to-week decline is still quite steep. With a $141.2 million total, it looks unlikely that the film will even be able to crack $200 million domestically unless it can rebound at the box office somewhat next weekend.

Given the film’s rumoured price tag, which could be as high as $300 million if you consider all the reshoots and the subpar B-minus CinemaScore, Marvel is no doubt disappointed in the movie’s reception, which places added pressure on both Thunderbolts and Fantastic Four: First Steps to perform, lest the notion of superhero fatigue really start to stick.

However, the news wasn’t all bad, with Neon having their second-highest opening weekend ever thanks to Osgood Perkins’s The Monkey. Despite a poor (but not unusual for horror) C+ CinemaScore rating, the film made $14.2 million, so now Perkins can say he’s responsible for the indie label’s two biggest openings ever. Unsurprisingly, Neon is hot on him, with them scheduling his next film, Keeper, for October 3rd, 2025. In fact, teaser trailers for Keeper and Neon’s big Sundance horror acquisition, Together (which we loved), played before The Monkey this weekend. 

Paddington in Peru managed a decent hold at the box office, adding $6.5 million to the polite bear’s $25.2 million total. It was in heavy competition with Dog Man, which came in fourth place with $5.9 million and a total of $78.7 million domestically. The huge-grossing Chinese family movie Ne Zha 2 was right behind with just over $3 million and a $14.8 domestic total. This movie has already grossed over a billion dollars worldwide. 

In sadder news, Heart Eyes, after rebounding at the box office last weekend, lost much of its date night audience this weekend to The Monkey, grossing $2.8 million (a steep 71% decline) with a $26.7 million total. It’s done ok, but will it have made enough of a profit for it to be turned into a horror franchise?

Mufasa: The Lion King added another $2.5 million to its $245 million domestic total, while Lionsgate’s The Unbreakable Boy whiffed with a poor $2.5 million opening. However, the CinemaScore for this was an excellent A, so word of mouth might boost it. Finally, the Bollywood movie Chhaava made $1.49 million in ninth place, grossing $4.7 million domestically (solid for a Bollywood movie) grossing close to $50 million worldwide. The top 10 was rounded out by the Keke Palmer/ SZA sleeper hit, One of Them Days, which made another $1.4 million for a $46 million plus domestic total. Can it crack the $50 million mark?

Next week will no doubt be a sleepy one at the box office. Only the Woody Harrelson/ Simu Liu film Last Breath will open wide, as all eyes will be on the Oscars. 

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It looks like Captain America: Brave New World is posting our first $100 million opener of the year, even if it comes with a bit of an asterisk next to it. While, yes, Disney can boast that Brave New World has opened to $100 million, the caveat is that the opening is based on the box office results for the entire holiday weekend (tomorrow is President’s Day), and that the three-day opening is a comparatively modest $88.5 million (according to Deadline). That’s pretty close to what we predicted earlier this week and a far cry from the usual $100 million plus weekends Marvel was chalking up in their heyday, which seems to have ended.

Think of it this way – two years ago Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania made $120 million over the same President’s Day weekend, and people called it a flop. Brave New World, with all the reshoots that went into it, may actually have a heftier price tag, and the B-minus CinemaScore rating is the worst ever for an official MCU flick (even Eternals and Quantumania managed B-ratings). Thus, expect the box office to plummet in a considerable way next weekend.

That said, this still isn’t a bad opening, especially if you consider how negative the buzz was going into the weekend. While modest by Marvel standards, it’s also not a disaster like The Marvels, proving there’s still an appetite for these movies out there – they might just need to start making them better, which would mean hiring bigger directors (Brave New World’s Julius Onah is an unproven commodity) with perhaps more of a vision. Basically, they need more folks like The Russo Bros or Ryan Coogler. 

In other box office news, Paddington in Peru opened slightly better than the acclaimed Paddington 2, with a $13 million weekend (the movie has already grossed over $100 million overseas). It has some of its thunder stolen by Dog Man, which rebounded after a weaker-than-expected second weekend to come in fourth with $9.7 million, which is only a 30% decline.

Perhaps the biggest news of all is the fact that Heart Eyes actually made more this weekend than it did last weekend, posting a 20% uptick for a $10 million weekend (good enough for third place) and a $22.6 million total. That’s an amazing result, and proof that audiences love this movie. It may well turn into the big sleeper hit of the season. Fifth place was another surprise, with the Chinese blockbuster Ne Zha 2 coming in with $6 million (it’s made over a billion dollars in China). Expect to see more international fare hitting the top 10 in the future. Bollywood, whose distributors have long been releasing movies themselves in North America, pioneered this with their films, which appealed to the Indian diaspora, and China seems to be following suit.

The Ke Huy Quan-led Love Hurts had a softer-than-expected fall in week two, with it only losing 25% of its audience to gross $4.37 million for a $12.9 million total. Mufasa: The Lion King will likely beat it over the four-day holiday, making $4.1 million, with its total to date being $241 million. The sleeper hit One of Them Days added another $2.97 million to its $43.8 million total. It’s been a solid moneymaker for Sony. Sadly, New Line’s Companion seems to be ending its underwhelming box office run, with the movie coming in ninth place with only $1.87 million and a total of $19 million, which is no doubt a big disappointment to the studio considering how hot the reviews were. Sony Classics’ Becoming Led Zeppelin added over 600 screens this weekend and rounded out the top 10 with $1.8 million for a $5.43 million total.

Next weekend should give Captain America: Brave New World another easy win, with only Osgood Perkins’s The Monkey as competition. Even if that movie proves to be a sleeper in line with the director’s last movie, Longlegs, Cap still seems likely to win the weekend, but it’ll be interesting to see if the mixed word-of-mouth gives it a week-to-week decline of over 65%.

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The notoriously slow Super Bowl weekend lived up to its dire reputation at the box office this weekend, with neither of the weekend’s two promising new releases, Heart Eyes and Love Hurts, managing to attract much of an audience. As we predicted earlier this week, Captain Underpants spinoff Dog Man didn’t have any trouble keeping its paws on the top spot. However, the 62% week-to-week drop-off isn’t anything to write home about, with the general consensus being that the $13.7 million weekend is a disappointment. However, with a $54 million gross, the film will easily turn a nice profit for Universal and Dreamworks, although it might not earn enough to merit a sequel at this point. Woof.

