TAGGED AS: Box Office, movies, news, Summer
Action star Bob Odenkirk (not a misprint) was not enough to take down the latest audience sensation or the Disney nostalgia train this weekend. That could be a problem for next week’s releases, too, as we approach the end of another summer. The slow crawl to Labor Day weekend is upon us. There are only two more weeks for the box office to catch 2024’s $3.63 billion. The season is ending with a re-release of one of the biggest films of all time, and with another $100 million spent this weekend, we are about $300 million away from besting last year. This August may not have a Barbie, Oppenheimer, or Deadpool & Wolverine to help drive the grosses to pre-pandemic levels, but it does have its own Weapons, and that ain’t no fluke.
Zach Cregger’s Weapons had a solid 43% hold over the weekend to finish with $25 million. That is the eighth-best August hold ever for a film opening over $25 million, behind The Sixth Sense (-3.4%), Crazy Rich Asians (-6.4%), The Help (-23.1%), We’re the Millers (-32%), Free Guy (-34.8%), Tropic Thunder (-37.0%), and Don’t Breathe (-40.1%). That brings Weapons’ total to $89 million, which is the 13th-best 10-day total for an August release. Looking at all the films this month that have reached $80 million in that period, every one of them had a second weekend of $21 million or higher, and all grossed at least $140 million. On the path Weapons is on, which should include a third weekend at No. 1 next week, it could be headed for as much as $160 million. Somewhere in between is not a bad estimate to start with and would make it one of the most profitable films of the summer with $148.8 million globally to date.
Lionsgate decided to get very selective with those who saw Americana, the modern-day Western that premiered at SXSW in 2023. The film with Sydney Sweeney, Halsey, Paul Walter Hauser, and a 68% on the Tomatometer from critics who were allowed to see it prior to release grossed $500,000 this weekend in 1,100 theaters for just a $455 per-theater average. That is the third worst PTA of the year for a film opening in over 1,000 theaters, ahead of only Juliet & Romeo ($289,489 in 1,350 theaters – $214 PTA) and the animated Sneaks ($530,786 in 1,500 theaters – $354 PTA).
Disney’s Freakier Friday remained in the two slot, as anticipated last week. It could even be there again next week, but first things first, as its second weekend ended with an estimated $14.5 million. That makes 10 days with $54.7 million. As far as August family films in the area, Freakier is about a couple million ahead of The Princess Diaries 2 ($52.2 million in 10 days), which had a $13 million second weekend. The original Freaky Friday was at $49.2 million after a $13.4 million second go but had very small drops in weekends three (-30.7%) and four (-0.9%). So a better model until further notice would be Diaries 2, a film that ultimately finished with $95.1 million. Freakier is just ahead of its pace, which could translate to getting just over $100 million. Followers of the column may remember Bullet Train’s slow march to the milestone in 2022. That film was at $54.4 million after 10 days and a $13.4 million second weekend. It finished with $103 million. Disney’s highest-grossing August family release ever is still the 2003 Freaky Friday with $110.2 million. Globally, its sequel is at $86.3 million.
Nobody debuted in March 2021 when audiences were tiptoeing their way back into theaters during the pandemic. It opened to $6.8 million and finished with more than four times that at $27.5 million. Universal decided to go for a second round, upped the budget from $16 million to $25 million, and brought in The Night Comes For Us director Timo Tjahjanto to helm it. Nobody 2 finished the weekend in third place with $9.2 million, besting the original’s opening and maintaining a consistent critical score with a Certified Fresh 77%. (The first film stands at 84%.) Globally the film added another $4.9 million. Domestically it is possibly headed for just $25-30 million, same as the original. But it is going to need that international audience to turn this one into a success.
Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps continues to drop harder than originally hoped. Its fourth weekend consisted of $8.8 million, bringing its 24-day total up to $247 million. The first official MCU outing of Marvel’s First Family will be the first film in that universe to open over $117 million and not reach $300 million. It continues to roll closely along the path of The Matrix Reloaded as it looks at around $275 million on the domestic side to finish out its run. Though it is still headed very much in that direction, the real disappointment would be to not hit $500 million globally, as Disney could at least still sell the film as being a minor success for the brand. The good news is that it should reach that milestone, as it stands now at $468.7 million. Another $25-30 million alone should come domestically. Thunderbolts* and First Steps are the best-reviewed films in the MCU since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, a period that also saw two of their worst in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (47%) and Captain America: Brave New World (49%).
