- The Fall Guy (review)- $28.5M
It was a rough start for The Fall Guy, which stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in a blockbuster, big-screen take on the ’80s TV series. With David Leitch at the helm, it certainly looked like a huge hit to kick off summer, but the $28.5M launch is a definite disappointment. Globally, the $65M haul is a bit better but still below expectations. So what went wrong? The reviews from critics and audiences are strong, the trailers are fun and breezy with tons of action. My take is that it also looks sorta disposable, and people aren’t quite ready to start throwing their money at a movie they could watch on streaming in a few weeks. Plus, and I could be wrong on this, but I think they should’ve given it a different title. The Fall Guy was a great show but nobody talk about it as among the very best ever with clear cultural impact. My hope is the good reviews will lead to weeks of solid box office that will justify the bloated $135M budget.
2. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace-$8M
Originally released back in 1999, The Phantom Menace was considered a huge disappointment, critically at least, by longtime Star Wars fans. Count me among that group. But I will admit that I have learned to respect it more in the years since, and clearly that is the case for a lot of people. This weekend’s re-release celebrating both the 25th anniversary and Star Wars Day earned an impressive $8M domestically, plus another $6 internationally.
3. Challengers– $7.6M/$29.4M
The second week of Zendaya’s racy tennis dramedy Challengers earned $7.6M, falling out of the top spot. The film now has $39M worldwide after two weeks, and maybe stole some of the thunder from The Fall Guy by capitalizing on the female audience.
4. Tarot– $6.5M
There wasn’t a lot of positive buzz for Sony/Screen Gems’ horror Tarot going into its opening weekend. And that played out with a meager $6.5M debut, getting soundly beaten by the re-release of a two-decade-old Star Wars movie. This is one of those cases where I point out the studio did not screen the film early for press. Perhaps if they had, there would be a bit of momentum behind its release. It couldn’t have hurt.
5. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire– $4.5M/$188M
6. Civil War– $3.5M/$62M
7. Unsung Hero– $3M/$13.1M
8. Kung Fu Panda 4– $2.4M/$188.3M
9. Abigail– $2.3M/$22.7M
10. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire– $1.8M/$109.9M
