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<\/p>\nUPDATED, Saturday AM: Amazon MGM Studio\u2019s Project Hail Mary continues to shine at the box office brighter than a sun now with an updated second weekend of $53.1M, after a better-than-expected Friday of $14.6M. That\u2019s a phenomenal second frame for a non-franchise film, some may argue the highest. 2009\u2019s Avatar (which wasn\u2019t a franchise when it opened, it was deemed an original; only history has made it a franchise) posted a second weekend of $75.6M. But more pom poms for Project Hail Mary: The pic\u2019s second weekend is higher than the second frames of multi-Oscar winner Oppenheimer ($46.7M, -43%) and the 2024 March sci-fi movie Dune Part Two ($46.2M, -44%). That\u2019s a big deal.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot of positive here at the box office: The spring has proven prime for studios post Everything Everywhere All at Once and Sinners and now Project Hail Mary to roll the dice on original event movies. All titles this weekend at $96.8M are 25% ahead of weekend 13 a year ago which was a hodge podge of Jason Statham\u2019s A Working Man ($15.5M), Chosen: Last Supper ($11.8M), Woman in the Yard ($9.3M) and the Jenna Ortega misfire Death of a Unicorn ($5.7M). People are going to the movies, Project Hail Mary pulling in 54% men, 36% women in weekend two. Broken out that\u2019s women over 25 at 37%, men over 25 at 36%, and men under 25 at 19%. Family audiences are reliable and flocking to movies with Disney\/Pixar\u2019s Hoppers at an estimated fourth weekend of $11.3M, running cume of $137.6M (it has already surpassed Elio\u2018s domestic take of $72.9M; and it\u2019s 25% ahead of Elemental\u2018s fourth weekend ending cume at same point in time). Shout out to Sony Animation\u2019s GOAT which is passing $100M in its seventh frame.<\/p>\n
More from Deadline<\/p>\n
However, not to necessarily quote the Harry Styles song in Project Hail Mary, the lingering impact of Covid remains a sign of the times at the B.O.: Not everybody is back, evident in how hard it is for counterprogramming to bust out during a non-holiday, though semi-spring break period: Read, New Line\/Nocturna\u2019s They Will Kill You \u2013technically the first big collaboration in the road to merger between David Ellison\u2019s Skydance (they have a stake in Nocturna) and WarnerBros\u2013 isn\u2019t wowing with a $5M to $5.5M opening after a $2.2M Friday\/previews. International in 66 territories is also weak so far with $1.4M. Back in 2019, weekend 13 minted $137.3M per Box Office Mojo comprised of an underperforming Disney Dumbo at No. 1 with $45.9M, the second weekend of Jordan Peele\u2019s Us ($33M) and the fourth weekend of Marvel Studio\u2019s Captain Marvel with $20.6M \u2014 a very robust weekend in the tail end of spring break.<\/p>\n
How can two really fun, female leading genre movies in Searchlight\u2019s Ready or Not 2: Here I Come ($4M second weekend, -56%, cume of $16.2M) and They Will Kill You fall short at the box office? Why aren\u2019t they finding an expanded audience? For one, both are similar in being body count slay flicks, and they\u2019re far too close to each other on the calendar, that\u2019s for sure. Warners will say (and they\u2019re correct), they were on this weekend first (dating the Zazie Beetz movie back in 2022) while Ready or Not 2 hopped around from April 10 to this weekend, to March 20. Others will say that there\u2019s reason why two horror movies with should be in proximity to an event movie such as Project Hail Mary: Both horror movies have conflicting demos with the Ryan Gosling movie, that being largely men over 25, women over 25, and men under 25. Ready or Not 2 also wasn\u2019t expecting to Project Hail Mary to be so big, in addition to Reminders of Him, which is a destination for younger women. That\u2019s a hard demo to hook, particularly for Project Hail Mary and They Will Kill You, women under 25 being 8% and 10% respectively. That\u2019s up to the major studios to figure out how to dynamite that demo even more. In the case of Project Hail Mary, women under 25 are giving the film its best PostTrak exits at 100%. Why is there such a low turnout then?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kathryn Newton and Samara Weaving in ‘Ready or Not 2: Here I Come’<\/p>\n
The answer to the underperformance in Ready or Not 2 and They Will Kill You, aside from butting up against each other, also likely lies in how much both studios, Searchlight and New Line, committing to lower P&A spends particularly in relation to each pic\u2019s production costs, and testing scores. As we always overwrite, both studios are playing for the margins on each genre pic in regard to its economics, they\u2019re not looking to change moviegoing trends on either title. If Warner Bros knew they had a Weapons on their hands (A- CinemaScore, $38M production cost), they\u2019d protect the film, and spend to expand the demos and rally on They Will Kill You. They kept their marketing budget very thrifty on Companion ($10M production cost, B+ CinemaScore, $29M global P&A). Essentially, on a movie where Warner Bros\u2019 doesn\u2019t have massive skin (in a cofinance scenario with Nocturna and Domain on a $20M net production), they\u2019re not going to overspend on P&A ala Companion. How does 20th Century Studios\u2019 Send Help get to a near $100M global box office and with a B+ CinemaScore? It had a bigger budget ($40M), and bigger top shelf talent that Disney didn\u2019t want to upset in Sam Raimi and Oscar nominee Rachel McAdams. Gotta spend for the win in such cases.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also an argument to be made excessive spending in P&A alone isn\u2019t the solution. They Will Kill You was a pure genre play while Ready or Not 2 was appealing to two demos: core horror fans and those who enjoyed the comedy of the franchise.<\/p>\n
