Mortal Kombat II finally arrived in theaters this weekend after finishing production years ago. Unfortunately, it was far from a flawless victory.

Hell hath no fury like a woman-driven sequel to a chick flick from 20 years ago, as The Devil Wears Prada 2 took full advantage of the Mother’s Day holiday to win the box office crown for the second week in a row. Not that it really matters given how much less tickets to the cinema cost when the original came out, but Prada 2 has already outgrossed the first installment. Also going very strong is Michael, which is showing such incredible legs that it might be there at the number one spot next weekend at the rate it’s going. The end credits for Michael boldly proclaim “HIS STORY CONTINUES!”, so no wonder Lionsgate is trying to salvage that footage they already have to make a follow-up. Sadly there’s no end credits stinger where Prince shows up in Michael’s basement and says “you didn’t really think you were the only one, did you?”

But on to Mortal Kombat II. This one had been tracking all over the place, with some projections saying it could make anywhere from $50-$60 million. Once again, I must ask if tracking even has a point. Kombat II ended up beating up $40 million, which to be fair is more than the 2021 entry made. But…there’s a huge asterisk there. Mortal Kombat came out when the box office was still in COVID recovery, and more than one third of the nation’s theaters were closed, including all Regal locations. It was also a “victim” of WB’s controversial decision to simultaneously put all of their theatrical releases on streaming on the very same day. So money was left on the table, but the studio was happy enough with the HBO Max figures to move ahead with a sequel.

Did they fumble the ball by moving it to May when it was originally set to come out last October? Hard to say. It made sense to not want to open an action tentpole right before Halloween (a notoriously weak time for theaters unless your film has “Saw” or “Paranormal Activity” in its title). But part of me thinks executives wanted to push Kombat II back to 2026 to make their merger with Netflix/Paramount appear more lucrative. After a stellar 2025, the studio’s 2026 slate seems far less impressive by comparison (even Supergirl is struggling to generate hype), but that might not matter when Dune III becomes a mega-blockbuster this Christmas.

Going above expectations is The Sheep Detectives, which believe it or not is the best reviewed movie of the year so far. Benefitting from delightful marketing and no family movies opening since Mario, Sheep herded in an excellent $15.9 million. On the lower end of the tracking was the 3-D concert film Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard & Soft, which managed an okay $7.5 million. It’s sort of embarrassing that Billie can make an elaborate feature with none other than James Fucking Cameron, and still open to a fraction of Taylor Swift releasing glorified YouTube content to theaters last fall.

Next weekend, the box office confusingly takes a nap. Maybe Obsessed will break out, but again, look for Michael to beat it.

Anyway, the top ten, via Box Office Mojo