Take the A train
Last frame, Sony Pictures’ R-rated action-comedy Bullet Train was on the right track with a $30.0M debut, in line with pre-release projections.
This weekend, it falls -55% to $13.4M, maintaining first place.
[Read Boxoffice PRO’s interview with director David Leitch here.]
Compared to other comparable films and R-rated action comedies of recent years, that’s steeper than:
- 2021’s The King’s Man (-23%)
- 2017’s Baby Driver (-37%)
- 2013’s The Heat (-37%)
- 2018’s Game Night (-39%)
- 2012’s 21 Jump Street (-44%)
- 2015’s Spy! (-46%)
- 2015’s Kingsman: The Secret Service (-49%)
- 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, also starring Brad Pitt (-51%)
- 2014’s 22 Jump Street (-52%)
- 2017’s Atomic Blonde (-55%)
However, it’s a milder drop than:
- 2016’s Deadpool (-57%)
- 2017’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle (-57%)
- 2018’s Deadpool 2 (-65%)
- 2016’s Suicide Squad (-67%)
- 2021’s The Suicide Squad (-71%)
Through 10 days in cinemas, Bullet Train has earned $54.4M domestically. That’s:
- +13% above 2017’s Baby Driver ($48.0M)
- +3% above 2019’s Men in Black: International ($52.6M)
- <1% behind March’s The Lost City ($54.4M)
- -3% behind 2015’s Spy ($56.5M)
- -18% behind 2017’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle ($66.6M)
- -19% behind 2015’s Kingsman: The Secret Service ($67.9M)
Overseas, Bullet stands at $60.0M, for $114.5M globally. Top markets included:
- U.K. ($6.0M)
- France ($5.8M)
- Australia ($4.1M)
- Saudi Arabia ($3.6M)
- Spain ($3.6M)
Major markets still to release include South Korea on August 24, Italy on August 25, and Japan (where the film actually takes place) on September 1.
Not such super pets
Two frames ago, Warner Bros.’ animated DC League of Super-Pets opened with $23.0M, below pre-release projections. Then it dropped -51% to $11.2M.
Now in its third frame, it falls -35% to $7.1M and second place.
Its current estimate is only about $20,000 away from Top Gun: Maverick, so it’s very possible the two films could swap places when actuals are released Monday afternoon.
[Monday update: this indeed happened, with Maverick coming in second with $7.05M and League coming in third with $7.00M.]
After 17 days in cinemas, it’s earned $58.3M domestically. Through the same point in release, that’s:
- +15% above 2014’s Paddington ($50.3M)
- +6% above 2016’s Pete’s Dragon ($54.8M)
- +1% above April’s The Bad Guys ($57.3M)
- -18% below 2018’s Peter Rabbit ($71.5M)
- -33% below 2016’s The Angry Birds Movie ($87.1M)
Overseas, League stands at $51.4M, for $109.7M globally. Top market totals to date include:
- U.K. ($9.9M)
- Mexico ($5.5M)
- France ($4.0M)
- Spain ($2.9M)
- Germany ($2.3M)
- Brazil ($2.2M)
- Argentina ($1.8M)
- Poland ($1.6M)
- Saudi Arabia ($1.3M)
- Israel ($1.2M)
Major markets still to release include Japan on August 26, Italy on September 1, and Australia on September 15.
Mach 12
Returning to IMAX theaters, Paramount’s action-adventure sequel Top Gun: Maverick rose from sixth place last weekend to third place this frame, declining only -7% to $6.5M.
Its estimate is currently only about $20,000 behind DC League of Super Pets, so it’s possible Maverick could finish in second place when actuals are released Monday afternoon.
It also earns the #13 twelfth weekend of all time, following the:
- #41 opening weekend ($126.7M)
- #8 second weekend ($90.0M)
- #10 third weekend ($51.8M)
- #3 fourth weekend ($44.6M)
- #4 fifth weekend ($29.6M)
- #4 sixth weekend ($25.5M)
- #7 seventh weekend ($15.5M)
- #8 eighth weekend ($12.3M)
- #6 ninth weekend ($10.2M)
- #10 tenth weekend ($8.4M)
- #17 eleventh weekend ($7.0M)
- Now, the #13 twelfth weekend ($6.5M)
[Monday update: with Monday actuals, Maverick actually earned the #9 twelfth weekend with $7.0M.]
Overseas, Maverick stands at $704.2M, for $1.37B globally – the top film of 2022 both globally and domestically. Notable overseas market totals to date include:
- U.K. ($97.2M)
- Japan ($82.0M)
- Australia ($61.6M)
- France ($52.8M)
- South Korea ($62.8M)
- Germany ($33.7M)
- Brazil ($21.8M)
- Saudi Arabia ($21.2M)
Feel the thunder
Disney and Marvel Studios’ superhero sequel Thor: Love and Thunder debuted with the #30 opening weekend of all time ($144.1M), then fell to the #73 second weekend of all time ($46.6M).
