Thanksgiving is upon us, and the box office is moving along. Indeed, things would be optimistically higher if there were more new releases, right?
To paraphrase others, the MCU continues to show it’s a force of reckoning, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the current massive grace at the cinemas. Perhaps we’re waiting for that one day when it won’t be able to hold down the fort and shocks the world that the Marvel-IP is not doing something correctly. Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino might be having some beer parties if that moment does dawn upon us. Anyway, enough rambling; the MCU coveted sequel took in $67.3 million worldwide in its second weekend, a (somewhat) alarming 63% drop. Why so is because its predecessor took a rather generous 44% drop in its second weekend, making the sequel feel less unique and more aligned with the current Marvel numbers. Probably the focal point would be the runtime that’s dragging down many. The bright side is it is Thanksgiving week, so we should expect an easier dropoff once next weekend’s numbers roll around. Wakanda Forever sits at $288 million+ domestically and $546.3 million+ worldwide, and it should still have plenty of zeal to best $1 billion worldwide.
She Said bombed with $2.25 million this weekend, solidifying that folks aren’t terribly interested in Harvey Weinstein any further. Kudos to Universal for taking on such a project when the #MeToo movement erupted, but I’m confident they’re more interested in the awards ledger than the theatrical one. It’s been frustratingly cumbersome to pull in adults for these titles in a post-pandemic era, yet folks will still try them out there.
The Menu rose to a $9 million opening, taking the No. 2 spot. We’re probably looking at a domestic run on par with Midsommar/Ready or Not, between $25-30 million. The Anya Taylor-Joy/Ralph Fiennes feature brought a straightforward narrative with bizarre yet incredible elements that serve its taste buds well. Gordon Ramsay might’ve gotten a kick out of it, inspiring his next Hell’s Kitchen season. The movie etched out to beat Chosen Season 3‘s $8.2 million in fighting for second place while Marvel stood alone at the mountaintop.
Black Adam dropped 44% in its fifth weekend, bringing its domestic cume to $157 million. Dwayne Johnson can laugh off the competition between the two because the Marvel-IP has always stood hefty compared to DC. But, with his star power, one does have to question why Johnson’s solo film did not project even higher. Guess that is a talking point for another day. It may get some added assistance with the holidays staying around, but don’t get your hopes up if it can’t get past $200 million domestically.
And #5 sticks with Ticket to Paradise, which earned $3.2 million in its fifth weekend. George Clooney and Julia Roberts have done their parts in a fine rom-com.
This week before Thanksgiving gets the release of Disney’s Strange World, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and Devotion.
