Deadpool & Wolverine snarks its way back to the top of the box office as summer 2024 winds down

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Deadpool & Wolverine snarks its way back to the top of the box office as summer 2024 winds down

As a long-time movie enthusiast who’s witnessed the highs and lows of Hollywood, I must say that this week’s box office report is a rollercoaster ride! While some movies, like the acclaimed genre film Strange Darling, didn’t quite live up to expectations in terms of ticket sales, it’s still a gem worth seeing on the big screen.

For the first time since the last weekend in May 2024, no movies in the cinemas, whether they were continuing showings or new releases, managed to earn more than $40 million. However, the upcoming films “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and a new “Joker” production are expected to revitalize the box office. For now, though, the last two weeks of August 2024 will be relatively calm affairs. This past weekend was so quiet that an almost month-old superhero movie reclaimed the top spot at the box office. In its fifth weekend of release, “Deadpool & Wolverine” clawed its way back to the number one position, earning a strong $18.3 million, which represents a 39% decrease from the previous weekend. At this point, it’s clear that “Deadpool & Wolverine” is destined for box office success, and there’s not much more to say about it. Currently, “Deadpool & Wolverine” has earned $577.2 million domestically, and it’s expected to surpass $600 million by the first weekend of September. Once it does, it will join an exclusive club of only 16 movies in history to have exceeded $600 million domestically.

Over the past weekend, the winner was “Alien: Romulus,” which added another chapter to the peculiar timeline of the “Alien” series. Fortunately, it didn’t experience a steep drop like “Alien: Covenant” did in 2017, falling by 71%. Instead, “Alien: Romulus” earned $16.2 million last weekend, marking a 61% decrease from the previous week. Over a period of 10 days, it has accumulated $72.6 million. With a three-day holiday weekend approaching, there’s a good chance “Alien: Romulus” will surpass the $100 million mark domestically. If it does, it will be only the second film in the “Alien” franchise to reach this milestone, after “Prometheus.”

The film “It Ends with Us” has continued its successful run at North American box offices, earning another $11.8 million in its latest week. This represents a 50% drop from its previous week’s earnings. With 17 days under its belt, this blockbuster has amassed a total of $120.8 million. Given the approaching Labor Day holiday weekend, it is expected to surpass $150 million domestically. As of now, “It Ends with Us” ranks as the 11th highest-grossing film of 2024 in North America.

As a gamer, I’ve got to share my thoughts on the latest release, “Blink Twice”. Despite having a substantial number of screens and a strong promotional campaign, it only managed to pull in $7.3 million on its opening weekend. Comparatively, movies like “Joy Ride” and “Lucky Number Slevin” didn’t fare much better in the thriller/suspense genre. Not exactly the dream team we were hoping for at the box office.

Alex Kendrick, a writer and director, has gained recognition in the Christian movie industry due to blockbuster hits like “Fireproof” and “War Room”, which earned over $33.4 million each at the domestic box office from 2008 to 2019. However, his latest release, “The Forge”, is not expected to reach those heights as it opened with $6.6 million, a slight drop compared to 2019’s “Overcomer” and even “Fireproof” from 2008. Despite this, it still surpassed the opening performances of other faith-based films released in North America in 2024, such as “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” and “Ordinary Angels”.

2023 hasn’t been kind to faith-based films, despite their frequent appearance in cinemas. The market is oversaturated, and there’s a shortage of captivating stories for this particular audience, leading to fewer blockbusters like “Heaven is For Real,” “The Shack,” or “God’s Not Dead.” However, the low-budget film “The Forge” is expected to be one of the most profitable faith-based movies in 2024, as Kendrick films tend to have strong box office performance.

This past weekend, tornado movies (Twisters) relaxed by 38%, earning an additional $6.2 million, bringing their domestic total to a staggering $248.6 million. Having already surpassed its opening weekend earnings more than three times over, Twisters are expected to reach a final domestic total of around $270 million. In the second week of its theater re-release, Coraline grossed another $5 million, marking a 49% decrease from the previous frame. With a total domestic gross of $106.9 million across all its runs, Coraline now holds the title as the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film in North America, surpassing Chicken Run for this distinction!

Surprising no one, The Crow bombed at the box office over the weekend with a meager $4.6 million debut. It’s almost unbelievable to contemplate how poorly this opening fares compared to other superhero movies. This dismal start falls short of The Phantom’s 1996 opening, trails Punisher: War Zone (another Lionsgate film) by a mere $400,000, and is only slightly ahead of Flash Gordon’s December 1980 debut. To make matters worse, the 2024 version of The Crow even made less than The Spirit in December 2008, Supergirl in November 1982, AND The Crow: City of Angels from August 1996! It seems no one was clamoring for another Crow remake, especially one that appeared so gloomy and unappealing to younger audiences. None of the leads were household names, the marketing was dismal, and with faster-paced R-rated superhero action available in Deadpool & Wolverine, why would anyone choose this movie? A colossal misstep from start to finish.

