This week it’s the Spider-Verse, not the Multi-verse! In a surprising twist of the web, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse reclaimed the top spot at the weekend box office, grossing $19.3 million, which was a 29% decline from the previous weekend. Although it secured the highest earnings, this figure is relatively low for a summer weekend.
In comparison to the 13 weekends in May, June, and July of the previous year, every #1 film had higher earnings than Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse did this weekend. If Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse had been released during the same weekend last year, it would have ranked #5 at the box office, trailing behind The Black Phone with its $23.6 million opening.
The animated Spider-Man sequel has had an unusual trajectory, winning its first two weekends with $120.7 million and $55.5 million, respectively, dropping to third place in its third weekend with $27.0 million, and now remarkably returning to first place.
This achievement was made possible by the disappointing performances of The Flash and Elemental in their second week, which experienced steep drops. After 24 days, the superhero film from Sony has accumulated $317 million in the U.S. and Canada, and it is projected to reach approximately $380 million, securing its place as the second highest-grossing film of the year, following The Super Mario Bros. Movie which earned $573 million.
Elemental claimed the #2 spot with a three-day total of $18.5 million, experiencing a 38% decline from its $29.6 million debut the previous week. Prior to its release, Disney had hoped that Elemental would mark a return to Pixar’s box office success, particularly after the underwhelming performance of Lightyear last year. Elemental opened at 58% of Lightyear’s $50.6 million. Based on the current pace, Elemental is expected to finish its domestic run with approximately $110 million, slightly lower than Lightyear’s $118.3 million. After ten days, Elemental has amassed $65.5 million domestically, in comparison to Lightyear’s $89.3 million, despite Elemental experiencing a lower drop of 38% in its second week compared to Lightyear’s 64% decline.
DC’s The Flash fell hard from #1 to 3rd place, experiencing a catastrophic 72% drop in its second week, earning $15.3 million over the three-day period. Warner Bros. had lowered their expectations for The Flash after its disappointing opening, still hoping it might match the results of the original Shazam! film from 2019.
When comparing the box office performance of 2023’s The Flash and 2019’s Shazam!, there are notable differences. The Flash opened strong with $24.1 million on its first day, surpassing Shazam! which earned $20.4 million. During the opening weekend, The Flash generated $55.1 million, slightly exceeding Shazam! which earned $53.5 million. However, the second weekend showed contrasting trends. The Flash experienced a substantial decline of 72%, with a box office total of $15.3 million, while Shazam! had a smaller drop of 46% and earned $24.5 million. After 10 days, The Flash accumulated a total of $87.6 million, falling slightly behind Shazam! which reached $94.3 million during the same timeframe.
Although the numbers appear close after the first ten days, a closer examination reveals that The Flash is rapidly losing momentum. The Flash should have had an advantage over Shazam! since the latter film opened in April when schools were still in session and movie attendance tends to be lower. Despite The Flash initially surpassing Shazam!‘s opening day total by nearly 20%, it has now dropped to a lower second weekend. If this trend continues, which is likely, The Flash will experience a significant decline, posing serious consequences for DC Studios and Warner Bros. Shazam! achieved a final domestic gross of $140.5 million and a worldwide gross of $367.8 million, with a production budget of $100 million. This was deemed sufficient to warrant the sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods, even though it did not perform as expected with a total of $57.6 million domestically and $133.8 million worldwide.
No Hard Feelings, an R-rated comedy starring Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence, secured the #4 spot with an opening weekend gross of $15.1 million. The film centers around a 32-year-old woman, played by Lawrence, who is on the verge of losing her childhood home and agrees to date a wealthy couple’s socially awkward 19-year-old son to earn some money. Critics have scored No Hard Feelings 68% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 151 reviews, but audiences reacted more positively, giving it an 88% score.