Heart Eyes, a pretty darn good rom-com/slasher mash-up, opened much softer than expected with $8.5 million. The B-minus CinemaScore isn’t bad for a horror flick, but it seems this won’t launch the Valentine’s Day horror franchise the studio hoped for. Bummer. However, the most heartbreaking opening of the weekend goes to Ke Huy Quan’s actioner Love Hurts, which only managed a disastrous $5.8 million, which doesn’t bode well for The Goonies’ star’s future as an action hero. That said, the general consensus seems to be that it’s the movie, not Quan, that’s the problem, with it having an overly familiar plot and little in the way of sparks with leading lady Ariana DeBose, who’s had a troubled run at the box office following her Oscar win for West Side Story, with Kraven, Argylle, I.S.S and this one all being notable flops. Clearly, Hollywood hasn’t found a movie that properly capitalizes on her talents. 

Mufasa: The Lion King, which has proven to be a sleeper after a disastrous opening over the holidays, has managed to hold on to the fourth spot, earning $3.92 million for a $235 million-plus total. While that’s only a fraction of what the 2019 Lion King made, it’s still a solid result for a movie many thought was going to tank a month ago.

One disappointing entry on the chart is Companion, the buzzy horror flick that plummeted 68% to a $3.02 million weekend. This suggests the movie is due for a quick turnaround to Max, where perhaps it will find the audience that eluded it in theaters. The news was better for the Keke Palmer/SZA vehicle One of Them Days, which has become a major sleeper hit, with it making $3 million for a total just shy of $40 million. 

Of all the movies on the charts this weekend, the one with the highest per-screen average is Becoming Led Zeppelin, which made a solid $2.62 million during its exclusive IMAX run. I was under the weather this weekend, but I plan on catching (and reviewing) this flick sometime this week. The Mel Gibson thriller Flight Risk did $2.6 million for a $25 million total. While not exactly a hit, this poorly received thriller should turn a profit for the hit-strapped Lionsgate. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 hit number 9 with $1.75 million and a $233 million total, while Disney’s Moana 2 rounded out the top 10 with $1.5 million and a massive $456.1 million domestic total.

Next weekend should infuse some much-needed excitement into the box office, with Captain America: Brave New World likely to open north of $70 million. This would be a far cry from the type of grosses we used to expect from the MCU, but it should be decent nonetheless. Do you think it has a chance of actually turning a profit? Let us know in the comments!

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The weekend numbers are in, and as expected, Dog Man easily topped the box office, with the Captain Underpants spin-off outperforming all expectations – including our own. The Universal/Dreamworks animated film made a solid $36 million this weekend, paving the way for a long run at the box office, with not too much in the way of competition for family audiences coming out until Captain America: Brave New World, which comes out on the President’s Day holiday weekend.

However, New Line’s Companion, which is earning buzzy reviews and atypically strong word-of-mouth for a genre film (it earned a B+ CinemaScore), had a disappointing opening, only making $9.5 million. Hollywood execs are no doubt scratching their heads over why a buzzy horror flick starring Yellowjackets’ Sophie Thatcher and The Boys’ Jack Quaid didn’t manage to open higher, especially given that it marks the directorial debut of Barbarian writer Drew Hancock. Some are pointing the finger at WB’s marketing department, with them seemingly unable to capture the zeitgeist in the way indie distributors like Neon or A24 have in recent years; with horror increasingly becoming more associated with indie labels, audiences have more faith in these days. For proof, look no further than Universal/ Blumhouse’s disastrous Wolf Man reboot, which is already out of the top 10.

There’s some faint hope Companion might be able to capitalize on word-of-mouth. Still, next weekend sees the release of a more easily classifiable horror flick, the slasher movie Heart Eyes, which may steal some of its thunder. Meanwhile, Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King was in third place, with a $6.1 million weekend and a $229 million total. While not one of their bigger recent hits, word-of-mouth has allowed the film to perform better at the box office going into 2025 than expected. The low-budget comedy One of Them Days is also making good money, with the $6 million weekend adding to a $34 million total. 

Last weekend’s champ, Flight Risk, has a more modest decline than expected, with ComScore reporting a 52% drop and a $5.6 million weekend for a total of just over $20 million. Given the poor word-of-mouth, the film is performing decently for Lionsgate. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was in sixth place with $3.22 million and a $230 million total, making it the highest-grossing entry in the series. Disney’s Moana 2 is also still making money, with a $2.8 million weekend and a $453 million total.

Next up are two Oscar contenders, with A Complete Unknown continuing a successful run with $2.16 million and a hefty $66 million total. The Brutalist also performed reasonably well as it expanded to more locations beyond its initial 70mm Roadshow release, making $1.8 million for a $12.1 million total. Finally, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, which just got greenlit for a follow-up, rounded out the top 10 with $1.6 million and a $34 million total. It’s also now on PVOD. 

Next weekend seems poised to be a modest one, with neither Love Hurts nor Heart Eyes expected to pose much of a threat to Dog Man’s box office reign. Will you be seeing either? Let us know in the comments!

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Mel Gibson’s Flight Risk has taken off to become #1 at the box office this week, pulling in $12 million during its debut. This is a pretty unimpressive number to head the box office, and considering Flight Risk had a budget of $25 million, it has a bit of a way to go to recoup its expenses. But those that did check it out over the weekend no doubt did so in part to support Gibson, who hasn’t directed a movie since 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge.

Flight Risk’s take – which we knew would help it get to #1 this weekend based on early projections – would also mean the dethroning of franchise fare at the 2025 box office so far. Even though we’re still in January (yes, we’re still in January…), it’s worth noting that there have only been sequels at the top of the box office so far this year: Mufasa: The Lion King (a late 2024 release) and Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, with the former obviously being the dominant picture.

Now in its sixth week, Mufasa wouldn’t yet retreat entirely into the jungle, earning $8.7 million, which was good enough for the number two spot, its second bump there so far. It has now grossed $221 million domestically. As for Den of Thieves 2, that ended up dropping all the way down to #9, a 55% tumble. Indeed, Flight Risk would be the only non-holdover from previous weeks to crack the top five. The only key debut this weekend, Steven Soderbergh’s Presence, managed $3.4 million, putting it at #6.

In the #3 spot was One of Them Days in its second week, taking in $8 million from its word of mouth, which helped it get #2 in its opening week. That spot saw it fending off returning sequels Sonic the Hedgehog 3, now in its sixth week, and Moana 2, in week nine. Those movies rounded out the top five with $5.5 and $4.3 million, respectively. Notably, both have already outgrossed their predecessors. Landing at #7 in its second week was Wolf Man, which underperformed in its debut weekend and disappointed in quality considering what had been done with Blumhouse’s The Invisible Man.

