Weekend Box Office: SPIDER-VERSE Returns to #1, NO HARD FEELINGS Opens in Fourth with Solid Debut

No Hard Feelings by Macall Polay, © 2023 CTMG, Inc.; Asteroid City courtesy of Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Domestic

Sony’s animated superhero sequel swung to the top spot once again with a mere -29% decline to $19.3M, three weekends after last ranking #1.

This marks the first “interrupted” box office winning streak since Top Gun: Maverick, which returned to #1 on Labor Day weekend last September after spending two frames on top in May and June 2022.

All time, Across the Spider-Verse has earned the:

  • #52 opening ($120.6M)
  • #53 second weekend ($55.5M)
  • #84 third weekend ($27.0M)
  • #67 fourth weekend ($19.3M)

Among animated films specifically, it’s earned the:

  • #8 opening
  • #11 second weekend
  • #23 third weekend
  • #17 fourth weekend

With $317.0M total to date, it’s earned +66% more than the final $190.1M total of 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and 2.3x as much as the earlier film through the equivalent point in release.

However, compared to a few key family titles from recent years, Spider-Verse is holding less 24 days into release than might be hoped for.

Film

Across opened

Across now

Trend

2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

3.4x

2.3x

Down

April’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie

-17%

-30%

Down

2018’s Incredibles 2

-33%

-37%

Down

2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home

-53%

-52%

Up

Overseas / global

Across the Spider-Verse has earned $243.2M overseas and $560.3M globally, putting it +51% above its predecessor’s $375.4M final global total.

It’s also earned a majority (56%) of its earnings domestically, unusual for such a blockbuster title. (Although that balance may shift by the end of its theatrical run.)

The top five overseas market totals for Across are:

  1. China ($46.2M)
  2. U.K. ($29.5M)
  3. Mexico ($25.7M)
  4. Australia ($16.5M)
  5. Brazil ($11.2M)

While Across has surpassed its predecessor globally, it looks unlikely to match the $61.9M earned by Into in China a few years ago.

Read Boxoffice PRO’s interview with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse co-director Kemp Powers here.


Elemental

Domestic

Last weekend, the Disney/Pixar animated original failed to ignore the box office with a $29.7M debut, falling short of even the lowest end of Boxoffice PRO’s pre-release weekend projection range: $31M to $41M.

It also marked the second-lowest Pixar wide opening of all time, ranking just barely ahead of 1995’s Toy Story, which didn’t benefit from Pixar being a globally recognized brand.

Now in its sophomore frame, Elemental falls -38% to $18.4M, remaining at the runner-up spot at the box office for the second week in a row.

That marks the sixth best sophomore hold in Pixar history, behind only:

  1. 2001’s Monsters, Inc. (-27%)
  2. 2004’s The Incredibles (-28%)
  3. 1995’s Toy Story (-30%)
  4. 2003’s Finding Nemo (-33%)
  5. 2009’s Up (-35%)

Compared to some of the other lowest-opening Pixar films, Elemental‘s decline was much more mild than those of:

  • 1998’s A Bug’s Life ($33.2M opening, -48% drop)
  • 2015’s The Good Dinosaur ($39.1M opening, -61% drop)

With $65.5M total, Elemental is holding well compared to comparable Pixar films from the past decade through the same 10-day point in release:

Film

Elemental opened

Elemental now

Trend

2022’s Lightyear

-41%

-26%

Up

March 2020’s Onward

-24%

+8%

Up

2015’s The Good Dinosaur

-24%

+2%

Up

2017’s Coco

-41%

-26%

Up

2015’s Inside Out

-67%

-64%

Up

Overseas / global

Elemental declined only -18% in overseas holdover markets, which still only takes its earnings up to $55.6M overseas and $121.1M globally.

Here’s how that compares to the global totals for Pixar’s most recent theatrical releases:

  • 2022’s Lightyear ($218.7M)
  • March 2020’s pandemic-curtailed Onward ($133.3M)
  • December 2020’s Soul, which only received a theatrical release in select overseas markets ($118.7M)

Elemental’s top five overseas market totals are:

  1. China ($11.1M)
  2. South Korea ($9.6M)
  3. Mexico ($4.6M)
  4. Argentina ($3.1M)
  5. France ($2.7M)

In particular, the China gross looks to fall far short of that earned by 2017’s Coco ($177.8M).