Did the word-of-mouth success of the original Bad Guys film not carry over into home viewing, or was the sequel just released at the wrong time? We may never know the true answer, but we do know one thing: Animated family films in August have a lower chance of success than any other month of the summer. Not that animation is having a great year to begin with. Eight months in, and despite the successes of Dog Man and The King of Kings, not one has grossed $100 million domestic this year. The Bad Guys 2 will follow that trend after $7.5 million in its third weekend brings its total to $57.2 million in 17 days. That is $2.3 million lower than Planes, which had an $8.5 million third weekend and still only finished with $90 million. BG2 continues along a path similarly forged by David Lowery’s Pete’s Dragon, which ended up with $76.2 million. Globally the film is now over $117 million, but it’s going to need to get to $200 million for profitability.
James Gunn’s Superman is still just shy of $600 million worldwide, a milestone that only six films in the DCU ever accomplished (three of which, by the way, featured Superman). Another $5.2 million this weekend puts its domestic total at $340.9 million, the third-highest of the year and second-highest of the summer. Internationally the film ranks eighth with $253.6 million, and it’s unlikely to finish in the top 10 by year’s end. Supergirl will be up next June and will be a big test for the new Gunniverse. Superman’s international numbers don’t even measure up to Aquaman and the Last Kingdom ($302 million), which unceremoniously closed the lid on the already canceled prior universe.
A lot of people are talking about how funny The Naked Gun is. If only there were more of them. Weekend three of the rebooted parody brought in $4.8 million, which puts its 17-day total at $41.9 million. In the summer of 2023, Jennifer Lawrence in No Hard Feelings had $40.5 million after a $5.4 million third weekend, and it ultimately managed to cross the $50 million milestone. The Naked Gun is hoping to just get over that line as well. It has also brought in another $28 million overseas for a total of $70 million, but it is going to need to cross at least $100 million for a shot at theatrical profitability.
Jurassic World: Rebirth has been a success for Universal. Despite showing signs of decline from previous entries, $828 million worldwide is still a healthy chunk of change, $332.1 million of that coming from the domestic side after making another $2.9 million this weekend. It is at $496.5 million overseas and will become the fourth film this year to reach half-a-billion alone outside North America. Only four films did that in all of 2024. The record was 12 in 2019 just before the pandemic began.
Hanging on for another week in the top ten — its eighth, to be precise — is F1: The Movie, with $2.6 million. That brings its domestic total over $182 million, but globally the film is at $590 million, a number that may top not just Fantastic Four but also Superman, which made $3.1 million overseas this weekend compared to F1’s $9.3 million. Finally, 10th place goes to Rajinikanth in Coolie. The action revenge film made $2.4 million in 800 theaters this weekend, and it has made $6.4 million since opening during the week.
Outside of the top 10, the re-release of Shin Godzilla in 4K by GKids into 1,290 theaters made $1.63 million over the weekend and $2.48 million since Thursday. The Dave Franco/Alison Brie body horror film Together made $1.07 million to bring its total just shy of $20 million. It may not have been the breakout that Neon wished for, but it is being cited as one of the examples of great original horror to come out this year (and that despite a still-pending lawsuit from the makers of the film Better Half alleging copyright infringement and similarities in the script). Meanwhile, Sketch, the comic family adventure that eked into the top 10 last week, made $926,000 in its second weekend, bringing its total to just over $7 million. Sony Classics’ narrative doc hybrid, East of Wall, which premiered at Sundance this year, made $372,000 in 626 theaters. Finally, Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest with Denzel Washington made its debut in 300 theaters this weekend before being available on Apple+ starting Sept. 5. But no grosses were reported for it.
It could be a three-peat in the 1-2 slots next week if they stay above $10 million. That should give enough of a cushion to beat new releases like Honey Don’t, Ethan Coen’s second solo directorial effort with his Drive-Away Dolls star Margaret Qualley, also featuring Aubrey Plaza and Chris Evans. Bleecker Street releases the whistleblower thriller Relay, with Riz Ahmed and Lily James. Ron Howard’s all-star cast of Eden is primed to debut from Vertical Entertainment. And the latest anti-rom-com featuring Dakota Johnson, Splitsville, will open in limited release.
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. Pictures