Oscar contenders also left their mark towards the bottom of the top 10, with A Complete Unknown – James Mangold’s biopic on Bob Dylan, earning eight nominations – landing at #8 with $3.1 million. Meanwhile, The Brutalist – which could be on its way to a Best Picture victory and Best Actor statue for Adrien Brody – coming in at the bottom spot with $2.87. That’s not an incredible showing for The Brutalist. Still, we’re glad it is finally opening up to more theaters (it added nearly 800 this week) after having peaked at just seven during its Oscar-eligible opening.

Next week, we will see the wide releases of Universal’s animated Dog Man, the Briarcliff action flick Valiant One, and New Line horror Companion, which could get a little bump from IMAX. Worth mentioning, too, is You’re Cordially Invited. Even though it will be on Amazon Prime Video, You’re Cordially Invited is yet another reminder of the state of the theater vs. streaming war, as Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon would’ve made bank together back in the day.

As for the weeks after that, we won’t have powerhouse franchise movies until next month, with Captain America: Brave New World and Paddington in Peru arriving on February 14th (after Paddington’s run in its native U.K.). Additionally, The Day the Earth Blew Up is dropping on February 28th, letting us see just how well a Looney Tunes pic can do on the big screen.

What did you catch at the movies this weekend? Which movies do you expect to round out the top five next week?

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UPDATE: The 4-day-holiday estimates have come in from Comscore, and it looks like Mufasa: The Lion King was able to edge out One of Them Days to take the top spot. Propelled by holiday matinees, Mufasa made $15.5 million compared to One of Them Days‘s $14.225 million. The weekend’s big flop, Wolf Man, clawed its way to a third-place finish with $12.5 million. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 wasn’t far behind with $11 million, while Moana 2 was able to pull ahead of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera with an $8.1 million gross. That was all expected, given that school is out for Martin Luther King Day, so a lot of folks are taking their kids to see movies. Even still, this was one of the lowest-grossing MLK weekends on record, as last year Mean Girls and The Beekeeper proved to be breakout hits. Nothing this weekend even came close to the $33 million the Mean Girls musical made or even the $18.7 million The Beekeeper made in second place.

ORIGINAL POST: It looks like we have the first flop of 2025, with Universal and Blumhouse’s Wolf Man badly underperforming at the box office this MLK weekend. Industry insiders thought the movie would gross at least $20 million (we predicted $17 million). Still, toxic word-of-mouth (the C-minus CinemaScore rating is telling) has torpedoed the first major horror release of the year. It made only $10.5 million this weekend, which is good enough for a third-place finish. How bad did it do? It made less this weekend than the horribly reviewed Night Swim did a year ago, and only made less than a million more than Blumhouse’s poorly received Imaginary. Given that director Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man made $28 million on its first weekend back in 2020, the hope was that this would be a similar-sized hit. However, audiences do not seem to be responding to this grounded take, which eschews everything audiences love about the werewolf genre (silver bullets, full moons, etc.) in favour of a body horror vibe that’s derivative of The Fly and emphasizes family drama over scares.

Instead, the low-budget One of Them Days (which our critic loved), starring Keke Palmer and SZA, was a surprise word-of-mouth hit, grossing $11.6 million, which is good enough for a first-place finish. Mufasa: The Lion King was just behind it with only a $70k difference (according to ComScore), and it will likely finish ahead of the pack when the four-day-MLK holiday grosses are tallied up. So far, Mufasa has made over $200 million domestically after a slow start at the box office. While it will end its run with only a fraction of what the 2019 Lion King made, it’s had decent legs (or paws) at the box office. Its Christmas rival, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, fell to fourth place with $8.6 million, while last week’s champ, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, fell 56% to $6.6 million. It will likely end its run just under the $44 million made by its predecessor. 

Disney’s Moana 2 made another $6 million-plus this weekend, for a total gross of $442.8 million. Nosferatu is closing in on the century mark, with the $4.3 million total putting it close to a $90 million domestic gross. A Complete Unknown has also held up well, making $3.79 million this weekend for a $57 million domestic total. If it winds up getting a lot of Oscar nods, it has a good chance of hitting $70 million domestically. Meanwhile, Wicked made another $3.55 million for an outstanding $464 million domestic haul (it will likely end its run just shy of $500 million), while A24’s Babygirl rounded out the top 10 with $2.02 million for a $25.3 million domestic gross.

We’ll be back tomorrow with a full wrap-up of the MLK weekend grosses and an update on how awards contenders like The Brutalist and September 5 are performing. 

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Lionsgate, which had a disastrous 2024 thanks to duds like Borderlands and The Crow, are having a good start to 2025, with Den of Thieves 2: Pantera opening in first place at the box office. With Deadline reporting a $15.5 million gross, it opened in line with the 2018 original (not adjusted for inflation). It likely would have performed even better were it not for the horrific wildfires currently decimating large parts of Los Angeles. The movie marks Gerard Butler’s strongest opening since Angel Has Fallen back in 2019, proving once again that he’s a consistent draw in these meat-and-potatoes action flicks. 

Mufasa: The Lion King didn’t hold up quite as well post-holidays as we thought it would in our predictions, with it falling 44% to $13.2 million, with a $187 million domestic total. That’s only a fraction of the $600 million plus grossed by its 2019 predecessor. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 came in third with $11 million for a $200 million plus total, making it the highest-grossing entry in the series thus far. 

Meanwhile, Focus Features is proving to have a major box office hit with Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu, which grossed $6.8 million for an $81 million total. It’s currently Focus Features’s third highest-grossing domestic release of all time, behind Downton Abbey and Coraline. Moana 2 was right behind with $6.5 million for a $434 million total, while Wicked continued to pull in impressive numbers, with a $5 million weekend and a massive $458.9 million total. 

Searchlight’s A Complete Unknown also grossed $5 million this weekend, pushing its total past $50 million, making it the studio’s highest-grossing domestic release in many years. While it hasn’t been a massive hit like director James Mangold’s previous biopic, Walk the Line, it will turn a handsome profit for the studio and should play well into award season. A24’s Babygirl has also proven to be a solid success, making $3.09 million for a $21.7 million domestic gross. While that’s not a huge number, it’s one of the most successful indie releases of the season, with it outgrossing a lot of the year’s more lauded awards fare. The Indian film Game Changer came in ninth place with $1.8 million, and the Pamela Anderson comeback film The Last Showgirl rounded out the top 10 with $1.5 million. Meanwhile, the $100 million Robbie Williams biopic Better Man landed with a thud outside the box office top 10, grossing $1 million. 

