1. KPop Demon Hunters– $18M
In an absolutely stunning upset (?), Netflix’s release of its streaming juggernaut KPop Demon Hunters as a weekend sing-a-long event beat everything with $18M. The animated film has been a cultural phenomenon since it debuted on the small screen in June, but I don’t think anyone saw this coming. At just 1700 theaters, roughly half of what other major releases had this week, the animated film scored an incredible $10,588 per site average. Sadly, it also likely contributed to the failure of A24’s English dub release of Ne Zha 2, with the global box office leader earning just $1.5M in 2200 locations. Ouch. And this should go without saying, but the film is also Netflix’s first-ever #1 box office finish.
1. Weapons– $15.6M/$115.8M
Zach Cregger’s buzzy horror Weapons continued to perform impressively, falling just 36% in its third week for $15.6M and $115M domestically. It should cross the $200M mark globally by tomorrow.
3. Freakier Friday– $9.2M/$70.5M
4. The Fantastic Four: First Steps– $5.9M/$257.2M
5. The Bad Guys 2– $5.1M/$66.1M
6. Nobody 2– $3.7M/$16.5M
7. Superman– $3.4M/$346.9M
After seven weeks, James Gunn’s Superman now has $604M worldwide, becoming the only superhero movie this year to cross that mark. Remember the days when any superhero movie could hit this number easily? Those times are long gone.
8. The Naked Gun– $2.95M/$47.5M
9. Honey Don’t! (review)- $2.95M
Focus Features released into 1317 theaters the queer noir-comedy Honey Don’t!, the second of Ethan Coen’s crime movies starring Margaret Qualley. So far, neither has performed well, and this doesn’t bode well for the third movie that’s in the works right now. This was always going to be a niche film, even with big names like Qualley, Chris Evans, and Aubrey Plaza attached. I expect that if the third one gets released it will be be given a platform rollout in the major cities and that’s it.
10. Jurassic World: Rebirth– $2.1M/$335.5M
Also…Bleecker Street released the whistleblower thriller Relay into 1483 theaters for $1.9M. The film from Hell or High Water director David Mackenzie stars Riz Ahmed and Lily James.
Ron Howard’s survival thriller Eden (review) about the mysterious Galapagos Affair, flopped with just $1M despite a star-studded cast of Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Bruhl, Sydney Sweeney, and Ana de Armas. For Sweeney, it’s her second dud in two weeks following Americana. Reviews haven’t been kind, with most critics (including me) noting that it’s too far of a change-of-pace for Howard.
MUBI released the acclaimed Sundance thriller Lurker (review) in four theaters for a solid $16K per site average. The film about an obsessed fan played by Theodore Pellerin who infiltrates the inner circle of his favorite pop star, played by Saltburn actor Archie Madekwe, has a 93% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