Then it fell out of the top 100 all time for its third weekend and on. This frame, its sixth, the film falls -31% to $5.3M and fourth place.
Its estimate is also only $11,000 ahead of Nope, so it’s possible the two films could switch places when actuals are released Monday afternoon.
[Monday update: Thunder remained ahead of Nope upon the release of Monday actuals, with $5.37M versus Nope‘s $5.36M.]
After 38 days in cinema, Thunder has earned $325.3M domestically. Through the same point in release, that’s:
- +87% above 2011’s Thor ($173.6M)
- +64% above 2013’s Thor: The Dark World ($198.2M)
- +8% above 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok ($301.1M)
- -18% below May’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($398.1M)
- -9% below March’s The Batman ($358.9M) – The Batman was actually running behind Thunder through their first nine days, but overtook it on day #10.
Overseas, Hammer stands at $395.1M, for $720.5M globally. Top market totals to date include:
- U.K. ($41.8M)
- Australia ($29.3M)
- Mexico ($28.3M)
- South Korea ($22.6M)
- Brazil ($21.8M)
- France ($21.7M)
- Germany ($17.6M)
- India ($16.2M)
- Indonesia ($12.6M)
- Spain ($11.3M)
A bad miracle
Universal’s sci-fi horror-thriller Nope began with $44.3M, somewhat below pre-release projections, then fell a steep -58%, then -54%.
This weekend, its fourth, it falls a milder -37% to $5.3M and fifth place.
Its Sunday estimate is also only $11,000 behind Thor: Love and Thunder, so it’s possible the two films could switch places when actuals are released Monday afternoon.
After 24 days in cinemas, it’s earned $107.5M domestically. Through the same point in release, that’s:
- +19% above 2021’s Halloween Kills ($89.6M, premiering day-and-date simultaneously in cinemas and on Peacock)
- +9% above 2019’s Glass ($98.3M)
- -4% behind 2017’s Split ($112.4M)
- -13% behind 2021’s A Quiet Place Part II ($124.9M)
- -27% behind 2018’s A Quiet Place ($148.5M)-31% behind 2018’s Halloween ($156.9M)
- -18% behind Get Out ($133.3M) – Nope was running ahead of Get Out through their first 13 days, but Get Out overtook it on day #14.
- -34% behind Us ($163.3M)
After having just played domestically for the past few weeks, Nope debuted in 19 overseas markets this weekend with $6.3M, for a $113.8M global total. Top overseas markets included:
- U.K. ($2.1M)
- Australia ($1.2M)
- France ($1.1M)
Major markets still to release include South Korea on August 17, Spain on August 18, Mexico on August 25, Brazil on August 25, and Japan on August 26.
It was all yellow
Universal / Illumination’s animated sequel Minions: The Rise of Gru earned the:
- #59 opening weekend of all time ($107.0M)
- #75 second weekend ($46.1M)
- #80 third weekend ($26.8M)
- #74 fourth weekend ($18.0M)
It then fell out of the top 100 for its fifth frame and on. This frame, its seventh, it falls -31% to $4.9M and sixth place.
After 45 days in cinema, Gru has earned $343.7M domestically. Through the same point in release, that’s:
- +48% above 2010’s Despicable Me ($231.0M)
- <1% above 2013’s Despicable Me 2 ($343.2M) – didn’t debut on a Friday
- +7% above 2015’s Minions ($320.0M)
- +38% above 2017’s Despicable Me 3 ($247.7M)
Overseas, Gru stands at $446.7M, for $790.4M globally. Top market totals to date include:
- U.K. ($46.1M)
- Mexico ($38.0M)
- Australia ($28.7M)
- Germany ($27.8M)
- Japan ($24.8M)
- France ($21.2M)
- Brazil ($19.8M)
- Argentina ($19.7M)
- Spain ($18.9M)
- South Korea ($15.6M)
Major markets still to release include Italy on August 18 and China on August 19.
Several debuts outside the top 5
- A24’s dark comedy horror Bodies Bodies Bodies opened with $3.2M on 516 screens.
- Lionsgate’s suspense thriller Fall didn’t rise at the box office, with $2.5M on 1,548 screens.
- Paramount’s Hindi-language comedy/drama Laal Singh Chaddha – described as an Indian version of Forrest Gump – debuted with $1.5M on 516 screens.