By comparison, The Brutalist, which is only playing on 68 screens compared to Better Man’s wide release, managed to outgross it with $1.35 million, boding well for its gradual expansion over award season. One of the reasons A24’s The Brutalist is having a slow roll-out is the fact that it’s getting a roadshow release in 70mm at elect venues before a conventional release. With it earning multiple Golden Globes, it will likely earn a ton of Oscar nominations this Friday, and should help it turn into a solid hit for the studio despite the grim subject matter. It’s a masterfully made film, so if you can see it in 70mm, I highly recommend it. 

Next weekend sees the release of The Wolf Man, which should easily take the top spot at the box office. Let us know in the comments if you plan to check it out!

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In our box office predictions earlier this week, we assumed that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 would be able to pull ahead of Mufasa: The Lion King at the box office over the weekend, as had been the case throughout most of the holidays. However, Disney’s prequel, which opened to disappointing business just before Christmas, managed to pull ahead and gross a solid $23.8 million, posting a modest 35% week-to-week decline. By comparison, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 declined a slightly steeper 43% to hit $21.2 million. While it lost the battle, Sonic’s won the war, with it having a $187.5 million total compared to Mufasa’s $168.6 million. Paramount will likely consider Sonic a much bigger box office victory than Disney will consider Mufasa, as the Lion King prequel will likely only finish with a final gross that’s a fraction of the $600 million plus earned by its 2019 predecessor. Meanwhile, Sonic 3 has already overtaken the $148 million earned by the first movie in the franchise, and is only a million or so shy of the $190 million earned by Sonic 2, making it the highest-grossing movie in the series.

However, it should be said that Disney’s had a great year overall, with Moana 2 adding another $12 million-plus to its coffers this weekend, for a huge $425 million total. By the time it ends its domestic run, it will have doubled the first film’s $248 million domestic gross. Yet, it was narrowly beaten this weekend by Robert Eggers’s breakout horror hit, Nosferatu, which earned $13.2 million for a domestic gross just shy of $70 million. Could it pass $100 million domestically? At any rate, it will easily end its run as Focus Features’s highest-grossing film to date. 

Despite being on PVOD, Universal’s Wicked continued to draw in big crowds, with it making $10.2 million for a $450 million domestic total. It will easily pass $500 million. Searchlight’s A Complete Unknown has also proven to be an adult-oriented hit, grossing just over $8 million this weekend for a $41.6 million total. It’s Searchlight’s highest-grossing film since the Disney merger in 2019. It should end its run with about $55-60 million domestically.

A24’s Babygirl, while not the breakout indie hit some expected, has done decent business for A24, making $4.49 million this weekend, which is a 0% decline from last weekend. While controversial, the buzz, be it positive or negative, is getting butts in seats. It’s made a decent $16 million so far, but could continue to do well in the weeks ahead if the movie nabs any Oscar nominations.

Meanwhile, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II has begun to wrap up its run, with it making $2.6 million this weekend for a $168 million domestic total. Unadjusted for inflation, it will end its run as Ridley Scott’s third-highest-grossing movie domestically, behind The Martian and the original Gladiator. Angel Studio’s Homestead earned $2.1 million for a $17.5 million total, with the box office dropping off as some viewers are complaining online about the movie being a bait-and-switch, as it’s essentially just a pilot for the studio’s latest streaming series. The top 10 was rounded out by Amazon/MGM’s The Fire Inside, which made $1.2 million for a $7.1 million gross.

Notably, the weekend’s biggest per-screen average went to A24’s The Brutalist, which earned $244.341 on only eight screens. The Robbie Williams biopic Better Man didn’t fare as well, making $27k in six theaters, which doesn’t bode well for its wide break on Friday.

What did you see this weekend? Let us know in the comments!

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The weekend box office race is almost too close to call. While Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s dominance over Disney’s Lion King prequel Mufasa, raised some eyebrows last weekend, the latter has proven to be unexpectedly resilient at the box office. While earlier this week we predicted that Mufasa would make over $70 million for the five-day holiday, the business has cooled a bit with Sonic 3 re-gaining some ground this weekend. Currently, Comscore has Sonic narrowly outgrossing Mufasa, with $38 million to the latter’s $37.1 million. However, considering the five-day holiday, Mufasa is the clear winner, having made a strong $63.7 million to Sonic’s $59.9 million. At this rate, both movies seem sure to cross the $200-250 million mark at the domestic box office, although in the case of Mufasa, it will be but a fraction of the $600 million plus its 2019 predecessor made.

Number 3 goes to Nosferatu, which proved to be a major hit over the holidays, with an excellent $21.15 million weekend and a superb $40 million cume to date. That’s a fantastic number for an R-rated period horror flick, making it Robert Eggers’s biggest box office hit to date and a clever piece of counter-programming for Focus. Wicked wasn’t too far behind, with it earning $19.4 million over the weekend, with over $31 million. For the holiday, adding to an impressive $424 million total gross. One wonders why Universal is putting it out on PVOD on New Year’s Eve, considering how well the theatrical run is going (that said – we had a GREAT time at the home video launch event – as you can see HERE). 

Disney’s Moana 2 also continued to do well, with it adding another $18.2 million to its $394 million gross – it should pass $400 million by New Year’s Day. Another piece of counter-programming, A Complete Unknown, also did solid business. While the $11.6 million weekend gross is nothing to write home about, it made $23 million over the five-day holiday and has a chance to break out this week as most people will be on holiday the entire week. With an A-CinemaScore, the hope is word-of-mouth will propel this one to solid business, as happened with star Timothee Chalamet’s Wonka last Christmas. Even still, it’s Searchlight’s highest opener since being bought out by Disney in 2019. 

A24’s Babygirl wasn’t able to attract much of an adult audience, earning a weak $4.3 million over the weekend for a $7 million-plus total. Gladiator II, despite now being on PVOD, did decent business over the holiday, with $4.1 million added to its $163 million total. Angel Studio’s Homestead made $3 million, with a cume in the $12 million range, which isn’t bad if you consider it a glorified TV pilot for a streaming series. In fact, there’s a very real chance Homestead‘s final box office tally won’t be too far from that of Kraven the Hunter, which dropped out of the top 10 this weekend. The Fire Inside rounded out the top 10 with a poor $2 million weekend, despite the A-CinemaScore. 

