Discount Star Wars, I mean discount Lord of the Rings; sorry, the infamous game that drops audiences in the Forgotten Realms roared with a strong $38.5 million weekend, beating out John Wick: Chapter 4‘s chances of making it the top gun for the second weekend in a row. That makes it the best opening for a non-sequel since Jordan Peele’s Nope in the summer of last year. Buoyed by stellar reviews and fandom of the tabletop game indeed gave Paramount’s (potentially new) IP some juice for the Dungeons & Dragons initiation. The Chris Pine/Michelle Rodriguez-led feature also earned $33 million overseas for an already $71.5 million global tally. Audiences seem incredibly forthcoming about more game-adapted films. See Uncharted, Sonic the Hedgehog and its sequel, and the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Movie for reference. Its legs should be amplified alongside Mario for the remainder of April, as it promotes itself more of a family-esque adventure that remains faithful to its source material and retains its breezy tone for a fun time.
Meanwhile, John Wick 4 took a substantial dip in its second weekend when up against the intense competition. But I don’t believe anyone will be batting an eye when its domestic total is already at $122.7 million in North America and $245 million worldwide. That means it’s Hollywood’s biggest R-rated film since Bad Boys for Life, and it is on pace to try to catch up with Parabellum. No spoilers, but for those that have seen the feature, it puts one heck of a punch for Keanu Reeves and all involved. Will Chapter 5 happen? I think the answer is two-fold, but in the meantime, let’s get in on the insane action.
The newcomer, His Only Son, only took a small debut of $5.5 million, putting it in bronze for the weekend. Sacrificing Abraham wasn’t everyone’s ideal scenario to embrace, even if the feature got an ‘A’ from CinemaScore. Angel Studios may acquire a cult following for a newcomer studio, similar to A24, if it continues to perform well down the line. Scream 6 took fourth place with $5.3 million and should pass $100 million domestically by Wednesday. And Creed 3 refuses to pull any punches as it’s almost $150 million domestically and has acquired $258.6 million worldwide. It’s already the highest of the spinoff series, and Michael B. Jordan should pursue helming the next chapter.
On a sadder note, Shazam! Fury of the Gods has crumbled by its third weekend, only pulling in $4.72 million and under $120 million globally. Bombing in China, mediocre reviews, and fierce competition have disappointed it. There are many reasons to believe Zachary Levi might pull out of the rebooted DC Studios’ vision. Superhero movies have seen a grim start for the first quarter of 2023, and the hope is for them to pull back as audiences seem to have gotten worn out from excessive world-ending shenanigans every other day. Ant-Man 3 will finish around $475 million worldwide, but it’s still low compared to its predecessors—a (somewhat) worrisome start for Phase 5 of the MCU.
Next weekend sees the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Air.
