Warner Bros.’ newest iteration of Superman earned $122 million domestically in its debut, notching the second opening to top $100 million behind Minecraft this year. Positive reviews and great word-of-mouth propelled this to a solid opening for DC, though not one higher than Man of Steel or The Batman, which means that the latest reboot of the DC may rely on good legs to justify its existence. Now, it does have more oomph and popularity behind it, thanks to the wonderful cast selections and flamboyant direction courtesy of James Gunn, so for all those folks who were indifferent or mixed about Man of Steel, this one may be more in tune with the most powerful man on Earth.
Optimistically, and even with considerable summer competition, we expect this to reach $300 million domestically. However, let’s hope it can hold its own by next weekend or before Fantastic Four releases later in the month. One of the painstaking issues is whether a reboot carries the same weight if a new actor dons the suit. For every Spider-Man: Homecoming, you got a Batman v. Superman (to be fair, Ben Affleck’s take on Batman was one of the better parts of the overbooked mess of a titanic feature). For every Man of Steel, you got The Batman. Will online pundits be the ones causing folks to step away, or are folks interested in another incarnation of the red and blue hero? The next few weeks will spell the difference.
In other news, Jurassic World: Rebirth took $40 million in its second weekend, bringing its domestic cume to $232.1 million and a $529 million worldwide tally. Much like we mentioned last week, the latest dinosaur feature, despite the same monotonous formula for getting to “why are we afraid of entangling with dinosaurs again?” still holds great weight for the demographics as it offers something different to the marketplace than another superhero or re-adaptation. It may still get to $800 million worldwide at this rate, maybe even higher (thanks to a nice bump from China).
F1: The Movie took in $13 million in its third weekend and is barely under $400 million worldwide. If it passes San Andreas‘s $475 million, it’ll be the highest-earning original since Interstellar‘s $722 million—great news for the Apple brand.
How to Train Your Dragon has surpassed $560 million worldwide and is expected to conclude its run with a total of around $585 million globally (unless Japan provides the boost to reach $600 million). Elio continues to fumble and will “just” pass Soul, which has been tarnished by COVID times and its $122 million worldwide; it seems that Lilo & Stitch (which will surpass $1 billion by Wednesday) will have to handle the damaged goods. 28 Years Later will pass $140 million worldwide sometime by Tuesday, so it’s not a bad hold on their end.
M3GAN 2.0 is arguably the most prominent bust, outside of Elio, of the summer. The genre switch didn’t keep audiences invested, as they enjoyed the creepy AI “killer doll who will do whatever it takes to protect her owner” more than one attempting kung fu antics in a horror comedy. Blumhouse has taken the brunt of this, especially when a well-liked original has a sequel that performs this poorly. $36 million worldwide for a $25 million sequel is…not good.
And M: I – The Final Reckoning is doing whatever it takes to succeed in its mission to pass $600 million worldwide.
Next weekend sees the release of Smurfs, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Eddington, Guns Up, and Saint Claire.
