- One Battle After Another (review)- $22.4M
Warner Bros. is winning the box office war this year, becoming the first studio to cross $4B total. And helping to win that war is Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, which gave the filmmaker his first-ever #1 movie with $22.4M. That number is more than every movie in his substantial filmography with the exception of There Will Be Blood and Boogie Nights. Leonardo DiCaprio is the biggest name in a star-studded cast, playing a former revolutionary being hunted by his nemesis. Reviews have been stellar, with a Critics score of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and 85% from the Popcornmeter. For me, it’s the first movie in many years that I gave a perfect score.
2. Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie– $13.7M
I have no idea what a Gabby’s Dollhouse is, but apparently it’s popular enough for Universal Pictures and Dreamworks to put the live-action movie in 3500 theaters, earning $13.7M. Ok, I know it’s a Netflix kids’ program from the creators of Blue’s Clues, and I miscalculated that it would beat One Battle After Another this weekend. That said, it could do well in the long run as there aren’t a ton of family-friendly options for a few weeks until Wicked: For Good and Zootopia 2 arrive.
3. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle– $7.1M/$118.1M
4. The Conjuring: Last Rites– $6.8M/$161.4M
5. The Strangers: Chapter 2– $5.9M
Lionsgate really screwed things up with The Strangers: Chapter 2, the middle chapter in Renny Harlin’s horror trilogy. The film opened with a mere $5.9M in 2690 theaters, about half of what the first movie did last year on its way to $48M worldwide. Sure, reviews weren’t good as they weren’t before, but I would say the studio was less open to previewing it (they didn’t offer any critic screenings or screeners), and so those who might’ve had good things to say to the genre audience (who are pretty resistant to critic reviews) couldn’t. This doesn’t bode well for the final chapter which arrives next year.
6. HIM– $3.6M/$20.7M
7. The Long Walk– $3.4M/$28.8M
8. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale– $3.3M/$38.9M
9. Spider-Man/Spider-Man 2/Spider-Man 3– $2.2M
Fathom Entertainment held a special showing of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, bringing in $2.2M. No word on whether everyone left before Spider-Man 3 started. Fans have been buzzing for Raimi to come back to the Spidey-verse in some way and I would say this helps the case.
10. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey– $1.6M/$5.9M
Also…The Emma Thompson/Judy Greer icy thriller Dead of Winter (review) earned $1M in just 605 theaters for Vertical Entertainment, on the strength of positive reviews.
Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut Eleanor the Great (review) received a modest release from Sony Pictures Classics, earning $935K. The film, led by treasure June Squibb, received mixed reviews since debuting at Cannes.