With the holidays ongoing, what do you plan on seeing this week? Let us know in the comments!

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The box office battle between Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa: The Lion King came to a pretty definitive end this weekend, with the former almost doubling the latter’s business. Indeed, despite a banner year, Disney’s ending 2024 on a downer note, with Mufasa: The Lion King, which sports a $200 million budget, seriously underperforming with a $35 million opening. Note that the 2019 remake of The Lion King opened with nearly $200 million, making this arguably one of the least successful sequels of all time (although the film is technically both a sequel AND a prequel). 

While Disney is no doubt hoping the decent A-minus Cinemascore will mean the business will pick up over the holidays, it seems unlikely the film will even come close to recouping its budget. The outlook is much rosier for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which easily topped the weekend box office with Deadline reporting a $62 million opening. However, the opening is softer than expected (we pegged it at $70 million) due to a drop-off in business on Saturday. Given the A-Cinemascore rating, it should have done better. What gives? Families may be waiting until Christmas to check this one out, so it may wind up doing incredible business over the next week.

Another interesting thing on the chart is that Wicked has begun to overtake Moana 2 at the box office, thanks to strong repeat business. It was neck-and-neck yesterday, but Wicked wound up grossing $13.5 million to Moana’s $13.1 million. Both movies have been printing money at the box office, with both all but guaranteed to pass the $400 million domestic mark by the end of the holiday season.

Angel Studios also had a stronger-than-expected showing in fifth place, with their post-apocalyptic drama Homestead making $6 million. A feature-length pilot for their new streaming series, the film earned a softer-than-expected B CinemaScore rating, which is low for a faith-based movie. Gladiator II was behind it with $4.45 million and a $153 million domestic haul. It hits PVOD on Christmas Eve. 

Sony’s latest entry into the Spider-Verse, Kraven the Hunter, crashed and burned with $3.1 million in its second weekend, which marks a 72% week-to-week decline. With a $17.4 million total, it’s on track to become one of the least successful superhero movies ever made and one of the year’s biggest bombs.

Red One, now streaming on Prime Video, lost a big chunk of its audience (as well as a third of its theaters) this weekend, with a $1.43 million weekend and a $95 million domestic total. Will it manage to cross $100 million domestically? We’ll have to wait and see!

WB’s animated Lord of the Rings prequel, The War of Rohirrim, also had a disastrous second weekend, falling 72% to $1.2 million and a $7.3 million total. It seems unlikely to even pass $10 million domestically. Finally, the faith-based sleeper hit, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, rounded out the top 10 with $825K and a $38.4 million total.

With Christmas happening on Wednesday, some big movies, including A Complete Unknown and Nosferatu, should liven up the box office charts for what should be a huge week. We’ll keep you posted throughout the holidays with the latest numbers as they come in!

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It’s official: Sony’s Spider-Verse, at least as far as its live-action films go – is DOA. Granted, this won’t come as a surprise to anyone, with Morbius and Madame Web being roundly mocked. However, as far as losses go, Morbius actually eked out a profit, while the Venom trilogy, despite playing to diminishing returns, still made money. Only Madame Web was a flop in the true sense of the word, but now, Kraven the Hunter, which sports a budget in the $110 million range, is a legitimate box office fiasco, only grossing $11 million this weekend for a third-place finish. 

What’s even worse is that the movie scored a deadly C CinemaScore, which suggests toxic word of mouth (even Madame Web scored better with a C +) that’s going to put an end to its box office run, meaning it’s unlikely the holiday bonanza of filmgoers will save this one. If it crosses $40 million domestically, Sony will be lucky (but I wouldn’t bet on it), with the opening far worse than the $15 million we predicted earlier this week.

Otherwise, it was status quo at the box office, with Moana 2 hanging on to the top spot with a $26.6 million gross and a $337 million total – with a $400 million finish well within reach. Interestingly, Wicked wasn’t all that far behind it, with a $22.5 million gross, as the gap begins to narrow between these two films. Repeat business has been good for Wicked, especially with a sing-along version now in theaters, meaning it will likely have a very healthy run at the box office over the holidays. Expect it to hang around the top five long after Moana 2 has dropped out. 

Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II has continued to post decent grosses, with a $7.8 million weekend and a $145.9 million gross. The overseas total is about to pass $400 million, with a $500 million well within finish, meaning we might get a Gladiator III after all. 

One big surprise on the charts this weekend was Red One, which came in fifth place with a solid $4.4 million despite now streaming on Prime Video. The $92.6 million total isn’t that far from the century mark, which it should have no trouble passing. Less fortunate was WB, which had a flop with the animated Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim, which crashed and burned with a $5 million opening. Clearly, there was very little appetite to see this animated prequel on the big screen.

Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar re-release continued to excel despite losing many IMAX screens (it only had a one-week run on many), still grossing $3.3 million for the highest per-screen total in the top 10, over $10k.  The Indian-made sequel, Pushpa 2: The Rule, made $1.6 million for a solid $13 million total, while Lionsgate has had a rare hit with The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which added $1.35 million to its $36.6 million total. Finally, the top 10 was rounded out by A24’s Queer, starring Daniel Craig, which expanded beyond arthouses to a semi-wide release. The gross was a relatively weak $791K, for a $1.9 million total, making me think the movie will be lucky to end its run north of $5 million (at best).

Next week, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa should finally dethrone Moana 2 and Wicked from the top two spots. In the battle between Sonic and Mufasa who do you think willl win? Let us know in the comments! 

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Typically, the first weekend of December is notoriously slow, with audiences still recovering from the Thanksgiving holiday. However, in this unusual year of ups and downs at the box office, many more people went to see movies this weekend than usual for this time of year. The box office was driven by strong holdover business for Moana 2 and Wicked, both of which blasted past the $300 million domestic mark this weekend. At the same time, the re-release of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar proved to be a box office juggernaut. 

Moana 2 had a slightly bigger week-to-week decline than I anticipated in my predictions earlier this week. According to Deadline, it fell 63%, possibly as a result of its good (but not great) A-minus CinemaScore rating, which suggests audiences aren’t as wild about it as other breakout hits this year (Inside Out 2 and Wicked both received A ratings). Nevertheless, the $52 million weekend was hefty. Wicked slipped 57% in week three to $34.8 million and a massive $320.5 million weekend. With the holiday box office season coming up, I think this has a shot at $500 million domestic. 

Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II fell 60% to an ok $12.4 million. However, one has to imagine that the $132 million total is a bit soft for a movie that had a $200 million-plus budget (although overseas, it’s been a big hit – outgrossing Wicked). Red One, while initially a disappointment, has stuck it out at the box office, only slipped 45% this week to $7 million and an $85 million-plus total. Its performance is reminiscent of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, where it initially opened weakly but had solid word-of-mouth business in the weeks that followed.

The rest of the chart was dominated by specialty releases, led by the Indian-made sequel, Pushpa 2: The Rule, which made $5.9 million for a $10.5 million total. Perhaps the biggest surprise this week was the 10th-anniversary IMAX screenings of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. It made $4.4 million for a per-screen average in the $26k range (by far the biggest on the chart). That’s an excellent result for a movie that actually ranks as one of Nolan’s lower-grossing movies on the domestic side, proving that time has been kind to this sci-fi classic.

CrunchyRoll’s anime Solo Levelling- Reawakening played well to its audience, grossing $2.4 million, but A24’s Y2K absolutely tanked, earning $2.1 million on over 2000 screens. Other new releases, Werewolves, The Return, and The Order, opened well outside the top 10, with Werewolves and The Return having per-screen averages in the hundreds of dollars, which is a bad result for semi-wide releases. Fathom Event’s For King + Country: A Drummer Boy’s Christmas Live beat them with a $2.05 million weekend. Lionsgate’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever has continued to be a solid performer with $1.52 million and a $34 million total. 

The box office doldrums as far as new releases seem bound to continue next weekend, with neither Sony’s long-delayed Kraven: The Hunter nor Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim expected to drum up much business. Luckily, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is on the way, along with one of the best movies of the year, Nosferatu, to dominate the Christmas season.

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The folks at the House of Mouse have a lot to celebrate this year, with them being able to lay claim to three of the highest-grossing movies of 2024. This summer, they had back-to-back smashes with Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine, and now Moana 2 just set a Thanksgiving record, making a jaw-dropping $135.5 million and $221 million over the five-day holiday according to Deadline. Yowza. That’s a crazy number for a movie that was retrofitted from a streaming series into a feature film and quite a turnaround for a company that was in the dog house in 2023 following a series of pricey flops. 

Our box office predictions were way off for Moana 2, which just grew and grew as the weekend went on. What’s doubly impressive is the fact that its success didn’t suck up all the air at the box office, with Universal’s Wicked having stellar holdover business, earning $80 million, which marks a modest 29% decline from its first weekend. That’s an impressive hold for a movie that opened as well as it did. It’s made over $262 million to date domestically and may be well on its way to a final gross in the $500 million range. That’s good news for Universal, as they have a sequel opening next Thanksgiving. 

Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II came in hot in third place, with a $30.7 million weekend, marking a modest 44% week-to-week decline. It’s made about $111 million so far, with it likely to pass $200 million domestically. Whether or not it’ll make enough to merit a Gladiator III all depends on the global box office take, but it will still rank as one of the highest-grossing historical epics ever made. 

Dwayne Johnson’s other movie in theaters, Red One, had an excellent hold this weekend, with it only dipping 2% to $12.8 million and a $76 million total. It’ll easily cross the $100 million mark, and while that’s pretty low considering its $200 million-plus budget, it’ll for sure be a blockbuster when it hits Prime Video, which should happen before Christmas. 

Another holiday flick, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, managed an excellent hold, with it adding 2% this weekend for a $3.27 million weekend and a $32 million total. That’s a good number for a low-budget, faith-based film, and it will soon become Lionsgate’s highest-grossing movie of the year. That’s a rare win for a studio with a particularly horrible 2024.

Lower down the chart, Angel Studios’s Bonhoeffer lost a large chunk of its audience, with it making $2.4 million – a 60% decline from week one. The faith-based audience likely opted to see the more uplifting Best Christmas Pageant Ever instead. Its total domestic haul is just under $10 million. Venom: The Last Dance made $2.2 million in seventh place for a $137 million haul, which is disappointing for a superhero film but not disastrous either. Globally, it’s closing in on the $500 million mark. It will likely finish its run slightly ahead of Venom: Let There Be Carnage at the global box office, although that film was hampered by the pandemic.

In eighth place, A24’s Heretic continued to perform well, making $956K for a $26 million total. It might be able to crawl to $30 million. The Wild Robot is starting to wrap up its run in ninth place, making $670K, adding to its $142 million-plus total. A Real Pain rounded out the top ten, with $848k and a $6.1 million total. A low-budget charmer, this one should find a solid audience when it streams on Hulu sometime in the next few months.

Next weekend promises to be relatively quiet in terms new releases, so don’t expect much movement in the top five. What did you see this holiday weekend? Let us know in the comments!

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The buzz has been steadily rising the last few weeks for Jon M. Chu’s Wicked Part I, the long-anticipated big-screen adaptation of the hit Broadway show. In our weekly box office predictions column, we forecast the movie opening to $120 million, and the film opened just a little bit below that, with an estimated $114 million weekend. That makes it only the fourth film this year to open north of $100 million, and positions it well to keep earning big bucks over the upcoming holiday weekend. While it will see big competition from Moana 2, I expect Wicked to show big staying power, with it possible that the movie will end its domestic run north of $300 million, which is a significant number. While I was wary of it, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it (read my review), and audiences seem to agree, earning an A CinemaScore rating. 

By contrast, Gladiator II opened slightly above our predictions, with an estimated $55.5 million weekend, a solid (if unspectacular) debut for an R-rated historical drama. It marks Ridley Scott’s second biggest domestic opening, below 2001’s Hannibal, which opened with $58 million. It’s co-star Denzel Washington’s biggest opener ever, with it beating his last collaboration with Ridley Scott, American Gangster, which opened with $43 million. 

Given the opening, whether or not we ever get a Gladiator III likely depends on how it performs domestically over the next few weeks, and how good the international box office take is. The $55 million opening is good, but whether or not it earns enough money to justify another film remains to be seen. The CinemaScore is B, which is decent, but again – unspectacular. 

Given the increased competition, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that Red One, this Christmas action flick starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, tumbled a big 59% this weekend for a poor $13.2 million weekend and a $53 million total. Unless the Thanksgiving attendance is huge, this $200 million flick will finish its run way under $100 million domestic.