The Flash

Domestic

Last weekend, Warner Bros.’ latest superhero filn didn’t exactly speed off to the races, with a first place opening of only $55.0M.

That fell short of even the lowest end of Boxoffice PRO’s pre-release projection range: $60M to $80M.

Now in its second frame, The Flash falls a steep -72% to $15.2M and third place.

That’s steeper than the sophomore drops for every other DC Extended Universe title:

  • 2018’s Aquaman (-23% on Christmas weekend, then -41%)
  • 2017’s Wonder Woman (-43%)
  • February 2020’s Birds of Prey (-48%)
  • 2019’s Shazam! (-54%)
  • 2017’s Justice League (-56%)
  • 2022’s Black Adam (-59%)
  • 2013’s Man of Steel (-65%)
  • 2016’s Suicide Squad (-67%)
  • 2020’s Wonder Woman 1984, released day-and-date (-67%)
  • 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (-69%)
  • 2023’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods (-69%)
  • 2021’s The Suicide Squad, released day-and-date (-71%)

With $87.6M total, The Flash is holding poorly compared to other DC Extended Universe films through the same 10-day point in release:

Film

Flash opened

Flash now

Trend

2019’s Shazam!

+2%

-6%

Down

2022’s Black Adam

-17%

-20%

Down

2017’s Justice League

-41%

-49%

Down

Overseas / global

The Flash has earned $123.3M overseas and $210.9M globally.

It may not even match the global totals of:

  • Black Adam ($391.2M)
  • 2019’s Shazam! ($363.5M)

Though it has now beat the pandemic-curtailed run of February 2020’s Birds of Prey ($201.0M).

The fop five overseas market totals for Flash are:

  1. China ($23.6M)
  2. Mexico ($14.4M)
  3. U.K. ($8.5M)
  4. Brazil ($5.4M)
  5. South Korea ($4.7M)
Read Boxoffice PRO‘s interview with the Flash filmmaking duo Andy and Barbara Muschietti here.

No Hard Feelings

Domestic

Sony Pictures’ R-rated comedy opened with $15.1M, putting it in fourth place.

That’s slightly higher than the maximum end of Boxoffice PRO’s $10M to $15M pre-release projection range.

Compared to the openings of other female-led R-rated comedies of the past decade, that’s higher than:

  • 2015’s Sisters ($13.9M)
  • 2018’s Nobody’s Fool ($13.7M)
  • 2020’s Like a Boss ($10.0M)
  • 2019’s Long Shot ($9.7M)
  • 2018’s The Happytime Murders ($9.5M)
  • 2017’s Rough Night ($8.0M)

However, it’s lower than:

  • 2019’s Hustlers ($33.1M)
  • 2017’s Girls Trip ($31.2M)
  • 2015’s Trainwreck ($30.0M)
  • 2016’s Bad Moms ($23.8M)

Overseas / global

Feelings debuted with $9.5M overseas and $24.6M globally.

The top three overseas markets are:

  1. U.K. ($1.5M)
  2. Australia ($1.3M)
  3. Germany ($1.1M)

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Domestic

Last weekend, Paramount’s sci-fi action prequel fell -66%, the steepest sophomore weekend drop of any Transformers film.

Now in its third frame, Rise falls -44% to $11.6M and fifth place.

With $122.9M domestically to date, Rise is holding worse than every other film in the Transformers series through the same 17-day point in release, barring 2018’s Bumblebee and 2017’s The Dark Knight. While Rise opened above those two films, it’s at risk of soon falling behind both of them.

Film

Rise opened

Rise now

Trend

2018’s Bumblebee

2.8x

+26%

Down

2017’s The Last Knight

+36%

+7%

Down

2014’s Age of Extinction

-38%

-41%

Down

2011’s Dark of the Moon

-37%

-57%

Down

2009’s Revenge of the Fallen

-43%

-61%

Down

2007’s Transformers

-13%

-49%

Down

Overseas / global

Rise has earned $218.3M overseas and $341.2M globally.

