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Studios really cleared the deck when it came to Captain America, assuming a full-on domination for three weeks. That strategy actually assisted in getting Brave New World the headlines it needed to soft-pedal its ultimate fate, which led the weekend that ranks as the worst since the $29 million haul of Feb. 9-11, 2024. Just $44 million spread across the top 10. Neon tried a challenge last week, hoping horror fans were lying dormant for another well-marketed Osgood Perkins film. This week, only Focus Features introduced something wide for audiences. Who’s to say if Mickey 17 or any other big release could have knocked back Brave New World this week or last, but it is actually doing that pretty well by itself.
Not to entirely bury the lede on Captain America: Brave New World since it is the top film in the nation for the third straight week, but the numbers have not improved. This week’s $15 million amounts to the ninth-worst third weekend in MCU history. Nestled in between 2011’s Thor ($15.4 million) and its derided sequel Thor: The Dark World ($14.1 million), Brave New (Dark) World is not beating the rap that it is not headed for $200 million domestic. In terms of 17-day grosses, the new Cap has the eighth worst in the MCU. The ninth-worst film on that list (and every film above it) did make it over $200 million, but unless the drops come down to the 20-25% range this is headed more in the $185-195 million range. Globally the film is only at $341 million after just $18.8 million overseas. Its path to $400 million could be cooked as well. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy has made $90.2 million overseas (with no U.S. theatrical release) compared to Cap’s $178.1 million. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 just crossed $250 million internationally. The MCU has not had many financial failures, but this is going to be one of them.
Focus Features is coming off a pair of their biggest successes ever after a year they would have initially left behind for good. Conclave made money and is now an Oscar winner. Then Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu nearly became their highest-grossing domestic release ever, coming up just over a million dollars short. 2025 starts for them with the underwater thriller Last Breath, based on a true story and from the filmmaker who made the documentary of the same story back in 2019. It grossed $7.8 million this weekend, which would have been their third best opening of 2024. That’s a decent start for a film getting some decent reviews. For Focus. The film’s budget is a reported $23.8 million, which could end up higher than its domestic gross, so it is going to need much more than the $537,000+ its made internationally to break even.
Last week’s Brave New World challenger, The Monkey, dropped back a spot after falling 54.5% to $6.3 million. That brings its 10-day total to $24.6 million, which is just a few million more than what Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs grossed for Neon last year in only three. This is of minor consequence given that The Monkey is already the indie studio’s fourth highest-grossing domestic release (soon to be the third, passing I, Tonya) and should soon be in profit as well. That is the bottom line for Neon. Though this will be another horror film that won’t be hitting $40 million, it will be the most successful of the year so far.
Rounding out the top five are family films with two different stories. Paddington in Peru is in fourth with $4.5 million bringing its 17-day total to $31.4 million. It has now fallen below the pace of Paddington 2 and is now likely not going to reach $40 million either. Globally the film is just at $164 million, which is not even close to satisfying its $90 million production cost. In fifth there is a success story with Dog Man. The animated film made $4.2 million in weekend five and is now over $84 million with designs on passing $90 million domestic. Globally the film is over $110 million which is more than enough to declare victory with its smaller $40 million budget.
Barely contributing to a weak box office weekend, the bottom half of the top 10 all grossed less than $2 million. Mufasa: The Lion King was the best of the bunch with $1.9 million as it inches its way towards $250 million domestic. Ne Zha 2, which is on its way to gross $2 billion alone in China, is up to just $17.8 million in North America. Heart Eyes is trying to inch its way to $30 million. Zachary Levi and The Unbreakable Boy has grossed just $4.5 million for LionsGate. But the success that is One Of Them Days grossed another $925,000 and has a total of $47.4 million.
The anime Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX – Beginning just missed making the top ten with $917,000. Dito Montiel’s Riff Raff was released in 1,004 theaters and grossed $901,370. The documentary, Becoming Led Zeppelin, from Sony Classics made $829,000 and now has grossed a total of $8.7 million. My Dead Friend Zoe, released by Briarcliff, grossed $755,000 in 780 theaters. Oscar watchers were catching up this weekend before the big show with A Complete Unknown ($904,000 / $73.7 million total), the 2005 Oscar-nominated Short Films ($517,750 / $3.09 million total), Brady Corbet’s three-time winner The Brutalist ($439,000 / $15.7 million total) and Sean Baker’s Best Picture winning Anora ($260,000 / $15.9 million total). Best International Feature winner I’m Still Here also grossed $530,000 in 512 theaters and has made over $21.5 million worldwide.
The latest from Oscar-winning filmmaker Bong Joon Ho finally arrives in theaters after varying delays. The sci-fi Mickey 17 with Robert Pattinson opens with designs on taking the top spot away from Captain America. It made $9 million in Korea in its first four days. Also arriving is In the Lost Lands from not-Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul W.S. Anderson collaborating again with Milla Jovovich and joined by Dave Bautista, adapting the short story from Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin. IFC is releasing the horror film, The Rule of Jenny Pen, with John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush. There is also A24’s On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, the female wrestling drama Queen of the Ring, the baseball comedy Eephus, the animated Night of the Zoopocalypse, and Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils with Amanda Seyfried.
Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast. [box office figures via Box Office Mojo]
Thumbnail image by ©Marvel/©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
