Talk about breaking a box office with a little twist as the musical Kpop Demon Hunters arrived from the Netflix stratosphere and earned the highest-earning domestic performance of the weekend with $18 million. I guess folks willed it on the big screen as Netflix was imploring the karaoke bits to be sung along in the theaters. However, they topped a relatively downtrodden box office weekend, which is eerily reminiscent of when Christopher Nolan’s Tenet tried to boost numbers during a COVID-affected start to fall but couldn’t get by, as NY and LA still had many of their multiplexes shut down.
It’s unfortunate that this barren weekend, with fewer tentpoles and more legs, will be kept at bay by some good news. Weapons kept its top spot with another $15.6 million (-31%) in its third weekend, bringing it to $115.8 million domestic and $200 million worldwide. Still great news for the original horror feature, as it is keeping its legs ahead of The Conjuring, but may have to take a beating of its own with Last Rites in two weeks. Optimistically, it could reach $250 million at the bare minimum, possibly even $270 million if it can sustain itself to keep horror alive through September, leading into the spooky season. Remember, The Nun II earned $270 million globally two years ago, so history could repeat itself for Warner Bros.
In other news, Freakier Friday earned $9.2 million in its third weekend, surpassing $70 million domestically. Not too shabby, as its predecessor reached $74 million at the end of its third weekend. Dare yours indeed mentions the possibility of it reaching $100 million; this is a suitable win for the comedy genre. The Fantastic Four: First Steps earned $5.9 million in its fifth weekend, bringing it to $257.2 million domestically. It’s struggling to reach the $500 million benchmark, and again, its legs have proved too ineffective, as they’ve not been anywhere close to those of other MCU summer leggers. The Bad Guys 2 is poised to match its predecessor in terms of performance and may reach $95-100 million domestically when all is said and done, thanks to the lack of family-friendly competition in theaters.
Nobody 2 will not be able to match its predecessor’s performance, taking a 60% drop in weekend two with $3.7 million. Superman has surpassed $604 million worldwide, as it’s already available on PVOD, while F1 has also reached $604 million. Newcomer Honey Don’t! earned $3 million in its debut with mixed reviews. The Naked Gun will finish out its run over/under $100 million worldwide, and Jurassic World Rebirth will finish up around $860 million worldwide.
Next weekend sees the release of Caught Stealing, The Roses, The Toxic Avenger, Griffin in Summer, and A Little Prayer.
