So…this feels kind of trivial this week. With so many horrible stories in the news, it’s strange even talking about which movies made the most money this weekend. I know this has been said a lot, but if you’re in the California area, stay safe! (Also, c’mon, they gave the main subject of The Apprentice a sentence of nothing?!?! Seriously, fuck this week!)
Still, more people than expected showed up at the cinema, with Den of Thieves 2 stealing $15 million, which is roughly $6 million above where more conservative tracking had it. Technically, that’s slightly above where the original film opened in 2018, but it’s worth noting that film ticket prices have gone up significantly since then (and at a certain point, we can no longer simply blame that on inflation—the theater chains are getting greedy!). Still, this is a much needed box office victory for Lionsgate, which had an absolutely dismal 2024. I’ll allow them the W.
The anticipated winner of the weekend was Mufasa: The Lion King, but considering it crossed the $500 million mark worldwide, it’s going to be just fine (sorry, weird YouTubers who really overreacted to this film’s existence). Currently it has the global edge over Sonic the Hedgehog 3, however the threequel has nothing to feel bad about. With more than $200 million stateside, it is the biggest in the franchise to date. Sonic 4 is already dated for a spring 2027 debut.
Meanwhile Moana 2 and Wicked: Part One are finally starting to slow down, though again, I can’t really excuse Universal sending the latter to home screens so soon. They can boast about $70 million in PVOD purchases all they like. The truth of the matter is they still would have made that kind of cash if they had just waited. That said, it has made $458 million to date, so I guess those awkward press tour interviews didn’t hurt it too much after all.
As for our newcomers…ouch. The Last Showgirl—which has what might be the most pretentious-sounding Oscar-bait title ever—is not bringing people to the venues with only $1.5 million. Likewise, the gloriously insane Better Man is also flopping with just $1 million, which puts it outside of the top ten. Too bad considering critics were over the moon for this one. This was inevitable when you consider that Robbie Williams (my stupid American ass originally thought this might be a Robin Williams biopic) never really broke out in the states. Then again, this is flopping in the UK too. So much for my “The Rolling Stones, except they’re actual stones” Hollywood pitch.
Anyway, the top ten, via Deadline
- Den of Thieves 2 (LG) 3,008 theaters, Fri $5.85M, 3-day $15.5M/Wk 1
- Mufasa (Dis) 3,620 (-305) theaters, Fri $2.9M (-62%) Sat $6.6M Sun $3.7M 3-day $13.2M (-44%), Total $188.7M/Wk 4
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Par) 3,582 (-164) theaters, Fri $2.18M (-68%) Sat $5.4M Sun $3.3M 3-day $11M (-48%), Total $204.5M/Wk 4
- Nosferatu (Foc) 3,082 (-50) theaters, Fri $1.95M (-55%) Sat $3M Sun $1.8M 3-day $6.8M (-48%), Total $81.8M/Wk 3
- Moana 2 (Dis) 3,170 theaters, Fri $1.3M Sat $3.1M Sun $2.1M 3-day $6.5M (-48%), Total $434.8M/Wk 7
- Wicked (Uni) 2967 (-320) theaters, Fri $1.16M (-65%) Sat $2.37M Sun $1.47M 3-day $5M (-50%),Total $458.9M/Wk 8
- A Complete Unknown (Sea) 2,815 (-20) theaters, Fri $1.36M (-49%) Sat $2.3M Sun $1.3M 3-day $5M (-38%), Total $50.8M/Wk 3
- Babygirl (A24) 1,887 (-277) theaters, Fri $865,4K (-41%) Sat $1.29M Sun $934K 3-day $3.09M (-31%), Total $21.7M/Wk 3
- Game Changer (Shloka) 800 thaeters, Fri $1.5M Sat $340K Sun $220K 3-day $2.1M/Wk 1
- Last Showgirl (RSA) 870 theaters, Fri $621K, Sat $521K Sun $390K, 3-day $1.53M/Wk 1