Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Box Office

  • ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Warpinig Towards $195M+ 5-Day Opening Weekend

    ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Warpinig Towards $195M+ 5-Day Opening Weekend

    It looks like early estimates have been quite off for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, as the biggest Nintendo adaptation of one of their most popular characters is on its way to ending its five-day domestic run at $195M. There’s a chance it might even go beyond the $200M mark but either way, it is already far ahead of its initial expectations.

    As such, it’ll also beat up Finding Dory‘s $135.1M three-day opening as it’s set to land at around $137M and will be the second-biggest opening for an animated film just behind Incredibles 2. Its initial expectations had it at around $127.5M and it’s now only a question of time before they announce a sequel.

    While critics weren’t too kind to the film, families are loving it and it even managed to pull in an A CinemaScore. It also makes the biggest opening for Illumination and is likely to become the second-biggest 5-day release since the first Transformers film.

    That Easter release was a clever timing to get this film out as it’s mainly getting its boost from the generation that grew up with these games; giving git that boosts that family audience would lack on their own with past releases this year.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Wahooing Towards $127.5M 5-Day Opening Weekend

    ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Wahooing Towards $127.5M 5-Day Opening Weekend

    Even as the reviews from critics are surprisingly harsh, it seems that the collaboration between Illumination, Universal, and Nintendo is heading towards that 1-Up Mushroom, as The Super Mario Bros. Movie is looking to make quite a big bang at the box office this weekend. Wednesday previews are already looking strong and are heading towards $26M sans Tuesday previews, which would potentially mean an $86.2M 3-day opening.

    Luckily for it, this will be a 5-day opening and it’ll likely end up around $127.5M, which would put it on the path to becoming the biggest opening for a video game-based adaptation. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 opened to $26.3M but that was including Thursday previews. It held the 3-day record at $72.1M and while critics haven’t loved the Nintendo film, audiences seemingly do going by its Rotten Tomatoes.

    Not just that, this film will also pull in the best 5-day debut for Illumination since Despicable Me 2‘s $143M back in 2013. With some strong legs, the film has a good chance of starting its own cinematic universe, as post-credit sequences have already been teased (Luigi’s Mansion, anyone?). The only question is if the legs will hold as family audiences haven’t really been reliable going by previous entries, but this film might be why they weren’t showing up; COVID has led to many saving up for the big releases.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Dethrones ‘John Wick 4’ with a Decent Opening Weekend

    ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Dethrones ‘John Wick 4’ with a Decent Opening Weekend

    the final numbers are in and the Dungeons & Dragons film has barely missed out on the $40M mile but still pulled in an okay $38.5M. While it is higher than its initial predictions, which were set relatively low but not surprising given how sci-fi and fantasy struggle at the box office at times, it’s still going to face an uphill battle to make up for its high $150M budget. Internationally, the film has made around $71.5M with a softer $33M global cume.

    The reviews and PostTrak score are hinting that the film might have a chance at some strong legs but with tough competition on the horizon, it’s anyone’s game at this point. Including a premiere at SXSW, the marketing spend on this film is quite high and it’ll definitely need those legs to keep going but The Super Mario Bros. Movie is already on the horizon next weekend. As both share a similar audience, this year might become quite the bloodbath at the box office.

    John Wick Chapter 4 faced a surprising 62% drop to $28.2M after its record opening. Some thought it would drop lower with its strong word-of-mouth. “Blockbuster” releases have faced much higher drops since the pandemic started as people are much more selective in their viewing choices but this won’t stop John Wick’s latest adventure to become the highest-grossing of the franchise.

    Source: The Wrap

  • ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ Rolls the Dice to Take Down ‘John Wick 4’

    ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ Rolls the Dice to Take Down ‘John Wick 4’

    This weekend will see an interesting battle between fantasy and gun-fu, as Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is rolling out in theaters worldwide. After pulling in a good $5.6M in previews at the domestic box office, the film is trying its luck on potentially dethroning last weekend’s big hit, John Wick Chapter 4. As of now, the film is eyeing an opening between $30M to potentially $40M but tomorrow’s numbers will give us a clearer picture.

    John Wick 4 is heading towards a stronghold in its sophomore weekend with around $36M expected. Though given its popularity it might even go higher as well. The only issue for Dungeons & Dragons lies in the fact that it has quite a steep $150M production window. So, it will have to bank on good word-of-mouth to keep it going as the summer box office is just around the corner with quite a line-up.