- Gravitas Ventures’ body-switching comedy Mack & Rita debuted with $1.0M on 1,930 screens.
- The 40th anniversary IMAX re-release of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial flew its bicycle to $1.0M on 389 screens.
Weekend comparisons
Total box office this weekend came in around $64.4M, which is:
- -30% below last weekend’s total ($91.9M), when Bullet Train led with $30.0M.
- -1% below the equivalent weekend in 2021 ($65.1M), when The Suicide Squad led with $26.2M, debuting day-and-date simultaneously in cinemas and HBO Max.
- -51% below the equivalent weekend in the last pre-pandemic year 2019 ($132.1M), when Hobbs & Shaw led for a second frame with $25.2M.
YTD comparisons
Year-to-date box office stands around $5.06B. That’s:
- 2.79x this same point in the pandemic recovery year of 2021 ($1.81B), down from 2.88x after last weekend.
- -30.8% behind this same point in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year ($7.32B), down from -30.4% last weekend. The peak was -29.5%, set in mid-July.
Top distributors
- Universal ($1.18B)
- Paramount ($1.13B)
- Disney ($861.6M)
- Warner Bros. ($675.9M)
- Sony Pictures ($614.5M)
Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates:
| Title | Estimated weekend | % change | Locations | Location change | Average | Total | Weekend | Distributor |
| Bullet Train | $13,400,000 | -55% | 4,357 | n/c | $3,076 | $54,482,703 | 2 | Sony Pictures |
| DC League of Super Pets | $7,170,000 | -35% | 3,803 | -529 | $1,885 | $58,346,852 | 3 | Warner Bros. |
| Top Gun: Maverick | $7,150,455 | 2% | 3,181 | 421 | $2,248 | $673,822,000 | 12 | Paramount |
| Thor: Love and Thunder | $5,311,000 | -31% | 3,175 | -225 | $1,673 | $325,395,211 | 6 | Walt Disney |
| Nope | $5,300,000 | -38% | 2,760 | -256 | $1,920 | $107,515,570 | 4 | Universal |
| Minions: The Rise of Gru | $4,900,000 | -31% | 3,068 | -120 | $1,597 | $343,710,295 | 7 | Universal |
| Where the Crawdads Sing | $4,000,000 | -30% | 2,916 | -248 | $1,372 | $72,149,439 | 5 | Sony Pictures |
| Bodies Bodies Bodies | $3,251,067 | 1334% | 1,285 | 1,279 | $2,530 | $3,576,795 | 2 | A24 |
| Elvis | $2,585,000 | -34% | 2,211 | -200 | $1,169 | $141,290,645 | 8 | Warner Bros. |
| Easter Sunday | $2,400,000 | -56% | 3,176 | 1 | $756 | $9,959,570 | 2 | Universal |
| Laal Singh Chaddha | $1,470,103 | 516 | $2,849 | $1,785,000 | 1 | Paramount | ||
| Mack & Rita | $1,095,000 | 1,930 | $567 | $1,095,000 | 1 | Gravitas Ventures | ||
| ET: The Extra-Terrestrial | $1,070,000 | 389 | $2,751 | $436,180,554 | Universal | |||
| The Black Phone | $1,030,000 | -32% | 926 | -271 | $1,112 | $87,748,440 | 8 | Universal |
| Jurassic World: Dominion | $660,000 | -45% | 880 | -352 | $750 | $373,103,750 | 10 | Universal |
| Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris | $324,000 | -44% | 573 | -96 | $565 | $8,815,680 | 5 | Focus Features |
| Vengeance | $217,000 | -70% | 431 | -572 | $503 | $3,887,020 | 3 | Focus Features |
| Inu-Oh | $190,524 | 350 | $544 | $190,524 | 1 | GKIDS | ||
| Marcel the Shell with Shoes On | $163,645 | -53% | 276 | -222 | $593 | $5,353,815 | 8 | A24 |
| Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank | $71,586 | -54% | 226 | -271 | $317 | $17,770,000 | 5 | Paramount |
| Everything Everywhere All At Once | $54,149 | -61% | 111 | -236 | $488 | $69,669,104 | 21 | A24 |
| Lightyear | $54,000 | -45% | 110 | -170 | $491 | $118,219,429 | 9 | Walt Disney |
| Fire of Love | $36,130 | -56% | 54 | -89 | $669 | $815,116 | 6 | Neon |
| Summering | $31,317 | 260 | $120 | $31,317 | 1 | Bleecker Street | ||
| A Love Song | $23,701 | 18% | 34 | 16 | $697 | $77,383 | 3 | Bleecker Street |
| Free Chol Soo Lee | $10,140 | 1 | $10,140 | $10,140 | 1 | MUBI |
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