It’s time for a new platter of Star Wars to drop this weekend. Only this time, it’s more evident that the brand cannot seem to catch wind of what made it popular a decade ago.
The Pedro Pascal-led “from Disney+ to a theater near you” legs of The Mandalorian earned $81.96 million in its debut, which is slightly below Solo‘s $84 million. OK reviews, but an A- from CinemaScore means that folks will still come for whatever Disney/Lucasfilm conjures up next in the sci-fi universe. No, we don’t believe this will be a tale of misery (Solo underwent extensive reshoots, which catapulted its budget to $275 million and a late-game director swap, and it was a commercial disaster), and it’s not too shabby for a Star Wars spinoff to open just below $100 million domestically as the budget is closer to $165 million. It will pass $150 million worldwide tonight, so as long as it legs out like Solo to $394 million globally, that will still be a “passable” result (by Disney’s standards). And yes, Disney can’t bank on a Lilo & Stitch live-action reboot, which they could have last year, and that would have accounted for the majority of the previous Memorial Day weekend totals.
Does the Disney+ factor still come into play here? Yes and no. Had it been more like the Sequel trilogy, maybe it would have had more legs and a better domestic debut. But, for a lower-level spinoff that assures Disney might have grasped things once again, this shall do.
Now, moving on to the grand news: Obsession has surprisingly become more of an obsession with audiences. Curry Barker’s high-concept chiller ballooned an additional 30% to earn $22.4 million in its second weekend, which makes it the third-biggest hold for a feature not to distribute over (or around) the Christmas season. Truth be told, it has already smashed Talk to Me’s $49 million domestic total and will pass Saw’s $55.1 million to top any Lionsgate non-sequel horror film and any of A24’s horror pictures in U.S. grosses (not counting for inflation, as Saw dropped back in 2004). This is the kind of “non-IP, drop your phones to go see right now” films out there. Do we have reason to believe it will pass $100 million domestic? Unless it drops dead in a week or two, it will pass that benchmark. Bravo indeed to Focus Features and Blumhouse.
Michael has earned $20.01 million this weekend, bringing it just shy of $315 million domestically as it moves along towards passing $800 million worldwide (which should happen by Tuesday/Wednesday). It opens in Japan on June 12th, so expect more legs in the meantime and see how much of a boost it gets to help it reach Bohemian Rhapsody. The Devil Wears Prada 2 will be passing $200 million domestic to wrap up the Memorial Day factor, and it has already passed $600 million globally; $700 million, anyone?
The Sheep Detectives will be passing $75 million worldwide by tonight. Passenger earned $8.7 million in its debut. Mortal Kombat II will pass $120 million worldwide tomorrow. I Love Boosters earned $3.723 million in its debut, a modest victory. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will wrap up around $1 billion worldwide, and Project Hail Mary has passed $675 million globally.
Next weekend sees the release of The Breadwinner, Backrooms, Power Ballad, and Miss You, Love You.