    March generally has been a strong month with some break-out releases on small to medium budgets like Creed 3, Scream 6, and John Wick 4. While Shazam Fury of the Gods floundered and didn’t even have a big opening like Ant-Man 3, it’s great to see some strong showings after the pandemic years making many wonder what the future holds for theatrical experiences.

    If the Chris Pine project manages to pull in some strong word-of-mouth and heads to the $40M opening, it might have a chance to balance its softer opening throughout the coming weeks. But, interestingly, it’s not too different from Shazam: Fury of the Gods which had a smaller budget of $100M but opened to $30M. Perhaps it’s not quite superhero fatigue but blockbuster fatigue in the off-season.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘John Wick 4’ Opens to an Impressive $137.5M Worldwide

    ‘John Wick 4’ Opens to an Impressive $137.5M Worldwide

    It looks like people are all-in for John Wick: Chapter 4. The franchise continues to grow and has managed to wrap up its weekend with $73.5M. That would put it above the recent $70M expected opening from 3,855 theaters. It’s come pretty far from the first John Wick‘s opening of $14.4M and has now passed the record set by the previous Parabellum entry of $56.8M.

    Internationally, the film did quite well as it passed all expected pre-release estimates and opened to $64M. As such, the film now proudly stands at a franchise’s best of a $137.5M global opening. Not many films can claim that their fourth entry managed to continue growing the franchise’s box office revenue with only nine managing to hold that title in the past 40 years.

    Lionsgate might also be quite happy as this is the highest opening they’ve had since The Hunger Games opened to $102.6M back in November of 2015. So, it has been a while since they had such a big hit in theaters. The latest film entry did make up 62% of the weekend gross and it was slim picking for the rest. Shazam: Fury of the Gods did slightly better than the expected 70% drop but a 68% drop with a $30M opening isn’t something you want to see, families truly aren’t back in theaters yet.

    Source: The Wrap, Deadline

  • ‘John Wick 4’ Eyeing $70M+ Opening as ‘Shazam 2’ Faces Harsh Drop

    ‘John Wick 4’ Eyeing $70M+ Opening as ‘Shazam 2’ Faces Harsh Drop

    We have another strong opening for a smaller budgeted project, as John Wick Chapter 4 is definitely heading for a strong $70M+ opening. It pulled in a strong $29.4M over Friday night including Thursday previews. As such, it is currently on track to $70.6M but strong word-of-mouth might even push it further. It seems that a strong push is through IMAX, PLF, and 4DX locations with over a third being from those types of theatrical experiences. It’s also showing a strong 93% PostTrak with a higher recommendation rate than even its predecessor John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

    The target audience here remains men over 25, which made up around 48% of its viewership, highlighting their strong showing in theaters remains what is keeping the medium afloat and matches with previous record-breaking releases. Currently, the problem still remains with younger and family audiences that aren’t quite where they were pre-pandemic times, as they could’ve made a difference for more family-oriented offerings like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and even the recently released Shazam: Fury of the Gods.

    Speaking of, the Shazam sequel pulled in $2.35M on its second Friday, which is a strong 80% drop. As such, the film is expected to pull in $8.6M over the weekend. That is a 71% drop from its initial release which isn’t something a film wants with a $30M opening. To put that into perspective, that is a harsher drop than even Ant-Man 3, which at least had a $106M opening on its back to balance it out somewhat. At this rate, Shazam might not even pass $200M worldwide which it would need to break even on its production budget. FAmily-friendly superhero offerings might be suffering the most at the moment.

    Source: Deadline, The Numbers

  • ‘John Wick 4’ Opens to Franchise’s Best Thursday Previews at $8.9M

    ‘John Wick 4’ Opens to Franchise’s Best Thursday Previews at $8.9M

    The fourth time is the charm it seems, as John Wick‘s latest entry has opened to a franchise-best of $8.9M in Thursday previews at the domestic box office. While the franchise dropped the additional subtitle like John Wick Chapter 3 – Parabellum, John Wick: Chapter 4 is definitely making headlines as it’s expected to open at around $70M domestically.

    That would make it a massive jump from the original John Wick which opened to $14M back in 2014 and quite a leap from the previous entries’ $56.8M. There’s a similar jump in Thursday previews highlighting just how popular the Keanu Reeves-led franchise is that combines his usual charms with memorable action set pieces.

    Though, the latest entry is also the most expensive at around $100M, which highlights just how far the franchise has come over the years. There’s also no doubt it’ll dethrone Shazam: Fury of the Gods, which fizzled out in its opening weekend at around $30M. Chapter 4 also marks a bittersweet entry, as Lance Reddick tragically passed away shortly before the film’s premiere, which will definitely make it a must-see for fans of the franchise.

