Weekend Box Office: The Devil Wears Prada 2 Wins Battle of the Sequels Against Mortal Kombat II
The Certified Fresh sequel and Mortal Kombat II take center stage.
It was a battle of the sequels this weekend, and it seems as if many overestimated the draw of one and underestimated the other, especially with Mother’s Day. The restrictions were off the video game-inspired sequel Mortal Kombat II, and while there was certainly a post-pandemic, non-streaming day-and-date bump, there may still be a ceiling to this enterprise. Meanwhile, the roof may continue to be raised for this weekend’s repeat champion, The Devil Wears Prada 2.
Queen of the Crop: The Devil Wears Prada 2 Comes Out on Top For the Second Week in a Row
The Devil Wears Prada 2 held off three wide challengers this weekend to maintain the top spot at the box office. Its second weekend of $43 million (a 44% drop) is better than many of the opening weekends of films starting over Mother’s Day. Right up there over Deep Impact ($41.1 million) and Twister ($41.0 million). Albeit films back in the ‘90s ranked as the seventh and eighth best openings on the second weekend of May, they are part of a collective of films geared more towards men than women. Bridesmaids ($26.2 million), Monster-in-Law ($23.1 million), and Snatched ($19.5 million) are the top openers fronted by women over this weekend. In just 10 days, Prada 2 has already outgrossed the original both domestically ($144.8 million vs. $124.7 million) and worldwide ($433.2 million vs. $326.5 million). With inflation, those 2026 numbers are estimated at around $204 million, so let’s see if the sequel has a path to surpass that.
We can answer that with a little bit of history. No film that has opened in May and grossed over $133 million in its first 10 days has missed getting over $200 million. Period. So, if that is the case, just how far could it go? $41 million is a better second weekend than X2 ($40.03 million), and it was at $147.6 million in 10 days. That could put Prada 2 in the $210-220 million range. X2 took a big 56.8% drop in its third weekend three, and Prada 2 is the odds-on favorite to lead the box office for the third straight weekend. We could see its estimate easily extend into the $220-230 million territory.
Tales of the Top 10: Mortal Kombat II is a Hit at the Box Office
Video game fans lost their minds when they heard the music of the teaser for 1995’s Mortal Kombat. The “PG-13” film was light on the violent fatalities of the game, but nevertheless opened to $23.2 million that August and grossed over $70 million domestically. The sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, was not as successful, opening around Thanksgiving in 1997 to $16.7 million and finishing with $35.9 million. When Warner Bros. finally got around to doing the true “R”-rated version the fans wanted, the 2021 film and pandemic streaming hit Mortal Kombat became part of the studio’s experiment to release all its films that year on HBO MAX at the same time as their theatrical runs. It bested the 1995 opening with $23.3 million, but most stayed home to watch, ultimately collecting just $42.3 million domestically and $84 million across the world.
This weekend, the sequel Mortal Kombat II, which completed filming in January 2024, finally hit theaters, and as video game adaptations go, it ranks as one of the better ones critically and financially. $40 million made MKII come in the top 10 video game adaptations at the box office behind A Minecraft Movie ($162.7 million), The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($131.7 million), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ($72.1 million), Sonic the Hedgehog 3 ($60.1 million), Sonic the Hedgehog ($58.0 million), Pokemon Detective Pikachu ($54.3 million), Uncharted ($44.0 million), and ahead of The Angry Birds Movie ($38.1 million) and Rampage ($35.7 million). Add in another $23 million internationally, and the $80 million production is at $63 million. But those soft international numbers are not great for the bottom line, especially if the domestic ones come up even softer next week.
Back to the critical part for a moment, the community has never quite embraced most of the video game adaptations out there. The Sonic the Hedgehog films have all managed to come out fresh, with the third film in 2024 ranking as the highest among all films based on video games, with an 88%. Movies like Ready Player One, Free Guy, and the Trons and Jumanjis are video game adjacent but apart from Detective Pikachu and this year’s Iron Lung, squeezing in with a 61%, no other adaptation has registered positively with critics — until Mortal Kombat II got itself on a very exclusive list with a 65% score. We’ll see how close the drop next week comes to that number, as it could be the difference between hitting $100 million domestic or not. There has never been a film in May to start with $38 million and miss that milestone. Mortal Kombat II would like to avoid making that kind of history.
Michael Moonwalks Into Becoming Lionsgate’s Third Biggest Hit Of All Time
Antoine Fuqua’s Michael is a global phenomenon at this point, making $36.5 million in its third weekend and driving its domestic total to $240.4 million in just 17 days. That is more than what Zootopia 2 had ($238.9 million) in the same timeframe, and it was only rocking a $25.8 million third weekend. It still had the whole Christmas season ahead of it, and Michael is still a few weeks away from schools being out. No film grossing $35 million in its third weekend has ever missed $300 million domestic. Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ had $32.1 million in weekend three and was at $240.3 million. Following that path could see Michael get into the territory of $375 million, making it the third highest-grossing domestic release in Lionsgate’s history. It is already at $577 million around the world. It only needs $865 million to become Lionsgate’s top-grossing title worldwide ever.
