1. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle– $17.3M/$104.7M
It was a steep 75% drop for Sony/Crunchyroll’s Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle in its second weekend, but the $17.3M was more than enough to beat major studio releases HIM and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. At $104.7M, the film is now the highest-grossing anime movie in U.S. history, and the top animated movie domestically of the year.
2. HIM (review)- $13.5M
Jordan Peele’s name attached as producer couldn’t help the football horror movie HIM, which opened with just $13.5M. That’s two failed genre efforts for star Tyriq Withers, whose I Know What You Did Last Summer opened with just $12M a couple of months ago. It’s a rough start for the film and that’s unlikely to change given the poor reviews. While I thought it was successful in its stylish depiction of sports violence and the warrior culture, the film sits at 29% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and 57% audience score.
3. The Conjuring: Last Rites– $12.9M/$151.1M
4. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale– $6.3M/$31.6M
5. The Long Walk– $6.3M/$22.7M
6. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (review)- $3.5M
Sony released Kogonada’s surreal romantic fantasty A Big Bold Beautiful Journey into 3300 theaters and nobody seemed to notice. Despite leads Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell, the film about strangers on a magical trip through their pasts earned just $3.5M. It’s not for the sake of trying, as it was pushed pretty hard as a high-profile release this season. This is the worst-performing major release for Robbie ever, a shade below the $3.6M of Babylon in 2022. Reviews didn’t help, as the critical score is just 37% on Rotten Tomatoes with 58% audience score.
7. The Senior– $2.7M
Angel Studios had the more successful football film of the week with The Senior. Directed by industry vet Rod Lurie (his first film since the excellent The Outpost in 2019) and starring Michael Chiklis, the film is based on the true story of Mike Flynt who at the age of 59 played college football at Sul Ross as a linebacker. Earning $2.7M, the sports drama also has an 80% critic score and 95% audience score on RT.
8. Toy Story- $1.4M/$5.8M
9. Sight & Sound Presents: NOAH LIVE– $1.3M/$1.6M
10. Weapons– $1.2M/$149.7M