    There’s no franchise that does action just like John Wick, which gives the films an edge when compared to others. Even with its success, not many were able to replicate the formula that made it stand out the way it does and it’ll be interesting to see just how much more they have planned for Baba Yaga moving forward as they have a female-centric spinoff and prequel series in development.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Shazam 2’ Fizzled Out at the Box Office with Low $30M Domestic Opening

    ‘Shazam 2’ Fizzled Out at the Box Office with Low $30M Domestic Opening

    The debates over the box office results of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was quite all over the place, as the film faced a steep drop after its initial weekend. Yet, it still made a big splash that one expects from a Marvel Studios offering and fizzled out faster due to higher expectations on such projects and the fact that there’s always a Disney+ release around the corner, as taught in the past by how releases were handled.

    Yet, it seems 2023 isn’t kind to superhero films in general as the latest DC film, Shazam! Fury of the Gods faced an even harsher box office release with one of the worst openings for a DC Extended Universe entry. With an $11.7M Friday, the film is projected to end at around $30M. That would put it quite a bit below the initially expected $35M to $40M. Many had believed the film had a chance to garner some momentum going into the weekend but it seems it has swiftly fizzled out.

    What makes this hurt, even more, is that it’s quite a bit lower than 2019’s Shazam! which opened at $53.5M at the box office. It does have the same $100M price tag as the previous entry but with a B+ CinemaScore, the question will be how its legs perform. Many have used it as a way to get a feeling for where it’s going but its key audience families are still struggling to get back to theaters. It was a hope they might strengthen even Ant-Man‘s box office run as they had a much higher affinity with the film, but it seems they are still a market that has yet to find their way back.

    Perhaps there’s a correlation between more family-friendly offerings and the recent drop in box office for animated releases. If you’re not a “must-watch” released in theaters, they simply won’t make the trip like with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish or even Minions: Rise of Gru last year. The box office is certainly doing better but not every target audience is quite where some might have hoped it would be. So, more adult and teen-driven releases like the recent successes of Scream VI and Creed III might be on the horizon.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Scream VI’ Stabs Up Franchise’s Best Thursday Previews

    ‘Scream VI’ Stabs Up Franchise’s Best Thursday Previews

    It looks like the sixth entry of the Scream franchise has opened big, as the film pulled in $5.7M in Thursday previews, which would make it the biggest ever for the franchise. It’s also set to expand its theater count on Friday from 3,125 to 3,675 with a chance at a powerful $35M to $40M opening weekend.

    As such, it would take the top spot from the last entry which also opened a strong $34M during the pandemic. Scream VI is set to break that record and is on track to move closer to the $40M if it continues at this rate. As such, it might have a good chance to blow past the film’s $138M worldwide total, which was already impressive on a tiny $24M budget.

    The only question is if this film can stab Michael B. Jordan‘s Creed III from the top spot, which it dominated last weekend with an overperforming $58M opening. Though it does seem likely that it’ll beat it unless the boxing film has some impressive staying power for viewers that just couldn’t get enough the first time around.

    The only depressing opening is Adam Driver‘s new sci-fi film 65 which earned an okay $1.2M in previews and isn’t likely going to set the weekend ablaze. Reviews aren’t kind to the film either, as it has a critical score of 30% and an already rotten Audience Score just as it entered the weekend.

    Source: The Numbers, Variety, Rotten Tomatoes

  • ‘Scream VI’ Looks To Break $35 Million Opening Weekend Record

    ‘Scream VI’ Looks To Break $35 Million Opening Weekend Record

    Scream VI is hitting screens Friday, March 10, and early reports suggest that the film could see at least $35 million from its opening weekend. The latest Scream film will have big shoes to fill as the industry expects it to improve over 2022’s Scream, which debuted at $30 million. Scream VI will likely see steep competition as the box officer leader, Creed III, has firm control of ticket sales and is expected to have a decent holdover going into its second weekend.

    Of course, something working in the film’s favor is that the long-running Scream horror series is very popular and found success last year with $81 million domestically. Following the success of 2022’s Scream, Paramount quickly crafted another installment, promoting this year’s film with the infamous knife-wielding masked murderer fans have openly embraced.

    Scream VI tells the story of survivors looking for a fresh start in New York. However, things quickly turn as they stumble upon a new Ghostface killer and a bloody rampage. The latest installment stars Melissa Barrera, Jenny Ortega, and Courteney Cox, and sees the return of Hayden Panettiere as Kirby Reed. It