Ah, the old saying where “diversification is key.” That sentiment proved true for a weekend 60% higher than last year’s, with a total of $181.1 million in North America, which would be the second ever for this weekend (that is, of course, two weekends past Memorial Day). 2022, shall we say, had a blossoming effect on this same weekend with the likes of a $145 million debut from Jurassic World Dominion and the towering legs of Top Gun: Maverick and its $51 million third weekend that added up to $215 million over the Friday-Sunday total.
Now, we can rest assured that Scary Movie (technically, the sixth one) can lead the weekend for Paramount with $55 million. That’s a franchise record, beating Scary Movie 3‘s $49 million, despite a puzzling C+ from CinemaScore. I mean, folks were prepped for the cosplay, satire, and laughs, so what the hell did you think you were going to get? Anyway, Scary Movie 6 marks the second “just a comedy” to open above $50 million in barely over a month, after The Devil Wears Prada 2 ($77 million). Hmm, maybe folks will still see the light with comedy once more, as the likes of Freakier Friday and The Naked Gun warmed up the curtains. The installment has already surpassed $105.5 million globally, exceeding the lifetime total of Scary Movie 5 (not accounting for inflation). Well, you can still make the comfortable R-rated films like this today, and it has nothing to do with the cries of the woke left or a MAGA audience getting in the way. Folks will still show up for fun.
Masters of the Universe didn’t quite amount to much in this abundance of releases, though, as it debuted with $$29.3 million in its debut. Lukewarm reviews and a B from CinemaScore didn’t get in the way, but it seems, from the parties and testimonials gathered, that this is another IP today’s kids don’t care about. The $200 million second crack at a live-action He-Man, with the first bombing in 1987, will also fall into a similar fate. It kinda of-sort of falls into the category with the likes of Tron: Ares, Power Rangers (2017), Transformers One, Predator: Badlands, and Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. And as the old saying goes, if the budget were closer to $100 million, maybe yapping wouldn’t have done as much damage. Amazon MGM hit lightning with a bottle with Project Hail Mary, or did decent enough with The Sheep Detectives, but a good movie still won’t churn up more folks if the IP has felt like a relevant point an eon ago.
In other news, the unfortunate presence of the parody did kneecap Backrooms‘ legs (primarily folks under 25) in weekend two, which dropped 68% and earned $25.9 million. But hang on: it’s already A24’s biggest domestic and global earner (even adjusted for inflation), and it’s just below Five Nights at Freddy’s and Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle. It will be passing $200 million globally sometime tomorrow, so it’s still great news for the YouTube-led Lynch-ian horror ride into the realms of “where does this backroom take us?”. The film is a very nice, suspenseful ride into the unknown, akin to the likes of The Shining or Skinamarink.
Oh, and speaking of YouTube, Obsession “only” dropped 7% in its fourth weekend, bringing it to $152.1 million domestically and $225 million worldwide. Just great stuff all around, with it now being Focus Features highest-earning film and one of the best fourth-weekends in history. Do the records still keep a-coming for the $750k budgeted film?
The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act opened with $12.39 million; huh, so this is a kids’ property that kids wanted to turn up for. Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu will pass $300 million sometime this week; again, a painful number for an IP that is in desperate need of a revival. It may not even seal the deal with $180 million domestic.
Michael passed $888 million worldwide, officially becoming Lionsgate’s top global grosser. It will pass $900 million later this week, and we’ll see how much it spikes in Japan this Friday to push it further to $1 billion (even as it heads to PVOD). The Breadwinner and Pressure earned $3.4 million and $3 million in their second weekends, respectively. And The Devil Wears Prada 2 just missed $650 million globally (for this weekend), while The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has passed $1 billion worldwide. Universal has been on fire thus far this year, even accounting for their overseas distribution of Michael and the mesmerizing performance of Obsession.
Next weekend sees the release of Disclosure Day, Find Your Friends, Honeyjoon, O Horizon, and Stop! That! Train!.
