The weekend box office results are in, and Marvel’s Thunderbolts managed an easy first-place win with $33 million. That’s pretty close to what we predicted earlier this week. That marks a 55% decline from its opening weekend, which is much better than the usual Marvel results, with Captain America: Brave New World and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania both falling about 69%, while The Marvels fell a disastrous 78%. The running total now is $128 million. That said, this is a modest result for a Marvel movie, with it unlikely to hit the $200 million mark (Brave New World crawled to this total, but it took a long time).
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!
| # | MOVIE TITLE | WKND $ | TOTAL $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thunderbolts | $33.1 M | $128.4 M |
| 2 | Sinners | $21.1 M | $214.4 M |
| 3 | A Minecraft Movie | $7.9 M | $408.9 M |
| 4 | The Accountant 2 | $6.09 M | $50.8 M |
| 5 | Clown in Cornfield | $3.65 M | $3.65 M |
| 6 | Shadow Force | $2.015 M | $2.015 M |
| 7 | Fight or Flight | $2.001 M | $2.001 M |
| 8 | Until Dawn | $2 M | $18 M |
| 9 | The Amateur | $1.1 M | $38.9 M |
| 10 | King of Kings | $680 k | $59.07 M |