It’s highly uncertain to reach the global totals of the prior two installments:

  • 2018’s Bumblebee ($465.1M)
  • 2017’s The Last Knight ($602.8M)

Rise has also earned $78.1M in China. At this rate, it might not earn even half of the Chinese totals of:

  • Bumblebee ($170.8M)
  • Knight ($228.8M)

The top five overseas market totals for Rise are:

  1. China ($78.1M)
  2. Mexico ($15.8M)
  3. Peru ($11.0M)
  4. Indonesia ($9.8M)
  5. U.K. ($8.0M)
Read Boxoffice PRO‘s interview with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts director Steven Caple Jr. here.
Read Boxoffice PRO‘s history of the Transformers franchise here.

Asteroid City

Last weekend, Focus Features’ latest Wes Anderson release landed in tenth place with $853K, earned from six theaters in New York City and Los Angeles.

The film’s $142,230 opening weekend per-theater average ranked #15 of all time. It also marked the highest opening average since La La Land in 2016 with $176,220 (#10 all time).

Now expanding to a moderate 1,675 theaters, Asteroid earns $9.0M, putting it in sixth place.

That’s right in the middle of Boxoffice PRO’s $7M to $12M projection range—and is in fact identical to Boxoffice PRO’s $9.0M specific projection.

This also marks a new record for the highest-earning weekend for a Wes Anderson film, beating the top frames for:

  • 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel ($8.53M)
  • 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums ($8.51M)
  • 2009’s Fantastic Mr. Fox ($6.9M)
  • 2018’s Isle of Dogs ($5.4M)
  • 2012’s Moonrise Kingdom ($4.9M)
  • 2004’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou ($4.5M)
  • 2021’s The French Dispatch ($2.6M)
  • 2007’s The Darjeeling Limited ($1.7M)

Asteroid’s audience was an estimated 56% male, 63% white, and 64% younger than 35. They gave the film a “B” CinemaScore.


The Little Mermaid

Domestic

Now in its fifth frame, Disney’s live-action musical remake declines a mild -22% to $8.6M and seventh place.

With a $270.2M total 31 days into release, the film’s hold is in the middle of the pack of  modern Disney remakes. For example, while it opened above 2019’s Aladdin, it’s now running behind the earlier film through the same point in release:

Film

Mermaid opened

Mermaid now

Trend

2019’s Aladdin

+4%

-6%

Down

2016’s The Jungle Book

-7%

-13%

Down

2019’s The Lion King

-50%

-45%

Up

2017’s Beauty and the Beast

-45%

-40%

Up

2010’s Alice in Wonderland

-17%

-12%

Up

Overseas / global

Mermaid has earned $229.1M overseas and $499.3M globally.

It’s looking likely to only finish with around half of, or less than half of, the global earnings of:

  • 2017’s Beauty and the Beast ($1.26B)
  • 2019’s Aladdin ($1.05B)
  • 2010’s Alice in Wonderland ($1.02B)
  • 2016’s The Jungle Book ($967.7M)
  • 2019’s The Lion King ($968.5M)

The top overseas market totals for Mermaid are:

  1. U.K. ($29.5M)
  2. Mexico ($20.4M)
  3. Brazil ($15.5M)
  4. Japan ($14.4M)
  5. Italy ($12.7M)
  6. Australia ($12.7M)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Domestic

In its eighth frame the Disney/Marvel Studios superhero sequel declined only -33% to $3.5M and eighth place.

With $351.1M total, the film is holding well compared to other Marvel Cinematic Universe titles through the same 52-day point in release.

For example, while it opened below 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder, it’s now running ahead of it through the same point in release:

Film

Vol. 3 opened

Vol. 3 now

Trend

2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

-19%

-7%

Up

2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder

-17%

+4%

Up

2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

-34%

-19%

Up

2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

-36%

-14%

Up

February’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

+11%

+65%

Up

2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy

+25%

+11%

Down

Overseas / global

Vol. 3 has earned $476.7M overseas and $827.8M globally.

