With only one weak opening (“The Last Voyage of the Demeter”/Universal, #5, $6.5 million), the weekend box office totals have understandably dropped below any since late June. Have no fear, though: overall performance remains positive.
The same weekend last year managed only a paltry $65 million. The over $115 million that came in this weekend continues the momentum and brings the industry closer to a $4 billion summer — what was seen as an optimistic goal before May is now within view.
If so, the “Barbie” (Warner Bros.)/”Oppenheimer” (Universal) tandem remains the biggest contributing factor. The top two titles (“Oppenheimer” climbed back to #2) notched over 45 percent of the total gross, with both dropping only slightly more than a third in their fourth weekends. Another $33.7 million haul puts Greta Gerwig’s comedy smash up to $526 million domestic, nearing $1.2 billion worldwide. Christopher Nolan’s biopic added another $18.8 million, getting it to $264 million domestic, over $650 million worldwide so far.
“Barbie” will likely be challenged next week by “Blue Beetle” (Warner Bros.) for #1, with the DC Comics film potentially benefiting from good initial response and strong interest from the Latino community.
Universal’s Dracula on a boat horror title “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” (it worked better as “Snakes on a Plane,” which was a comedy) managed only $6.5 million despite no other new competition. Sony originally slated this weekend for “Gran Turismo,” but then delayed it two weeks while still opening in 30 foreign territories (it grossed $10.7 million).
“Demeter” comes from Amblin Partners with a reported $45 million budget, with veteran Norwegian genre veteran Andre Ovredal (“Trollhunter,” “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”) directing. It fell below even its minimum expectations, with foreign and VOD release ahead needed to salvage any sort of return.
With continued improved grosses, year to date is now 24 percent over 2022. With potential challenges ahead because of strike-related scheduling changes, that would project to $9.2 million for the full year.
What is notable about the rest of the Top Ten is for the most part quite decent holds. This is normally when the summer starts fading (many schools are either open or about to), and how earlier films hold up becomes important.
It’s a mixed bag this weekend — “Meg 2: The Trench” (Warner Bros.), #2 last weekend, fell to #4 with a 58 percent second week drop. Led by China ($90 million), the $135 million pre-marketing cost film has done $257 million worldwide so far. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” fared better with 44 percent down (and jumping ahead of “Meg 2”).
But the very impressive Australian horror film “Talk to Me” (A24) is defying all genre performance norms by dropping only 19 percent in its third week. With another $5.1 million it has passed $31 million, with significantly more likely to come.
Though it remains far short of expectations, “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” (Paramount) fell only 29 percent. It still looks likely to fall under $200 million domestic, $600 million worldwide, not what was anticipated.
“Jailer” (Indin), is the latest Indian film to make the Top 10. The Tamil-region revenge thriller took in over $2.5 million in only 450 theaters for #10, with $4.1 million in over five days. After two weeks in the Top 10, “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani” (Moviegoers) is #11, over $7 million.
Those are numbers domestic specialized films mostly can only dream about. New this week is “Jules” (Bleecker Street), a small-town UFO story with Ben Kingsley, mustered up only $834,000 in 780 theaters.
Best among new limited openers this week were “The Eternal Memory” (MTV), an acclaimed Chilean documentary about Alzheimer’s. It opened to $12,000 in one New York theater. Rialto’s reissue of William Richert’s 1979 “Winter Kills” did the same gross, also exclusive in New York.
The Top 10
1. Barbie (Warner Bros. Discovery) Week 4; Last weekend #1
$33,700,000 (-36%) in 4,178 (no change) theaters; PTA (per theater average): $8,066; Cumulative: $526,309,000
2. Oppenheimer (Universal) Week 4; Last weekend #3
$18,800,000 (-35%) in 3,761 (+149) theaters; PTA: $4,999; Cumulative: $264,269,000
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Paramount) Week 2; Last weekend #4
$15,750,000 (-44%) in 3,950 (+92) theaters; PTA: $3,987; Cumulative: $72,790,000
4. Meg 2: The Trench (Warner Bros.) Week 2; Last weekend #2
$12,700,000 (-58%) in 3,604 (+101) theaters; PTA: $3,524; Cumulative: $54,137,000
5. The Last Voyage of the Demeter (Universal) NEW – Cinemascore: B-; Metacritic: 52; Est. budget: $45 million
$6,500,000 in theaters; PTA: $2,394; Cumulative: $6,500,000
6. Haunted Mansion (Disney) Week 3; Last weekend #5
$5,614,000 (-%) in 2,860 (-880) theaters; PTA: $1,963; Cumulative: $52,871,000
7. Sound of Freedom (Angel) Week 6; Last weekend #6
$4,832,000 (-36%) in 2,803 (-198) theaters); PTA: $1,724; Cumulative: $172,814,000
8. Talk to Me (A24) Week 3; Last weekend #8
$5,116,000 (-19%) in 2,379 (+9) theaters; PTA: $2,151; Cumulative: $31,321,000
9. Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning: Part One (Paramount) Week 5; Last weekend #7
$4,555,000 (-29%) in 2,135 (-287) theaters; PTA: $2,185; Cumulative: $159,556,000
10. Jailer (Indin) NEW – Est. budget: $24 million
$2,578,000 in 450 theaters; PTA: $5,730; Cumulative: $4,131,000
Other specialized titles
Films (limited, expansions of limited, as well as awards-oriented releases) are listed by week in release, starting with those opened this week; after the first three weeks, only films with grosses over $5,000 are listed.
Jules (Bleecker Street) NEW – Metacritic: 53; Festivals include: Sonoma 2023
$834,450 in 780 theaters; PTA: $1,069
The Eternal Memory (MTV) NEW – Metacritic: 84; Festivals include: Sundance, Berlin 2023
$12,000 in 1 theater; PTA: $12,000
Between Two Worlds (Cohen) NEW – Metacritic: 57; Festivals include: Cannes 2021
$6,360 in 2 theaters; PTA: $3,180
Day by Day (Utopia) NEW
$31,000 in 7 theaters; PTA: $4,429
Love Life (Oscilloscope) NEW – Metacritic: 71; Festivals include: Venice, Toronto 2022
$2,100 in 1 theater; PTA: $2,100
Winter Kills (Rialto) REISSUE
$12,000 in 1 theater; PTA: $12,000
Passages (MUBI) Week 2
$98,760 in 40 (+37) theaters; PTA: $2,469; Cumulative: $185,564
Shortcomings (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 2
$83,495 in 210 (-194) theaters; PTA: $398; Cumulative: $557,496
Dreamin’ Wild (Roadside Attractions) Week 2
$14,510 in 72 (-330) theaters; PTA: $202; Cumulative: $239,319
CatVideoFest 2023 (Oscilloscope) Week 2
$65,000 in 28 (-13) theaters; PTA: $2,329; Cumulative: $216,195
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (Moviegoer) Week 3
$1,270,000 in 230 (-40) theaters; PTA: $5,522; Cumulative: $7,176,000
The Unknown Country (Music Box) Week 3
$3,900 in 8 (+3) theaters; Cumulative: $23,718
Theater Camp (Searchlight) Week 5
$257,000 in 410 (-345) theaters; Cumulative: $3,087,000
The Miracle Club (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 5
$43,887 in 61 (-4) theaters; Cumulative: $1,819,000
Have You Got It Yet? (Abramorama) Week 5
$4,522 in 6 theaters; Cumulative: $82,798
Asteroid City (Focus) Week 8; also on PVOD
$41,000 in 63 (-23) theaters; Cumulative: $27,883,000
