TAGGED AS: Box Office, movies, news
It may be the beginning of March but it did not begin the way March used to. The Spring season is upon us but the weekend was not much better than the last, which happened to be the worst box office top 10 since February of last year. Audiences were not given a sequel or a Disney movie or a comic book film to kick off the season but a new film from renowned universal audience pleaser Bong Joon Ho. That turned out to be a gift for some and just a drop in the bucket for Warner Bros.
Bong Joon Ho’s first film since his Oscar-winning Parasite did indeed open at No. 1 this weekend. Mickey 17 began with $19.1 million, which ranks as one of the weakest leaders to open March since 2000, and at least two of the films on that list were not in their first weeks, or they opened during the pandemic:
We Were Soldiers ($20.2 million)
The Mexican ($20.1 million)
Mickey 17 ($19.1 million)
Chappie ($13.3 million)
Madea’s Family Reunion ($12.6 million – 2nd week)
Raya and the Last Dragon* ($8.5 million)The Whole Nine Yards – ($7.1 million – 3rd week)
Tracking was hoping for over $20 million; below that is not going to cut it for a film with a reported $118 million budget. Then again, if we’re being optimists, some of the films with higher Tomatometer scores have actually parachuted beyond the usual sub-$60 million finish. Films like I Love You Man, 2002’s The Rookie, and 1990’s The Hunt for Red October all made it over $70 million. That’s quite a stretch (plus different box office times for Red October), considering that I Love You Man is the only R-rated film to open under $20 million and cross $60 million in the month of March since the year 2000. Mickey 17 has grossed another $34.2 million internationally for a global total of $53.3 million; that’s not even half of its budget. It is going to need considerably more than twice that $118 million to break even.
Out of the top spot for the first time in three weeks is Captain America: Brave New World, which made $8.5 million in its fourth weekend. Now with over $176 million, that puts the film between Ant-Man and the Wasp ($183.4 million) and Black Widow ($167.1 million) on the all-time MCU list for films after 24 days. Cap’s fourth weekend was closer to Wasp ($8.76 million) than Widow ($6.47 million), which might provide some hope that crossing $200 million is still possible. But it would need to start besting the former’s weekend numbers since that film’s summer weekday figures ($9.71 million) in week four are stronger than Cap’s winter tallies ($4.5 million), helping to push it over $216 million. Brave New World is over $370 million worldwide and may still have a chance at $400 million, but it won’t be far over and certainly not enough to declare victory.
Third place goes to last week’s underwater true story, Last Breath, which took in $4.2 million in its second weekend. Its $14.6 million total lies in the vicinity of films like The Juror and Reindeer Games, both of which would domestically come up shy of the reported $23.8 million for Last Breath’s budget. The film, starring Woody Harrelson and Simu Liu, is on course for a $19-23 million finish, which would have been the third or fourth highest-grossing film for Focus Features in 2024.
Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey is down to fifth place with $3.9 million. That brings its total to $31 million. Heart Eyes will be crossing that threshold soon as well, while The Monkey will hold the high-water mark on the year for horror — at least perhaps until Ryan Coogler’s Sinners opens next month. The Monkey is well into profit, though, unlike another animal. Neon also coming fresh up their big Oscar victory saw Anora jump back into the top 10 with $1.86 million, bringing its total to $18.4 million. Best Animated Feature winner Flow also grossed another $102,000 in 139 theaters. Its total is now at nearly $4.5 million.
Paddington in Peru may be outgrossing The Monkey with nearly $37 million, but even with its international haul, it’s not covering its $90 million budget. It’s a shame that these films have not found more love here in the States. Dog Man has outgrossed the last two Paddington films combined in North America, and another $3.5 million this weekend brings its domestic total to $88.7 million. Worldwide the film is over $120 million. Paddington in Peru is at $170 million but cost 125% more than Dog Man. Mufasa: The Lion King, meanwhile, is enjoying its 12th week in the top 10 and is officially past $250 million domestic and $700 million globally. Rounding out the top 10 this week was the animated Night of the Zoopocalypse, which grossed just a little over $1 million.
Not a lot of love was shown for the latest from Angel Studios, who have continued to maintain enough of a brand in films and stories that normally wouldn’t receive a 2,000+ theater launch and an opening in the $2-6 million range. That is where the bulk of their films have started, but Rule Breakers lived up to its name with a $1.5 million opening; lower than their January release of Brave the Dark ($2.28 million). All of their releases with the exception of Dark and Sight have grossed at least $11 million. Rule Breakers looks to become the third on that list.
Not a lot of love was shown for the latest from the Paul W.S. Anderson either this weekend. His latest collaboration with spouse Milla Jovovich teams her with Dave Bautista in an adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s short story, In the Lost Lands. Released by Vertical, the film grossed just $1 million in 1,370 theaters. IFC’s horror film The Rule of Jenny Pen, with John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush, made just $263,000 in 878 theaters. A24’s On Becoming a Guinea Fowl mustered up $13,361 in four theaters. But the biggest per-theater average on the list this week belongs to the Music Box release of the baseball comedy, Eephus, which made $21,080 in two theaters for a $10,540 average. The film also currently maintains a perfect 100% on the Tomatometer.
Steven Soderbergh gets his second movie of the year released when Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett go Spy vs. Spy in Black Bag. The Focus release will take on Paramount’s Novocaine with Jack Quaid as a guy immune to feeling pain. A24 will also release Opus with Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich in a film that did not wow critics at Sundance.
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 ©Warner Bros.
