$35 million for a family-friendly opener directed by John Krasinski may not be the most impressive number in the room, but it’s not cause for an animadversion from Paramount that it came in a bit lower than expectations. Indeed, a $40 million debut would’ve had folks high-fiving, even though it trails away from Kung Fu Panda 4‘s recent $58 million back in March; however, I think folks will be acceptable due to it receiving an A from CinemaScore and being the latest kids-friendly feature in the house.
Another entirely original feature nabbing this type of opening (minus marquee characters) is still good, even considering the $110 million budget. One significant detriment towards its ultimate success will be the stacked competition throughout the summer, such as The Garfield Movie opening over Memorial Day weekend, followed by Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 in a few weeks. Ryan Reynolds and Co. will identify this more as a “situational win,” although it’s not an eye-opener during COVID times such as Free Guy ($122 million from a slightly weaker $28 million opening). If we look at legs, IF should end its domestic total somewhat over $100 million, maybe $115 million. At least Paramount is showing a little fight in the tank in this ever-growing streaming war and the continual evolution of cinema; the question is whether they’ll remain in the battleground for a bit longer.
Kingdom of the Planet of Apes earned $26 million in its second weekend, passing $100 million domestically and holding better than its predecessor in 2017. Already nearing $250 million globally, it should make a case for nearing $400 million worldwide (assuming China can be a bit nice this time). This is a good measure of another hit for the Apes collection; bring on the next chapter. The Strangers: Chapter 1 opened with $12 million, a semi-good opening for another glorified remake of the 2008 film. Horror can still pull numbers when the competition is rather missing the “thrills,” another IP-driven chapter, or another one taking some shots at attempting a new concept.
Unfortunately, The Fall Guy is in the same boat as many other recent newcomers and once again highlights that Gosling is not a marquee star solo compared to Sandra Bullock or Brad Pitt. The $125 million budgeted, acclaimed David Leitch feature will collapse with only around $160-175 million when all the stunts are performed. This is not good because it still reflects films of this nature have been underperforming for the past eight years, and we’re still no closer to some sort of remedy. What a shame for the fun stuntman ride.
Challengers added $2.94 million domestically and is pushing $80 million globally by sometime later this week, Back to Black collapsed domestically with a measly $2.85 million, and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is only $7.5 million from becoming the highest-grossing MonsterVerse film (will it make it though?).
Next weekend sees the release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, The Garfield Movie, Sight, and Atlas and Hitman (the latter two on Netflix).
