Ah, so the winners aren’t really the winners, and the losers aren’t exactly any losers. Well, let’s be laconic about the last bit, because we’re here to focus on all the news for the mid-weekend of the spooky season.
To reiterate the first sentence, the weekend’s top grosser wasn’t exactly breakout news for another IP stretchered out from the sidelines. Legendary and Paramount’s first new official partnership title, Street Fighter, opened with $31 million domestically and $51 million worldwide, which is not a blowout for the $82 million budgeted video game adaptation. Well, the third attempt since the 1994 feature to make a live-action Street Fighter series (keep in mind, we’re talking about a franchise whose two previous entries earned $99 million on a $35 million budget thirty-two years ago and $12 million globally on a $50 million budget in 2009, minus any inflation variables). A B- from CinemaScore isn’t exactly a great bit of business for legs, and this isn’t the 2010s where a video game adaptation à la Tomb Raider could bomb domestically but be saved overseas. Also, a confounding, abrupt ending isn’t exactly warranted if you want folks to get any more interested in a Part 2, more or less, despite some hyperkinetic visuals and some “out of this world” casting choices. Once again, not all IP is good IP, and not all IP should be resurrected for the sake of IP.
In other news, that was unequivocally spectacular: You Can See Everything rode a wave of superb reviews, sky-high buzz, and “gotta see it to believe it” hype to nab the fourth-biggest domestic debut ever for an under-1,000-screen release (not counting for inflation). That’s a $17,544 theater average from 855 theaters, totaling $15 million for the weekend for the three-hour documentary that will surely get a crap ton of Oscar Buzz for a potential Best Picture (could it go the distance for a documentary?) and Best Actress nomination (for Elizabeth Holmes). Oh, and it grossed more than 2x Melania‘s debut in January and has almost demolished its total domestic run.
Returning to a bit of disappointment, 20th Century Studios’ Whalefall opened with $8 million in North America and $17.5 million worldwide in its debut. The $60 million adaptation about a scuba diver getting inhaled by a massive sperm whale didn’t light the world on fire despite another excellent Austin Abrams “trying to fend for his life” performance and a neat concept baked in. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the world is exposed to a myriad of new titles, each taking shelf life from one another, even if it’s also telling you that folks are more interested in horror titles (Resident Evil) or psychological thrillers (Verity).
Other Mommy dipped a scary 70% in its second weekend, despite passing $78 million worldwide. It should have enough juice to get past $100 million worldwide. Sense and Sensibility opened with $7.25 million, which didn’t offer too much for an adaptation of a Jane Austin novel. Amazon MGM’s Verity earned $6.21 million in its third weekend, passing $66 million domestically and $145 million worldwide. It will probably finish around $175 million. Resident Evil isn’t doing swell in China, but it should still crawl towards $400 million worldwide. Heart of the Beast has surpassed $155 million worldwide. Jailer 2 opened with $3.27 million.
The Social Reckoning dipped 69% in its second weekend, proving it wasn’t a sequel that should’ve been greenlit, and Digger is the year’s biggest box-office bomb, with only $42 million on a $150 million budget.
Next weekend sees the release of Clayface, Klara and the Sun, Wildwood, Wicker, and Love Language.