Lawrence has always leaned towards more interesting scripts and her friendship with the film’s director, Gene Stupnitsky, sealed the deal for this project. With a production budget of $45 million, No Hard Feelings was more than double the budget of Good Boys, another R-rated comedy directed by Stupnitsky, which opened with $21.4 million domestically on a $20 million budget. Given that No Hard Feelings only produced 71% of the earlier film’s opening weekend gross, its prospects in the coming weeks are not favorable.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts secured fifth place, grossing $11.6 million, which marked a 44% decline from the previous weekend. Following a significant 67% decline in its second week, the largest in franchise history, the film’s drop this weekend suggests that there is still some interest remaining in the sequel. After 17 days, Rise of the Beasts has accumulated $122.9 million domestically, and it is projected to reach approximately $160 million domestically and $385 million worldwide.
Wes Anderson‘s Asteroid City, distributed by Focus Features, expanded its theater count significantly from six locations to 1675 this weekend, earning $9 million and landing in sixth place. The film features an all-star cast including Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, and Scarlett Johansson and received a 75% “certified fresh” score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes while audiences seem to have mixed feelings and gave it a 61% audience score, which is to be expected with a Wes Anderson film. While he has a very devoted fan base, many of his films, while critically acclaimed, tend to go over the heads of most movie-goers. Given that the box office performance for Asteroid City falls on the higher side for a Wes Anderson-directed film, we can anticipate many more Anderson movies in the future, particularly considering his popularity among actors and the dedication and loyalty of his fans.
REELated:
The Little Mermaid, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Blackening, and The Boogeyman finish out the box office top ten list in that order. Disney’s The Little Mermaid slipped from #5 to #7 after 5 weeks in theaters earning $8.7 million and experiencing a 22% drop from the previous week.
Disney and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has now been in theaters for 8 weeks, is now available on premium video on demand, and is still on the box office top ten list taking the #8 spot after slipping from #4 and experiencing a 33% decline in ticket sales. Lionsgate’s The Blackening is barely holding onto the box office top ten list after just two weeks in theaters, slipping from #6 to #9 and earning $3 million for the weekend. In its fourth weekend at the box office, Disney’s The Boogeyman slipped from #8 to #10, earning 2.5 million after experiencing a 30% drop in ticket sales.
Overall, the combined domestic earnings of all movies this weekend reached $109.6 million, compared to $135.8 million in the same period last year. Last year’s top-grossing film during this weekend was Elvis with an opening weekend gross of $31.2 million.
1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony) Week 4; Last weekend #3
$19,300,000 (-29%) in 3,785 (-88) theaters; PTA: $5,099; Cumulative: $317,515,000
2. Elemental (Disney) Week 2; Last weekend #2
$18,500,000 (-38%) in 4,035 (no change) theaters; PTA: $4,576; Cumulative: $65,514,000
3. The Flash (WBD) Week 2; Last weekend #1
$15,265,000 (-70%) in 4,256 (+22) theaters; PTA: $3,587; Cumulative: $87,644,000
4. No Hard Feelings (Sony) NEW – Metacritic: 58; Est. budget: $45 million
$15,100,000 in 3,208 theaters; PTA: $4,707; Cumulative: $15,100,000
5. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (Paramount) Week 3; Last weekend #4
$11,600,000 (-44%) in 3,523 (-157) theaters; PTA: $3,293; Cumulative: $122,948,000
6. Asteroid City (Focus) Week 2; Last weekend #11
$9,000,000 (+955%) in 1,675 (+1,669) theaters; PTA: $5,373; Cumulative: $10,215,000
7. The Little Mermaid (Disney) Week 5; Last weekend #5
$8,674,000 (-22%) in 3,275 (-205) theaters; PTA: $2,649; Cumulative: $270,242,000
8. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Disney) Week 8; Last weekend #4; also on PVOD
$3,518,000 (-33%) in 2,010 (-1,165) theaters; PTA: $1,750; Cumulative: $351,123,000
9. The Blackening (Lionsgate) Week 2; Last weekend #6
$3,025,000 (-50%) in 1,775 (no change) theaters; PTA: $1,704; Cumulative: $12,267,000
10. The Boogeyman (Disney) Week 4; Last weekend #8
$2,541,000 (-30%) in 1,640 (-500) theaters; PTA: $1.549; Cumulative: $37,710,000
