As a film enthusiast who has witnessed the ebb and flow of cinema trends over the past few decades, I must say that this weekend’s box office results have left me with a mix of intrigue and disappointment. The top three films, while shifting positions, have managed to hold their ground, but it’s the newcomers that have failed to make a lasting impact.
In late August, it’s typically not a thriving period for movie releases. With families preparing for the new school year and people taking their final summer trips, there isn’t much focus on the fresh movies Hollywood is presenting in cinemas. This trend is evident in this weekend’s box office figures, where Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine regained the #1 spot among the Top 10, while Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus, Zoë Kravitz’s thriller Blink Twice, and Rupert Sanders’ remake of The Crow saw relatively low returns.
Check out the full Top 10 below and join me after for analysis:
Deadpool & Wolverine Is Back At The Top Of The Domestic Top 10 Amid An Unfortunate Weekend-To-Weekend Drop For Alien: Romulus
In the summer of 2024, Deadpool & Wolverine grossed an impressive $577.2 million domestically and $1.211 billion globally, making it one of the biggest blockbusters of the year. Given its success, it’s not surprising that it is expected to finish the US and Canadian box office season as the top-grossing movie. As I mentioned in my previous column, it was temporarily dethroned after winning three consecutive box office titles due to the highly anticipated release of Alien: Romulus. However, this seems to have been a brief setback.
Due to Deadpool & Wolverine being hailed as the biggest R-rated movie in history, its upcoming box office achievements are primarily about how it ranks among Marvel Cinematic Universe films. Currently, it’s one of the franchise’s most successful titles ever, having surpassed both Captain America: Civil War ($1.152 billion) and Spider-Man: Far From Home ($1.133 billion) in earnings. At present, it’s the eighth highest grossing MCU film, and with Iron Man 3 ($1.215 billion) within reach, it’s set to climb even higher. This impressive feat is achieved despite its limited rating.
As a longtime Marvel fan who has been following the cinematic universe since its inception, I can confidently say that the upcoming lineup of movies in 2025 is shaping up to be nothing short of extraordinary. With Julius Onah’s “Captain America: Brave New World,” Jake Schreier’s “Thunderbolts,” Matt Shakman’s “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” and the highly-anticipated “Blade” featuring Mahershala Ali, I feel like I’m on the cusp of a new era in Marvel storytelling. Having witnessed the evolution of these characters over the years, I can only imagine how these talented directors will bring their unique visions to life and elevate the bar even higher for Marvel movies. I eagerly await these films, knowing that they’ll undoubtedly leave a lasting impact on both fans and the industry as a whole.
Although undeniably a massive hit at the box office, Deadpool & Wolverine is unlikely to claim the title of “Biggest Movie of 2024.” This distinction still belongs to Kelsey Mann’s Inside Out 2, as you can see, it’s probably spending its final weeks in the domestic Top 10. The Pixar film has a significant advantage in global box office earnings, having grossed $1.649 billion so far.
It turns out that Deadpool & Wolverine regained the leading position at the box office due to a less impressive second week for Alien: Romulus. While Alien: Romulus had an impressive debut, earning $42 million during its first weekend (the thirteenth largest opening of the year), and garnering positive reviews from critics before release, it’s currently not experiencing continued success in the later stages of summer.
Over the past three days, Romulus made approximately $16.2 million in the U.S. and Canada. However, this is a significant decrease of about 61% compared to its previous weekend earnings. For those unfamiliar with box office trends, it’s usually good news if this percentage is in the lower 50s. Unfortunately, this slowdown may dampen expectations that Romulus could become the highest-grossing Alien film domestically. Ridley Scott’s Prometheus currently holds that title, having made $126.5 million in 2012.
Despite some initial underperformance domestically, there’s a positive aspect: The film has been quite successful in foreign markets, raking in $152.8 million so far. This brings its global box office total to $225.4 million, just shy of the earnings Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant amassed during its entire 2017 run by a narrow margin of approximately $13 million. However, surpassing the box office gross of Prometheus, which stood at $402.4 million before it left theaters, seems like a distant goal.
Neither Blink Twice Nor The Crow Manage To Make Much Of An Impact On The Top 10 As The Two New Titles In Wide Release
By examining the Top 10 charts for this past weekend and last, you’ll observe that the top three films have swapped positions, but they are still the same movies: Deadpool & Wolverine and Alien: Romulus exchanged spots, while Justin Baldoni’s It Ends With Us maintained its third position. This slight rearrangement is due to the two recently released films (meaning in over 2,000 theaters) failing to make a significant impact. Notably, the drama has entered the 2024 Nine Figure Club, having earned $120.8 million domestically thus far.
In its theater premiere on Friday, the first directorial venture by Zoë Kravitz titled Blink Twice, featuring Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum, garnered generally favorable reviews from critics. However, despite the anticipation and hints of a shocking finale, the film didn’t manage to attract substantial audience numbers. Over the weekend, it grossed $7.3 million, narrowly surpassing Alex Kendrick’s religious drama The Forge, which took in $6.6 million at 1,818 locations.
The remake of “The Crow” performed even worse than you might expect, according to my review on TopMob. This movie, starring Bill Skarsgård and FKA twigs, had a long development period of over a decade but received minimal marketing and has been heavily criticized by critics. Despite its limited release, it managed to earn just $4.6 million in the last three days, falling short of Henry Selick’s “Coraline” (a re-release celebrating its anniversary) in the Top 10 rankings.
As we move forward into the coming week, it appears that August will quietly draw to a close. However, I’ll return next Sunday with insights on the box office results. In the meantime, take a peek at all the films slated for release in theaters this autumn by checking out our 2024 Movie Release Calendar.
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2024-08-25 23:08