Thank God for Weapons. Were it not for Zach Cregger’s word-of-mouth sleeper, August would be a deadly dull month at the box office, with nothing in these dog days capable of injecting life into multiplexes. However, Cregger’s movie has become a zeitgeist-catching film, similar to what happened with another Warner Bros. title earlier this year, Sinners, tapping into a market that’s tired of sequels. It’s a legitimately original hit, falling only 43% in its second week, with a $25 million weekend and an $89 million North American gross. It should easily top the box office next week as well.
What’s the lesson from this? Audiences are starved for original fare and tired of sequels. Will the lesson be learned? Probably not, as WB is already trying to franchise Weapons and Sinners, suggesting that the era of one-offs may be behind us. Meanwhile, Disney’s Freakier Friday, which hasn’t quite been the big hit they were expecting, held up fairly well in week two, making $14.5 million for a $54.7 million total. It should reach around $80 million, significantly less than the $110 million (not adjusted for inflation) its 2003 predecessor earned.
One of the more disappointing stories this weekend is that Nobody 2 (which we loved) opened relatively softly with $9.25 million. That’s not terrible for a “mean-and-potatoes” action movie, and it’s a notable improvement over the original, but given how the first one opened during the pandemic, this Bob Odenkirk-led sequel was expected to perform better. That said, it only cost $25 million and will likely turn a healthy profit once it hits VOD in 21 days.
Notably, all of the top three movies at the box office this weekend performed exactly as we predicted earlier this week.
Fantastic Four: First Steps continued to fall off faster than expected, losing another 44% of its audience to make $8.8 million for a $247 million domestic total. It’s unlikely to come close to grossing what James Gunn’s Superman has achieved so far, with that movie holding strong in sixth place with $5.28 million and a $340 million domestic total, despite being available digitally. The Bad Guys 2 was sandwiched between them with $7.5 million and a $57 million domestic total.
The Naked Gun started to wrap up its run with $4.8 million in sixth place, totaling $41.9 million domestically. It will likely eke out a profit but should have been a much bigger hit. Meanwhile, dinosaurs continued to draw audiences, with Jurassic World: Rebirth earning $2.9 million for a $332 million domestic gross. F1 returned to IMAX theaters this week, making $2.6 million for a $182 million total (it’s a much bigger hit overseas), while Coolie, starring Indian cinema icon Rajinikanth, came in tenth place with $2.36 million for a $6.34 million domestic total. Bollywood movie War 2 landed in 11th place with $1.72 million and a $3.14 million domestic haul.
Finally, despite featuring IT Girl Sydney Sweeney in the lead, her long-delayed Americana performed poorly, grossing only $500K, with Exhibitor Relations reporting a $455 per-screen average. Ouch.
Next weekend seems set to be another low-key one, with little opening besides Ethan Coen’s Honey Don’t. Do you think Weapons will top the weekend once again? Let us know in the comments!