Globally, Vol. 3 is already +7% above Vol. 1‘s final total ($770.8M), though matching Vol. 2 ($869.0M) is less likely.

In China, Vol. 3 has earned $86.6M. That’s exceeded the China earnings of the trilogy’s first installment ($86.3M), though it’s unlikely to match the middle film’s $99.3M.


The Blackening

Last weekend, Lionsgate’s horror-comedy scared up a $6.0M debut in sixth place.

That fell short of even the lowest end of Boxoffice PRO’s pre-release projection range: $7M to $12M.

One factor that hurt: it played in a moderate 1,775 theaters, less than half of the widest releases in the marketplace.

Now in its sophomore frame, the film falls -50% to $3.0M and ninth place.

Compared to other horror comedies of the past decade to open around the $5M to $10M level, Blackening declined more mildly than:

  • 2016’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (-52%)
  • April’s Renfield (-59%)
  • 2014’s A Haunted House 2 (-64%)

Weekend comparisons

Total box office this weekend came in around $109.3M, which stacks up to previous years as follows:

Weekend

Total

This weekend is:

Leader

Last weekend

$163.7M

-33%

The Flash ($55.0M)

Same weekend in 2022

$134.5M

-18%

Elvis ($31.2M)

Same weekend in 2019

$203.8M

-46%

Toy Story 4 ($120.9M)

YTD comparisons

The year-to-date box office stands around $4.26B, which is:

Year

YTD total

2023 YTD now:

2023 YTD after last weekend:

Trend

2022

$3.51B

+21.5%

+23.2%

Down

2019

$5.38B

-20.7%

-19.8%

Down

Top distributors

Universal and Disney are in first and second place by more than double any other distributor.

Grouped by parent company, the YTD leaders are:

  1. Disney + 20th Century + Searchlight + Star: $1.25B
  2. Universal + Focus Features: $1.11B
  3. Sony Pictures + Sony Classics + Crunchyroll: $532.4M
  4. Paramount: $383.4M
  5. Lionsgate: $329.4M
  6. Warner Bros.: $251.8M
  7. MGM + United Artists + Amazon Studios: $233.1M

Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates:

Title  Estimated weekend  % change Locations Location change Average  Total  Weekend Distributor
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse $19,300,000 -29% 3,785 -88 $5,099 $317,051,000 4 Sony Pictures
Elemental $18,463,000 -38% 4,035   $4,576 $65,514,915 2 Disney
The Flash $15,265,000 -72% 4,256 22 $3,587 $87,644,000 2 Warner Bros.
No Hard Feelings $15,100,000   3,208   $4,707 $15,100,000 1 Sony Pictures
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts $11,600,000 -44% 3,523 -157 $3,293 $122,948,000 3 Paramount
Asteroid City $9,000,000 955% 1,675 1,669 $5,373 $10,215,000 2 Focus Features [Universal]
The Little Mermaid $8,674,000 -22% 3,275 -205 $2,649 $270,241,764 5 Disney
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 $3,518,000 -33% 2,010 -250 $1,750 $351,122,883 8 Disney
The Blackening $3,025,000 -50% 1,775   $1,704 $12,266,705 2 Lionsgate
The Boogeyman $2,541,000 -30% 1,640 -500 $1,549 $37,710,059 4 20th Century Studios [Disney]
Past Lives $1,121,162 51% 296 211 $3,788 $3,563,702 4 A24
Fast X $1,080,000 -49% 1,063 -487 $1,016 $144,561,000 6 Universal
The Super Mario Bros. Movie $360,000 -46% 616 -280 $584 $572,970,000 12 Universal
About My Father $136,000 -56% 186 -87 $731 $11,817,574 5 Lionsgate
You Hurt My Feelings $97,065 -65% 151 -98 $643 $4,613,098 5 A24
The Roundup: No Way Out $58,769 -37% 14 -5 $4,198 $780,176 4 Capelight
Revoir Paris $8,086   2   $4,043 $8,086 1 Music Box Films
No Hard Feelings by Macall Polay, © 2023 CTMG, Inc.; Asteroid City courtesy of Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features

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