1. Lionsgate, having spent $10 million on this movie and presumably additional costs for marketing, won’t face significant financial strain. However, it’s clear that there were far more beneficial uses for that money. In 2024, nine new films were released, each opening in at least 350 theaters; only one (The Strangers: Chapter 1) managed to gross over $30 million domestically. Excluding the years impacted by COVID-19 (2020-2022), 2024 is shaping up to be a lackluster year at Lionsgate’s domestic box office, reminiscent of 2011. Executives at Lionsgate are undoubtedly eager for the year of The Crow and Borderlands to end.

In its eighth weekend, Despicable Me 4 maintained its strong performance at the box office, earning $4.4 million. This represents a 30% decrease from the previous week, marking the fourth consecutive weekend where the film has seen a drop of 30% or less. To date, it has accumulated a staggering $348.2 million domestically. Meanwhile, Inside Out 2 continues to rake in the cash, collecting another $2.1 million this weekend for a domestic total of $646.3 million. This places it as the 11th highest-grossing movie ever in North America. If Disney re-releases a Pixar film during the upcoming Labor Day weekend, Inside Out 2 could potentially surpass Jurassic World’s $652.3 million domestic haul, securing the tenth spot for the biggest domestic movies of all time. Additionally, Inside Out 2 has crossed the $1 billion mark overseas this week, making it only the second animated film (after the 2019 Lion King remake) and the 12th movie in history to gross over $1 billion internationally.

Moving beyond the top ten positions, the movie “Trap” saw a decrease of 49%, earning an extra $1.77 million, bringing its domestic total to $38.5 million. Meanwhile, making its debut in 1,135 theaters this weekend was the newcomer, “Strange Darling.” Despite high expectations, it only managed to make $1.11 million on its opening day. As a new release from distributor Magenta Light Pictures, the debut of “Strange Darling” wasn’t particularly impressive. While it was hoped that this critically acclaimed genre film would become the next major box office hit, that didn’t happen. Considering it’s an original production by an unestablished director with a cast of unknown actors, its opening is not terrible. In addition, “Strange Darling” is a fantastic movie; go watch it on the big screen!

Following the disappointing performance of “Daddio” and “Kneecap”, Sony Pictures Classics managed a slight recovery with “Between the Temples”. This film opened to $677,900 from 576 theaters, which while not an exceptional start, was still respectable. It could potentially increase its theater count in the upcoming week. On the other hand, “Borderlands” took a steep dive this weekend, losing 1,978 theaters and earning another $485,000. Its total domestic earnings are now expected to be around $16.9 million. “Didi” experienced a 36% decrease in revenue this weekend, bringing its domestic total to $3.6 million. In its second wide release weekend, “My Penguin Friend” grossed $454,000, surpassing the $2.2 million domestic cumulative of “Gigi & Nate’s”. Unfortunately, that’s about the best that can be said for this film.

In the meantime, “Longlegs” continued its journey with a decrease of 54% from the previous frame, amounting to $73.5 million in total earnings so far. “Sing Sing” extended to 191 locations this weekend but saw a 4% drop compared to the last one, earning an additional $241,118 for a per-theater average of $1,262. To date, “Sing Sing” has accumulated $1.59 million in its domestic run. Meanwhile, “Good One” collected $52,200 this week from 31 theaters, reaching a domestic total of $157,200. According to IndieWire, “Kneecap” managed to gather $27,000 this weekend, surpassing the $1 million mark domestically. The performance of indie cinema newcomer “Close Your Eyes” has not been disclosed yet. Similarly, Lionsgate’s other debutant for the weekend, “Greedy People”, has not released its earnings either.

1. Over the weekend, the highest-grossing ten films earned approximately $94.5 million, which is typical for late August and slightly surpasses last year’s earnings on the same weekend when Gran Turismo led the market. As of now, August 2024 has surpassed the $800 million mark domestically and is expected to surpass the $812.8 million earned in August 2023 by either Tuesday or Wednesday. This month’s earnings are projected to barely exceed $850 million, matching the domestic haul of August 2018. It’s impressive to see that the domestic monthly box office figures for 2024 are comparable to those before COVID. Meanwhile, Summer 2024 has already reached $3.49 billion, slightly surpassing summer 2022’s $3.39 billion. While it may be challenging for Summer 2024 to reach $3.6 billion, its domestic earnings won’t be far off from the $3.82 billion grossed in summer 2017 despite a slow start to the season. Not bad at all!

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2024-08-26 19:15