Autobots came out on top ahead of our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man this time. With numbers like this, it marks the first time in five years that the two top movies of the weekend earned over $55 million.
That’s not something we expected to be writing about, especially when the Transformers IP has been a mediocre batch of trying to pull high numbers but had to do a mini reboot phase with Bumblebee and now this one with Rise of the Beasts. The seventh installment pulled in $60.5 million domestically and $171 million worldwide in its debut. It probably won’t be leggy enough to reach Bumblebee’s $471 million performance, but getting past $400 million might do enough of the job. Even mixed reviews couldn’t stop audiences from giving it an A- CinemaScore grade. Usually, for a franchise to get past the sixth or seventh title, they must find a new creative spin on the formula (a la Mission Impossible, Planet of the Apes, Scream, or Fast and Furious), or they’ll collapse like Predator and Terminator.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse dipped 54% in its second weekend for $55.425 million. With $225 million domestically, it is Sony’s biggest animated earner (having passed its predecessor) and should be sliding past $400 million worldwide by tomorrow. With continued legs that might not be up to the bar like Wonder Woman, this could finish at around $625-650 million worldwide. Let’s see how much it can continue to leg out, and with The Flash dropping next weekend, it could be in store for some little added boost.
The Little Mermaid has earned another $53 million worldwide for a $414 million global cume. Yes, it might be floundering overseas (pun intended). Still, the latest Disney rebooted feature is on course to track past $500 million worldwide, which might be enough for folks to say that intertwining gender politics in the newest reboot didn’t cause it to become shipwrecked. Maybe not everyone wants to see a Disney reboot, but if it pulls families toward theaters for the next generation to witness, it’s a win.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has passed $800 million worldwide, which confirms that A) Marvel fatigue isn’t prevalent when you put together worthwhile outings, and B) James Gunn put another cap in his feather as he’s already picking up the pace at DC. If Vol. 3 had been released before the pandemic, the trilogy capper could’ve surpassed Vol. 2’s total gross of $863 million. It may squeak past $830 million worldwide when all is said and done. And The Boogeyman earned $6.9 million in its second weekend, putting its global cume slightly under $40 million worldwide (going to the theaters was the correct answer for a horror film).
Fast X, unfortunately, started hitting VOD this weekend and judging by domestic numbers (a measly $138.12 million), it won’t be hitting as home as Universal might’ve hoped. It’ll get past $700 million, but it may be classified as a “box-office disappointment” due to the crazy high budget. Fast X Part 2 (or Fast XI) in April 2025 needs to dip its budget and hopefully will have more juice with Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot returning. Play it smart, Vin Diesel; the family theme will not be enough alone to get past these last(?) two installments.
Next weekend sees the release of The Flash, Elemental, Asteroid City, Extraction 2, and The Blackening.
