The $150+ million streak may have been broken at the weekend box office despite one low-budget surprise and one (potential) big-budget bust, but theaters are still having a decent summer after all. Not the $4 billion of 2023, but perhaps something closer to 2022 after all. By July 15 of that year, we had the Top Gun: Maverick phenomenon, which won’t quite be matched by Inside Out 2, but it is a worthy parallel. There were also three $340+ million grossers and a second Marvel film over $400 million. This year, we have one in the $170 million range, another headed for $200 million, and one headed for $300 million and an inevitable $600+ million grosser. Sure, that’s about a $850 million disparity between the two years, but that was a frontloaded summer — as many normally are — while 2024 is making its coin in the back three months.
King of the Crop: Despicable Me 4 Crosses $200 Million to Hold on to Top Spot
Despicable Me 4 remained the top choice for audiences. For its second week at No. 1 spot, the film took in a healthy $44.6 million, well above the wheelhouse of what we suggested it would need last week to potentially maintain a pace for $300 million domestic. So let’s test that theory today. After 10 days, the film is up to $211.1 million, ahead of the numbers for Spider-Man: Homecoming ($207.2 million), which pulled in $44.2 million in its second weekend. Minions made $49.2 million. Minions: The Rise of Gru did $46.1 million. Despicable Me 3 did $33.5 million and had $63 million less in the bank than No. 4. That is a promising sign given that 3 tapped out at $264 million. Despicable Me 4 is the 76th film to have grossed $200 million in its opening 10 days, and here we run into one of our favorite old stats, which shows that only six films of that lot failed to reach $300 million. Three were Twilight films, two were Harry Potters, and the sixth was Man of Steel. No animated film failed to reach those heights, and with over $437 million globally on a $100 million budget, everything is just extra cash for Universal and Illumination right now.
Fresh Surprise: Longlegs Secures Big Debut for Neon at No. 2
For those still doubting the potential of the indie film scene, here’s a another reminder that some of the leading independent studios have had some of their strongest releases ever this year. Could it be taking advantage of a post-strike dwindled marketplace, or is it simply that they learned that the best word-of-mouth begins with more mouths seeing it in their opening weekend? IFC got Late Night with the Devil over $10 million — their fourth-highest grossing film ever. Magnolia opened Thelma in over 1,200 theaters, and now with over $7.3 million they have their second-highest grossing film ever. A24 also had their second-highest grosser with Civil War, and Neon got the horror film Immaculate to over $15 million, their third highest behind Oscar winners Parasite and I, Tonya. This weekend Neon got even bigger news.
Their viral marketing campaign (and targeted screenings for select horror reviewers) of Oz Perkins’ Longlegs paid off in a big way. The $10 million production opened to an incredible $22.6 million, passing Immaculate in one fell swoop and becoming just the second horror film of the year to open past $12 million. (Don’t say A Quiet Place: Day One is not a horror film.) Next week’s drop could be a big one, but as they say, the damage is already done, as it should pass I, Tonya by then to become the studio’s second highest-grosser to date.
Rotten Returns: Fly Me to the Moon Fails to Take Off
It may be premature to label Fly Me To The Moon as a big dud. After all, Sony had the last laugh over the holidays when the R-rated Anyone But You opened to just $6 million and then proceeded to have one of the all-time best December multiples (14.71) and gross over $88 million. At a $25 million production cost, that film was a winner even without the additional $75 million in international dough. Fly Me To The Moon is another story. Originally set to stream on Apple TV+, the film got a theatrical release and opened in fifth place to a blasé $10 million domestic and $9 million internationally. Blasé may be too blasé a word, given that the film’s cost is listed at $100 million. There were disputes back in February when Matthew Vaughn’s Argylle was associated with a tag of $200 million, given all the contracts with Apple. At a nine-digit cost, Fly Me To The Moon could make Anyone But You money and still be a theatrical failure.
The Top 10 and Beyond: Inside Out 2 Still Pacing Strong as It Reaches for Big Milestone
Longlegs spoiled what was almost certain to be another second place finish for Inside Out 2 in its fifth weekend. Then again, most films would kill to make what Disney/Pixar’s film did in its 29th, 30th, and 31st days of release. Only 11 films have ever had a fifth weekend of wide release at $20+ million. Inside Out 2 became the 12th with $20.7 million, just behind Barbie ($21 million) and ahead of Marvel’s The Avengers ($20.4 million) and Spider-Man: No Way Home ($20.09 million). The film sits comfortably in eighth place all time among films in their first 31 days of release with $572.5 million. That is still nearly $6 million ahead of Barbie’s $566.8 million and well ahead of Incredibles 2’s $535.8 million.