Fourth place on the chart went to Angel Studios, with their faith-based historical drama, Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin earning a solid $5.1 million. The indie studio also has another big swing prepped for the holiday season, with them releasing Homestead around Christmastime, which will also get a companion TV series which will be released online in the same way as their breakout hit, The Chosen. 

Venom: The Last Dance slipped to fifth place, making $4 million for a $133 million domestic total. It seems likely the movie will end its run around $145-50 million, which makes it the lowest domestic grosser in the series, although the international box office take has been good. 

The faith-based Best Christmas Pageant even slipped to sixth place, with it facing strong competition from Wicked. It made $3.5 million for a $25.5 million total. With a reported $10 million budget, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is likely one of Lionsgate’s more profitable movies this year.

A24’s Heretic continued to perform well, making $2.3 million for a domestic total just under $25 million. The Wild Robot made $2 million for a $140 million total as it wraps up its (successful) domestic run. Smile 2 made $1.11 million for a $67 million total, while Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain rounded out the top 10 with $1.1 million for a $4.9 million total.

Next weekend is likely going to be one of the biggest of the year, with Moana 2, Wicked, and Gladiator II all expected to bring in big bucks. What are you planning to go see? Let us know in the comments!

The post Weekend Box Office: Glicked happens with two big openings appeared first on JoBlo.

Is Dwayne Johnson still as big of a star as he seems to think he is? That’s the question that will be at the tip of everyone’s tongue this weekend, with his latest four-quadrant family film, Red One, opening to an underwhelming $34 million domestically. While that’s not a truly terrible number, what makes it sting more than it would otherwise is that the movie carries an astronomical budget of at least $200 million, meaning the movie may – rightly or wrongly – be viewed as something of a flop.

Consider this: Black Adam, which has a reputation for being a flop, still opened with about twice what Red One did. Unless word-of-mouth is terrific, Red One might have difficulty crawling to $100 million domestically.

Yet, it may not be as big of a flop as some think. The fact is, it was designed as a streaming movie for Prime Video, so one could view the theatrical release as an extended tease for its inevitable streaming launch. With the holiday theme, I’d expect it to premiere on Prime within weeks, which may hurt its long-term box office viability. Still, it opened with about $9 million more than I thought it would, and the A-minus CinemaScore rating isn’t half bad.

Venom: The Last Dance slid into second place, with a third weekend total of $7.35 million, adding up to a $127 million total, posting a 54% decline from last week. While that’s not an amazing domestic total for a superhero film, overseas, Venom 3 has been a blockbuster, with it on the cusp of breaking $500 million internationally before long.

Lionsgate’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is on track to become their highest-grossing film of the year, making $5.4 million for a total of just under $20 million. It should be able to pass Lionsgate’s biggest earner of the year so far, The Strangers: Chapter One, which made $35 million domestically. Ouch – $35 million is their best? It’s been a BAD year for this studio.

Meanwhile, A24’s Heretic fell 52% – which is a solid number for a horror movie – to a second-weekend gross of $5.3 million and a $20.4 million total, which ain’t bad for a movie that cost under $10 million. The Wild Robot rounded out the top five with $4.3 million and a $137 million total, while Smile 2 started to wrap up its run with $2.9 million in sixth place. The $65 million total is far below the $100 million plus made by the first film, but it still performed well for an R-rated horror film.

Another movie that’s proven to be a word-of-mouth hit is Focus Features’ Conclave. The film only fell 28% this weekend and made $2.85 million for a $26 million gross. It’s nice to see an adult drama having such staying power, which is also the case for Sean Baker’s Anora, which is further down the chart in 10th place with $1.8 million and a $10.5 million gross for Neon.

The Filipino romantic comedy sequel Hello, Love, Again came out of nowhere to make $2.3 million on only 250 screens. It had the highest per-screen average of the week, with $9.3K per screen. Finally, Searchlight’s Sundance breakout, A Real Pain, had a solid wide break with $2.3 million in ninth place. We loved this indie gem (read our review), and it deserves to be seenI

Next weekend should give the box office a huge boost, with Hollywood hoping the Glicked phenomenon (Gladiator/Wicked) becomes the next Barbenheimer. Only time will tell! 

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The song remains the same this weekend as Venom: The Last Dance follows our predictions from earlier this week and takes the top box office spot for the third weekend in a row. This marks yet another successful three-day outing for a franchise entry despite another drop in domestic dollars. While it will still go down as the lowest-grossing chapter in the series (by a long shot), it’s not the box office disaster some predicted it could be, with its take dwarfing that of Morbius, Madame Web, The Marvels, and Joker: Folie a Deux.

Without a whole lot of genuine competition, Venom: The Last Dance easily took the #1 spot this weekend, taking in $16.2 million and upping its total box office haul to just under $115 million. It’s worth noting that the first two movies in the series had each taken in somewhere around the $141-$142 million range domestically by their second weekend. The 2018 original would earn $213.5 million domestically and $856 million worldwide, while 2021’s Let There Be Carnage had similar domestic earnings but fared far worse worldwide with $501.5 million.

Regarding second place at the box office, both Heretic and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever were after the number two spot. But The Best Christmas Pageant Ever nabbed that spot with $11.1 million. Heretic – led by Hugh Grant and some post-Halloween horror fare – wasn’t far behind at all with an even $11 million. To note, the faith-based Best Christmas Pageant boasts a notable A CinemaScore rating, while Heretic only mustered a C rating, which isn’t that unusual for the genre.

The Wild Robot would take the fourth spot (it was at #2 last weekend), while Smile 2’s $5 million would round out the top five, pushing it past the $60 million mark.

Robert Zemeckis’ Here would continue its extremely fast slide into history with $2.4 million, putting it at the #8 spot after debuting at #5 last weekend with just under $5 million on a budget pegged upwards of 10 times as much (in due part to both starring Tom Hanks and making extensive use of de-aging AI.

Rounding out the top 10 would be Conclave at #6 ($4.1 million). That award-worthy drama only fell 19% this weekend, with a grand total of over $21 million. If word-of-mouth holds, expect it to be around $35 million domestically. Meanwhile, one of the fall’s most acclaimed films, Sean Baker’s Anora, finally cracked the top 10 at #7 with $2.5 million. A24’s We Live in Time hit #9 with 2.2 million, and Terrifier 3 hung in at the #10 spot with $1.5 million.

