Dune: Part Two can’t get here fast enough. This week, we have not one, but two flops to go over, and at least one of them had no reason to do badly.
Once again, our number one movie is Bob Marley: One Love. In last weekend’s column, I predicted this would happen, but will admit I started to second-guess myself. Why? Because I really thought that Ordinary Angels had a chance to break out. This was a faith-based movie which also seemed like it had potential for mainstream appeal, had a solid trailer, and even got great reviews! Heck I thought this looked like a good film. Why didn’t this get more of a marketing push? As things turned out, we have $6 million in the bank for this one, and really, money was left on the table here. If fucking Sound of Freedom can bring churchgoers out in droves (while also conning them into buying “free tickets” for strangers once the credits roll), surely a feel-good outing like this should do at least a little better.
But that’s nothing compared to the numbers we have for Drive-Away Dolls, which are just…awful. Described by some as “Dumb & Dumber but with lesbians,” there is simply no positive way to look at this, as these Dolls were only able to drive away with $2.4 million. As with Angels, I was puzzled by why there wasn’t more advertising here. I’m aware that having one Coen Brother as opposed to two is going to work against something like this, but c’mon. Drive-Away Dolls shouldn’t be performing like The Oogieloves, and yet it kind of is. Maybe this will find fans on streaming.
In the category of good news, Demon Slayer made a return to theaters this weekend. Unlike Mugen Train, this wasn’t a movie, but rather a collection of episodes of the show. And it did really well for what it is. In fact, Demon Slayer was ahead of Bob Marley on Friday, which speaks to just how popular this anime series is. Also, Demon Slayer made more money than Angels and Dolls did combined, so take that however you will.
Anyway, the top ten, via Deadline
1.) Bob Marley: One Love (Par) 3,597 (+58) theaters, Fri $3.7M Sat $6M Sun $3.78M 3-day $13.5M (-53%) Total $71.1M/Wk 2
2.) Demon Slayer…(Sony) 1,949 theaters Fri $5.5M Sat $3.5M Sun $2.5M 3-day $11.6M/Wk 1
3.) Ordinary Angels (LG) 3,020 theaters Fri $2.33M Sat $2.32M Sun $1.85M 3-day $6.5M/Wk 1
4.) Madame Web (Sony) 4,013 theaters, Fri $1.6M Sat $2.6M Sun $1.7M 3-day $6M (-61%) Total $35.4M/Wk 2
5.) Migration (Ill/Uni) 2,434 (-21) Fri $660K Sat $1.36M Sun $980K 3-day $3M (-22%) Total $120.4M/ Wk 10
6.) Argylle (App/Uni) 3,060 (-587) theaters, Fri $740K Sat $1.27M Sun $790K 3-day $2.8M (-43%) Total $41.6M/ Wk 4
7.) Wonka (WB) 2,203 (-144) theaters, Fri $605K Sat $1.17M Sun $760K 3-day $2.53M (-28%) Total $214.5M/Wk 11
8.) Drive-Away Dolls (Foc) 2,280 theaters Fri $1M Sat $840K Sun $550K 3-day $2.4M/Wk 1
9.) The Beekeeper (AMZ MGM) 2,157 (-400) theaters, Fri $504K Sat $911K Sun $547K 3-day $1.96M (-39%) Total $63.1M/Wk 7
10.) Chosen Season 4, Eps 4-6 (Fath) 2,090 (-138) theaters Fri $518K Sat $747K Sun $530K 3-day $1.79M (-50%), Total $7.8M /Wk 2