The Sheep Detectives Joins The Herd Of Live-Action Talking Animals Films
Back in 1995, the talking pig classic, Babe, opened to $8.7 million in August and went on to gross over $63 million domestically and $254 million worldwide. The sequel, directed by George Miller, Babe: Pig in the City, did not fare nearly as well, opening to $6.1 million and finishing with just $18.3 million domestic and $69 million globally. Since then, there have been many live-action talking animal films. This weekend, The Sheep Detectives, adapted by Chernobyl and The Last of Us creator Craig Mazin, opened. How does that compare to the others?
- The Jungle Book (2016) ($103.2 million opening)
- Scooby-Doo ($54.1 million)
- Hop ($37.5 million)
- Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed ($29.4 million)
- Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($29.3 million)
- Doctor Dolittle ($29.0 million)
- Dr. Dolittle 2 ($25.03 million)
- Peter Rabbit ($25.01 million)
- Dolittle ($21.8 million)
- Garfield: The Movie ($21.72 million)
- Cats & Dogs ($21.70 million)
- Zookeeper ($20.06 million)
- Paddington ($18.9 million)
- The Sheep Detectives ($15.9 million)
- Stuart Little 2 ($15.1 million)
- Stuart Little ($15.0 million)
- Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore ($12.2 million)
- Marmaduke ($11.5 million)
- Charlotte’s Web (2006) ($11.4 million)
- Paddington 2 ($11.0 million)
- Babe ($8.7 million)
- Strays ($8.2 million)
- Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties ($7.2 million)
- Babe: Pig in the City ($6.1 million)
- Paulie ($5.3 million)
In Other Box Office News…
Taylor Swift clearly elevated all expectations for what a theatrical concert film could do at the box office. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour opened to $92.8 million and grossed nearly $179 million domestically. Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce came out less than two months later in 2023 and opened to $21.8 million and finished with $33.2 million. Now it is Billie Eilish’s turn, and she has brought James Cameron in to film her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour. The resulting film began with a mere $7.5 million, lower than Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour ($31.1 million), Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ($29.5 million), One Direction: This Is Us ($15.8 million), and Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert ($12.5 million). But barely ahead of Katy Perry: Part of Me ($7.1 million). The release of Billie Eilish: Live at the O2 in 600 theaters in January 2023 for a single weekend grossed $1.29 million. Hit Me Hard and Soft is at $20.1 million worldwide.
The two biggest movies of the year continue to lead the way. Universal’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie made $6.6 million in its sixth weekend, bringing its domestic total to $412.1 million. That is the 29th best all-time for films after 40 days of release, just ahead of last year’s Lilo & Stitch ($402.7 million) and A Minecraft Movie ($409.8 million). Mario has his eyes on ultimately hitting $425 million and passing both of them. Then we have Project Hail Mary with its eighth week in the top ten with $6 million and over $327 million domestic after 52 days. As it makes a legitimate push to reach $350 million at home, we will likely see this surpass $700 million across the globe as well. It currently stands at $655 million. Mario Galaxy is over $941 million.
On the horror scene, we still have Damian McCarthy’s Hokum with Adam Scott, making $3.3 million in its second weekend. That is better than the second weekends of Neon’s Immaculate ($3.25 million) and Together ($2.53 million). Hokum’s $12.4 million after 10 days is closer to Immaculate’s $11.1 million than Together’s $15.4 million. Both releases had pretty decent multiples of 3.14 and 2.93 for indie horror. A finish between $15-20 million appears likely for the $5 million production. Renny Harlin’s Deep Water only made $779,000 in its second weekend, but that was good enough for ninth place. The $20 million production has made just $3.7 million for Magenta Light.
Finally, rounding out the top 10, Andy Serkis’ $35 million production of Animal Farm has received some of the worst reviews of the year thus far. Angel Studios couldn’t get audiences interested in the kiddie-skewered version of George Orwell’s totalitarian classic. It made $664,000 in its second weekend to bring its domestic total to only $5 million.
Beyond the Top Ten: WG Pictures Expands Our Hero, Balthazar
Ildiko Enyedi’s Silent Friend, released by 1-2 Special, grossed $74,000 in just a pair of theaters in New York. WG Pictures expanded Our Hero, Balthazar, with Jaeden Martell and Asa Butterfield, doubling its release into 20 theaters in its 7th week of release, and it grossed $36,327. It has made $216,847 to date, and it opened to $33,138 in a single theater on Mar. 27.
On The Vine: Top Gun Returns to the Big Screen
This week, we get Focus Features’ first horror release since Nosferatu in Curry Barker’s Obsession, which has been a hit on the fest circuit since Toronto last year, with a 96% approval rating from critics. Black Bear Pictures releases Guy Ritchie’s In the Grey with Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill. Amazon/MGM also has the revenge drama Is God Is, and Paramount is bringing back Top Gun for its 40th Anniversary.
Full List of Box Office Results
- The Devil Wears Prada 2 – $43.0 million ($144.8 million total)
- Mortal Kombat II – $40.0 million ($40.0 million total)
- Michael – $36.5 million ($240.4 million total)
- The Sheep Detectives – $15.9 million ($15.9 million total)
- Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft – $7.5 million ($7.5 million total)
- The Super Mario Galaxy Movie – $6.6 million ($412.1 million total)
- Project Hail Mary – $6.0 million ($327.7 million total)
- Hokum – $3.3 million ($12.4 million total)
- Deep Water – $779,000 ($3.7 million total)
- Animal Farm – $664,000 ($5.0 million total)
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]