As mentioned, franchise fare has ruled the box office this fall, with only The Wild Robot breaking up such fare over the past few months, interrupting Beetlejuice Beetlejuice from its eventual $449 million worldwide haul. As far as original fare goes, you’d have to go back all the way to May for a non-franchise movie, when Paramount’s IF took the top spot.

Next week should be fairly slow at the box office, with the only major release that could rank as Red One, which stars Dwayne Johnson, J.K. Simmons, Chris Evans, and Lucy Liu. But this is all just a holdover until the pre-Thanksgiving boom, when we’ll see Wicked and Gladiator II stepping into the arena – or the Land of Oz, depending on your preferred venue – to fight it out for the top spot.

What did you catch at the movies this weekend? Which movies do you expect to reign supreme in the coming weeks?

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After a pretty underwhelming start at the North American box office, Sony’s Venom: The Last Dance, surprised everyone this weekend by posting a terrific hold. The estimated $26.1 weekend was a lot higher than we predicted. The 49% drop is unusual for a superhero film. The first Venom dropped 56% in week 2, while the sequel plunged 65%. Even Deadpool & Wolverine – the most liked superhero movie in years – fell 54% in its second weekend, which was considered a decent hold.

So what’s going on here? Part of it may be that the World Series might have kept audiences away last weekend. With a U.S. election happening on Tuesday, people might have yearned for a little escapism, allowing the film to make up for last weekend’s shortfall. With a $90 million gross, it’s unlikely to cross the double-century mark its predecessors did, but with very little in the way of competition next weekend, a finish north of $150 million isn’t out of the question.

Meanwhile, second place went to Dreamworks’s The Wild Robot, which has turned out to be a sleeper hit, with the $7.55 million haul (up 11% from last weekend) contributing to a $121 million domestic total. Smile 2 was a distant third, with $6.8 million and a $52.6 million total gross. While it will fall far short of the $105 million made by the first film, it should still turn a nice profit for the studio, allowing for more sequels (whether or not they should is something we dug into here). 

Focus Features has a word-of-mouth hit with Conclave, which fell a modest 20% in week 2 for a $5.3 million weekend and a total north of $14 million. With it likely to do well during awards season, there’s a good chance word of mouth will prop this up for a solid run (although if it drops too early on PVOD, it might shoot long-term box office prospects in the foot a bit).

The Robert Zemeckis movie, Here, wound up doing awful business this weekend, with a $5 million weekend. The CinemaScore is B minus, proving audiences aren’t enjoying this Tom Hanks/ Robin Wright re-team with their Forrest Gump director. A24 got themselves a nice word-of-mouth hit with We Live in Time, which fell a modest 28% this weekend, with a $3.47 weekend and a gross north of $17 million. It may well make it to $30 million if couples keep turning out to see this on date night. 

Meanwhile, possibly the year’s most profitable movie, Terrifier 3, earned $3.2 million towards a $50 million total gross. Two Bollywood movies took up eighth and ninth place, with Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Singham Again both making over $2 million apiece. Finally, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice rounded out the top 10, with a $2.08 million weekend and a $292 million gross.

Interestingly, Deadline reports that Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2, despite being dumped by Warner Bros, is far exceeding expectations, with an estimated $275k weekend on only thirty screens. If true, that would give it one of the highest per-screen averages on the chart this weekend. Considering his amazing track record, the studio should have shown a little more faith in ol’Clint.

Next weekend should allow Venom: The Last Dance to eke out another victory, with A24’s Heretic the only competition.

The post Weekend Box Office: Venom rallies in week 2; has a low second weekend drop appeared first on JoBlo.

Another week…another disappointing weekend at the box office. This has been a brutal fall season for Hollywood, with Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice the only smash hit of the season. While other movies like The Wild Robot and Terrifier 3 have performed well, would-be blockbusters like Transformers One and Joker: Folie a Deux fell flat. Case in point – Joker 2 isn’t even on the top 10 this weekend, with its $600k weekend placing it well outside the chart. Ouch. Another potential breakout hit, Venom: The Last Dance, underperformed this weekend, with it grossing $51 million domestically (which is just $1 million above what we predicted). While that’s not a bad start for a modestly budgeted superhero movie, the first Venom opened with $80 million, while the sequel – despite coming out during the pandemic, made $90 million in its first frame. The poor CinemaScore rating (B-minus) suggests audiences are suffering from a little bit of superhero fatigue. 

However, this third Venom movie should still turn out to be profitable for Sony, with the movie overperforming internationally, where it made a huge $124 million (not counting domestic), making it the third biggest opening weekend of the year after Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine. 

Parker Finn’s Smile 2 easily took second place, with $9.4 million, but the 59% drop is pretty steep, as the original only slipped 18% in its second frame. With a $40 million gross (so far), Smile 2 will turn a solid profit for Paramount, but it won’t be the money maker the first movie was (although I’d still expect at least one more sequel – which our man Tyler Nichols wrote about at length today).  

Third place ended up being a bit of a pleasant surprise, with Focus Features having a word-of-mouth hit with Edward Berger’s Conclave, which exceeded expectations to gross $6.5 million. With the Ralph Fiennes-led thriller a front-runner for some Oscar nominations, expect this one to stick around theaters for awhile. It’s more-or-less tied with The Wild Robot, which is also reporting $6.5 million for the weekend, with a total gross of $111 million for this well-reviewed family flick. 

Another word-of-mouth drama, A24’s We Live In Time, also did relatively well this weekend, making $4.8 million in fifth place and a $11.7 million total. While those aren’t blockbuster numbers, younger audiences are discovering the film, which is a solid choice for couples on a date. Terrifier 3 slipped to sixth place, with a $4.2 million gross and a $43.1 million total. All-in-all, Art the Clown is leading the film to be one of the year’s most profitable movies. 

The global smash hit, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, also continued to pull in solid numbers, with a $3.2 million gross and a $288 million domestic total. Of all the movies on the top 10, the arthouse smash Anora pulled in the biggest per screen average, making $25.5k per screen (more than twice what Venom: The Last Dance did), with an $867k weekend on only thirty-four screens. The Lego animated Pharrell doc, Piece By Piece, made $720k, giving it a low-key $8.8 million total, while Transformers One rounded out the top 10 with a $720k weekend and a $57 million domestic total.

The box office doldrums seem set to continue next weekend, with Robert Zemeckis’s Here one of the few wide releases coming out. Do you think Venom 3 might rally in its second weekend? Let us know in the comments!

The post Weekend Box Office: Venom underperforms domestically; is a hit overseas appeared first on JoBlo.