That said, the march for $650 million could be fading just a tad. It may have improved on Jurassic World’s $18.1 million fifth frame, but it is still $17.5 million behind its $590 million haul at this point. Somewhere between $630-650 million appears to be a certainty as it becomes the highest-grossing domestic animated film of all-time. It entered the Top 20 of all time globally this weekend and raised its worldwide total to $1.35 billion; it will pass The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s worldwide take ($1.362 billion) this week. In related news, Disney also re-released The Lion King back into theaters for its 30th Anniversary and audiences served up another $1.08 million for it. During the summer of 1994, it became the fourth highest-grossing film of all-time behind E.T., Jurassic Park, and Forrest Gump.
A Quiet Place: Day One came in fourth place this week with $11.8 million to bring its total to $116.2 million. Its numbers sync up best with X-Men: First Class, which had an $11.9 million third weekend and a 17-day total of $120.3 million. That puts the Michael Sarnoski prequel on a path to finish around $140-145 million domestic. With over $220 million in receipts, the film was already into profit headed into the weekend, and while it may be the least profitable of the franchise, it should be well enough of a win to greenlight another entry.
In the back half of the top 10, we had Bad Boys: Ride or Die falling out of the top five in its seventh weekend; $4.4 million has the film at a total of $184.8 million. Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins earned $4.7 million in its seventh weekend and had $187.6 million in the bank after 38 days. Those are good numbers for Bad Boys in its journey to $200 million. Globally the film has grossed $378 million.
News broke this week that Warner Bros. would not release Chapter 2 of Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga due to poor showings for the first three hours, which people can catch on PVOD this week. Chapter 1 made $2.4 million in its third weekend for a total of $27 million. Dropping all the way down to ninth is Ti West’s Maxxxine with $2.07 million. It has now grossed $11.7 million total, about to surpass the totals of both X and Pearl. Three chapters, $32 million, and it didn’t cost $100 million. Angel Studios’ Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot, which got other headlines this week when Letitia Wright, who served as executive producer, disassociated herself from the film after learning the extent to which The Daily Mail was involved. The film grossed $1.3 million to bring its total to $9.7 million. And finally, rounding out the top 10 is the Indian film Indian 2, which just managed to squeak past the Lion King re-release with $1.2 million.
A24 opened Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing with Colman Domingo in four theaters this weekend and it grossed $137,000 for a per-theater average of $34,250. That is the fourth best PTA of the year behind Kinds of Kindness, The Taste of Things, and Inside Out 2. Kindness has only gotten itself over $4.5 million since going wider. Sing Sing (which opened the Chicago Critics Film Festival – which I produce – in May) is hoping to find a more empathetic audience as it goes wider over the next month. Also in four theaters this weekend was Luke Gilford’s National Anthem, which premiered at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival (it was also chosen as part of the Chicago Critics Film Festival) and grossed $42,000 in just four theaters. That’s a $10,500 per-theater average, and it will expand into over 200 more theaters next weekend. Focus also released Baltasar Kormákur’s decades-spanning love story Touch in 315 theaters, where it grossed $470,000 for a PTA of $1,487.
On the Vine: Twisters Set to Storm into Theaters
Those who have patiently waited for 28 years will finally get the sequel to the film that expanded the summer season in 1996. Twisters from Minari director Lee Isaac Chung is already garnering some decent reviews, but can it be the same juggernaut as its predecessor, which became the second-highest grossing film of 1996 with over $240 million? IFC will also try to test the horror waters again with the release of creepy wooden dummy movie Oddity, which currently boasts a perfect 100% from critics who saw it during its festival run.
Full List of Box Office Results: July 12-14, 2024
-
55%
Despicable Me 4
(2024)
– $44.6 million ($211.1 million total)
86%
Longlegs
(2024)
– $22.6 million ($22.6 million total)
-
91%
Inside Out 2
(2024)
– $20.7 million ($572.5 million total)
-
87%
A Quiet Place: Day One
(2024)
– $11.8 million ($116.2 million total)
66%
Fly Me to the Moon
(2024)
– $10 million ($10 million total)
-
65%
Bad Boys: Ride or Die
(2024)
– $4.4 million ($184.8 million total)
-
47%
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1
(2024)
– $2.4 million ($27 million total)
-
72%
MaXXXine
(2024)
– $2.07 million ($11.7 million total)
-
82%
Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot
(2024)
– $1.3 million ($9.7 million total)
22%
Indian 2
(2024)
– $1.2 million ($1.2 million total)
Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast.
[box office figures via Box Office Mojo]
Thumbnail image by ©Universal Pictures
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