1. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (review)- $25.5M
It was a tough Memorial Day weekend at the box office, and not just for Furiosa, but for the industry as a whole. Still, the $25.5M debut is among the lowest ever for a top film over the holiday frame, barely surpassing Casper‘s $22M in 1995. Worldwide, George Miller’s post-apocalyptic prequel totaled $58.8M. So what went wrong? Frankly, I think expectations were too high. As I noted on social media yesterday, all of the thinkpieces about the film’s failures presume this was supposed to be a blockbuster. Why? Because Fury Road was a critical darling and cult favorite nine years ago. But it wasn’t a gigantic box office hit (only $153M domestic), and Furiosa features NONE of the same cast. So why should expectations be greater? I don’t get it. That said, the numbers are still low by comparison, and that is disappointing. Whatever the case, the reviews are strong, the film should do well in the end with the help of streaming, and Miller better get cracking on the next one.
2. The Garfield Movie (review)- $24.7M
Nipping at Furiosa‘s heels with $24.7M was The Garfield Movie, featuring the voice of Chris Pratt as everyone’s favorite lazy cat from the comic strips. It’s possible the animated film, which is family-friendly compared to its R-rated competition, could take the top spot when Memorial Day is factored in, but we’ll know about that tomorrow. Reviews from critics were pretty rough (37% on Rotten Tomatoes), while audiences seemed pleased by it with 83%. The continued strength of IF in its second weekend had to have cut into the audience in a big way, too. Worldwide the film has $99M overall.
3. IF– $16.1M/$58.6M
Falling just 52% in week two, John Krasinski’s imaginary friends movie IF earned $16.1M and has passed $100M worldwide.
4. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes– $13.3M/$122.8M
5. The Fall Guy– $5.9M/$72.2M
With The Fall Guy getting a digital release already this week, expect the box office numbers to plummet. For now, the Ryan Gosling/Emily Blunt action-comedy has $145M worldwide after three weeks. Another film crippled by high expectations and a budget that was larger than it needed to be.
6. The Strangers: Chapter 1– $5.6M/$21.3M
7. Sight– $2.8M
There wasn’t a lot of buzz for the Greg Kinnear/Terry Chen medical drama Sight, and that was reflected by its $2.8M opening weekend on 2100 screens.
8. Challengers– $1.3M/$46.4M
9. Back to Black– $1.1M/$4.9M
So this is undeniably ugly, but Amy Winehouse biopic Black to Black also has $38M overseas for a $43M total. And that doesn’t look so bad.
10. Babes (review)- $1M/$1.2M
NEON expanded the Ilana Glazer pregnancy comedy Babes to 590 theaters in its second weekend, pushing it into the top 10 with $1M and $1.2M overall. [BoxOfficeMojo]
