There was no kryptonite for “Superman” at the box office this weekend. James Gunn’s reboot of the Man of Steel was an easy no. 1 at the U.S. box office with $57 million and a 10-day gross of $235 million. The first film in the new DCU Universe is already the biggest domestic hit since “Aquaman” in 2018. Overseas is a slightly different story, although seemingly improving.
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“Superman” is looking similar to how “Twisters” played last summer, where domestic will dramatically overshadow international grosses. The spin is international is down this calendar year in general, but other tentpoles have thrived overseas. As of Sunday, “Superman” has taken in $171 million internationally for a $400 global tally so far. That means “Superman” is officially on track to earn over $600+ million and recoup its production costs in theaters. A win for DC Studios heads Gunn and Peter Safran.
“Jurassic World: Rebirth,” which few critics or audiences adore (a 6.2 on IMDB is telling), is still pulling in dinosaur fans three weekends in. The Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailly tentpole is now at $276 million domestic and $648 million worldwide. $1 billion is not happening, but a profitable $800 million is likely. It’s also the no. 1 U.S. release in China so far this year with $71.8 million alone.
Among the new arrivals, Sony Pictures’ remake of “I Know What You Did Last Summer” pulled in just $13 million. That’s less than the $15.5 million the original opened to in…1997 and the $16.2 million the first sequel found in 1998. Globally, “Summer” is at $24.6 million so far. Considering the bad reviews and negative franchise fan reaction, the Sony Pictures development team may need to reconsider what is passable in terms of shooting scripts and, just as important, casting. One of the biggest problems with “Summer” is that outside of Chase Sui Wonders, this cast was super bland, or they were at least portrayed that way on screen. They screamed Netflix or Prime Video streaming stars (surprise, two were), and that’s not going to convince twentysomethings or teenagers not to wait for it to drop online.
Another movie that substantially underperformed expectations earlier in the year was Paramount Pictures’ “Smurfs.” Considering there hasn’t been a new animated release in a month and that drop was “Elio,” which is one of the biggest disappointments in Pixar history, there was a window for something special here. And yet, no. The animated reboot was ripped by critics (like eviscerated) and took in just $11 million domestically. The good news for Paramount is that the Smurfs property is much stronger overseas, and it fueled the overall global take to $33.6 million so far. With a production budget of just $58 million, the movie will, at worst, likely break even, but it isn’t the smash the Mountain thought it might be. And to think this movie gave us the only new Rihanna music we’ve had since “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”.
Right behind was Joseph Kosinski’s “F1,” which earned another $9.6 million, bringing its domestic total to $153 million and its worldwide total to $460 million. $500 million, or pretty damn close, is likely for the Apple Studios and Warner Bros. co-release.
Despite the star power of Pedro Pascal, Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, and Austin Butler, Ari Aster’s “Eddington” debuted with just $4.25 million in 2,111 venues. Reportedly, the film only cost $25 million, but it’s unclear if A24 legitimately had enough foreign pre-sales to cover costs. Happily, the mini-major can celebrate “Materialists,” which has taken in over $50 million worldwide and still has major markets such as Brazil, the U.K., Germany, and Mexico to come.
And, in case you missed it, “Lilo & Stitch” crossed the $1 billion mark this week. After the weekend, its new domestic cume is $418 million and global is at $1 billion. Unless “Fantastic Four” or “Zootopia 2” overperform, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is likely the only other billion-dollar grosser opening this calendar year. Considering the box office is currently up 15% year over year (and down just 5% from 2023), it means a lot of tentpoles are doing well, but few are hitting the stratosphere. Could something surprise this fall?
On Friday, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” arrives in wide release.
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