Project Hail Mary (Amz) 4077 (+70) theaters, Fri $14.6M (-56%), 3-day $53.1M (-34%), Total $162.9M\/Wk 2
2. Hoppers (Dis) 3,650 (-25) theaters, Fri $3.1M (-42%), 3-day $11.3M (-37%), Total $137.6M\/Wk 4<\/p>\n
3. They Will Kill You (WB\/NL) 2,778 theaters, Fri $2.3M, 3-day $5M-$5.5M\/Wk 1<\/p>\n
4. Dhurandhar: The Revenge (Moviegoer) 987 theaters, Fri $1.3M (-55%) 3-day $4.65M (-54%), Total $22.6M\/Wk 2<\/p>\n
5. Reminders of Him (Uni) 3,181 (-260) Fri $1.5M (-46%), 3-day $4.6M (-43%), Total $40.9M\/Wk 3
6. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (Sea) 3,010 theaters, Fri $1.2M (-68%) 3-day $4M (-56%), Total $16.2M\/Wk 2
7. Scream 7 (Par) 2,345 (-215) theaters, Fri $710K (-46%), 3-day $2.36M (-45%), Total $118.4M\/Wk 5
8. Goat (Sony) 2,246 (-291) theaters, Fri $540K (-50%) 3-day $2M (-42%), Total $100.7M\/Wk 7
9. undertone (A24) 1,852 (-718) theatres, Fri $513K (-45%) 3-day $1.6M (-44%) Total $18.4M\/Wk 3
10.Forbidden Fruits (IFC) 1,525 theaters, Fri $563K, 3-day $1.3M\/Wk 1<\/p>\n
UPDATED, Friday PM: There is a path to a bigger universe this weekend for Amazon MGM Studios\u2019 Lord & Miller-directed and -produced Project Hail Mary, which is cruising to a second Friday of $12.9 million at 4,077 theaters on its way to a $46.8M second weekend, off 42% from its first frame.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s better than the second frame of Dune: Part Two, and it gets the Ryan Gosling movie to a 10-day of $156.5M. Dune: Part Two\u2018s 10-day was $157.2M, and that was franchise IP. Remember, Project Hail Mary keeps all the PLFs and Imax screens. Don\u2019t be surprised if the pic produced by Amy Pascal and Gosling hits $50M in weekend 2.<\/p>\n
Second for the frame goes to Disney\/Pixar\u2019s Hoppers at 3,650 screens; it is seeing a $2.6M fourth Friday for a $10M weekend, -44%, and a running cume of $136.3M.<\/p>\n
Third is the Bollywood hit Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge at 987 sites, with a second Friday of $1.4M and a second weekend around $5M, off 50%, for a running 10-day cume of $23M.<\/p>\n
Fourth goes to New Line\u2019s Zazie Beetz genre movie They Will Kill You at 2,778 screens with a $2.4M Friday and a $5M-$6M opening. The Rotten Tomatoes audience score is pretty good currently at 83%, though not as high as Ready or Not 2: Here I Come\u2018s 90%.<\/p>\n
Fifth goes to Universal\u2019s Reminders of Him at 3,174 locations with a third Friday of $1.4M and third weekend of $4.2M, -48%, and a running cume of $40.5M.<\/p>\n
Searchlight\u2019s Ready or Not 2 at 3,010 theaters is looking at a second Friday of $1.2M and second weekend around $4M, -56%, with a 10-day of $16.2M. The first chapter in pre-Covid August 2019 had a better hold in its second frame (granted, it was August) with $5.9M, -26%.<\/p>\n
PREVIOUSLY, Friday AM: New Line\/Nocturna\u2019s They Will Kill You banked $1 million in previews from both Thursday 3 p.m. showtimes and Monday Mystery screenings. That\u2019s a number that\u2019s just under that of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come\u2018s $1.2M last Thursday, which went on to file a three-day total of $9M.<\/p>\n
They Will Kill You, a Z$20M production starring Zazie Beetz and co-financed between New Line and the Skydance-owned Nocturna, is expected to a post a similar opening.<\/p>\n
RelishMix is measuring the social media universe for They Will Kill You, which launched as the closing night film out of SXSW on March 17, at 183M, which is +18% above first installment horror genre norms across TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram combined. However, that figure is below the SMU reach of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come before opening at 294M. The leading social media stars for the feature are Tom Felton at 26.7M fans, Patricia Arquette now activated to 1.1M,\u00a0Beetz at 827k and Heather Graham at 748k. Critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are at 72% fresh, a few digits below Ready or Not 2\u2018s 75%. No audience score yet. The Kirill Sokolov directed and co-written genre movie is in play overseas in 65 territories, including France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Mexico, Spain and the UK at 7,000 screens.<\/p>\n
Amazon MGM Studio\u2019s Project Hail Mary ends its first week at 4,007 theaters with $109.7M after a $6.1M Thursday, off 10% from Wednesday. The hope is that weekend 2 will emulate Dune: Part Two, which was down 44% with around $45M.<\/p>\n
Again, there\u2019s a little bit of spring break still in effect which is good for business, with 16% K-12 schools today and 12% of colleges off according to Comscore.<\/p>\n
The rest of the week:<\/p>\n
2. Hoppers (Disney) 3,675 theaters, Wk $23.9M (-46%), Total $126.3M\/Wk 3<\/p>\n
3. Dhurandhar The Revenge 987 theaters, Wk $14.1M, Total $18M\/Wk 1<\/p>\n
4. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (Sea) 3,010 theaters, Wk $12.2M\/Wk 1<\/p>\n
5. Reminders of Him (Uni) 3,441 theaters, $11.2M (-55%), Total $36.3M\/Wk 2<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll have more updates later.<\/p>\n
Best of Deadline<\/p>\n
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