Civil War
A24’s speculative thriller Civil War fended off some big time competition to continue its reign atop the box office for a second weekend in a row. The Alex Garland film took in $11,127,752 million on 3,929 screens (adding 91 screens), an overall -56% drop from last weekend when it became the studio’s biggest-ever opener. IMAX also reports $1.9 million was earned worldwide on its premium screens, with the domestic cume tallying $6.5M.
Looking at the 3-day, the film saw a bump in admissions on Saturday, while expected to finish Sunday on pace with Sunday.
Friday – $3,254,490
Saturday – $4,686,466
Sunday – $3,186,797
Coming off an over-performing opening weekend, the film performed in line with our prediction range heading into its second frame. The domestic total comes to $44,884,414 million, putting the title squarely in the top five for the studio:
- 1. Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) – $77,169,474 million
- 2. Uncut Gems (2019) – $50,023,780 million
- 3. Lady Bird (2017) – $48,958,273 million
- 4. Talk To Me (2023) – $48,299,436 million
- 5. Civil War (2024) – $44,884,414 million
At this rate Civil War should easily climb to the #2 spot on that list by next weekend and to #1 before its run in theaters ends.
Abigail
Universal’s child-centric horror flick Abigail underperformed in its opening frame to take the #2 spot with an estimated $10.2 million opening from 3,384 North American theaters. The debut came in below pre-release tracking, where it was expected to finish atop the box office. The underwhelming bow came despite a “B” CinemaScore, and a positive critical and audience response on Rotten Tomatoes (83%/88%). Here’s how the 3-day looked:
- Fri – $4.04 million
- Sat – $3.73 million
- Sun – $2.43 million
International was not a helpful “familiar,” with the film taking in an estimated $5 million in territories including UK/Ireland, Mexico, and Australia for a worldwide cume of $15.2M. With a nearly-$30 million budget plus marketing, Abigail will have to do around $100 million worldwide to break even. This is similar to Fox’s The First Omen, which had the same roughly $30 million budget and tepid performance. If either film would have been made akin to the Blumhouse model ($5-to-$10 million range) we would be whistling a different tune. Both these releases may be a warning bell to studios not to overspend on genre fare, and—if you do—make sure the film has crossover appeal.
Abigail is a rare misstep for filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin/Tyler Gillett alongside their producer Chad Villella (aka Radio Silence), who are responsible for the last two Scream films as well as the sleeper hit Ready or Not (budget $6 million, gross $56.7 million WW). It’s possible the film didn’t quite sell itself to general audiences. Having the title child vampire, played by Alisha Weir, at the center of marketing may have turned some folks off, thinking it was a kid’s movie. Was it a comedy? Was it a blood-soaked thrill ride? Even though it was tangentially inspired by the 1936 Universal horror film Dracula’s Daughter, there was no real IP appeal. This one may have been too squarely aimed at the horror audience at the expense of others.
Another factor might have been vampirism itself, which has not been in vogue since the Twilight Saga ended a decade ago. Recent vampire flicks (even those tied to famous IPs like Marvel or Dracula) have not reacted well to sunlight:
- Morbius (2021) – $73,865,530 million
- The Invitation (2022) – $25,100,080 million
- Renfield (2023) – $17,297,895 million
- The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023) – $13,637,180 million
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Lionsgate’s ensemble action comedy The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare got off to a limp start, earning an estimated $9 million on 2,845 screens to take the #4 spot behind the fourth weekend of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. This was in the lower middle of our predicted range between $7 and $14 million. It didn’t help that it was playing on 539 fewer screens than Abigail.
At this rate, the film will likely tap out around-or-under $30 million domestic, similar to a few other recent Guy Ritchie films. The film only opened received a wide release in the United States portion of the Domestic (defined as U.S. and Canada) market, as Canadian theaters will miss out on the film due to a straight-to-streaming roll-out via Amazon Prime. Ritchie’s home base in the UK will similarly miss out on a theatrical release altogether, where it will also be reaching audiences via Amazon Prime. Here’s the 3-day play-by-play:
- Friday – $3,725,000
- Saturday – $3,100,000
- Sunday – $2,175,000
This will mark the latest in a series of underperforming action flicks from director Guy Ritchie, who has some measure of success with IP-driven fare (the Sherlock Holmes films, Aladdin), but often falters domestically with original concepts like Ministry…
- The Gentlemen (2019) – $36,471,796 million
- Wrath of Man (2021) – $27,466,489 million
- Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre (2023) – $6,496,125 million
- Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant (2023) – $16,938,039 million
This is another blow to Henry Cavill’s star power after February’s Argylle, which opened to $17.4M but reportedly cost over three-times as much as Ministry in the $200 million arena. On the bright side, Ministry garnered an “A-” CinemaScore and a 95% audience on RT, so it may leg it out a bit more for the older audience it’s targeted for (59% male/81% 25+ via PostTrak). The PSA was also $3,172K, the highest of any wide release on the charts this week.
Other Notable Performances
Having previously grossed $40.6 million in its native Japan since December 2023, the Toho anime feature Spy x Family Code: White took in $4,875,000 million on 2,009 screens (via US distributor Crunchyroll) to place at #5. It also makes it the #5 all-time best release from Crunchyroll, although it likely won’t come close to February’s domestic release of Demon Slayer: To the Hashira Training, which took home $17,657,658 million domestic. This discrepancy may simply fall to the popularity of the Spy x Family vs. Demon Slayer franchises here in the States, although the fans that did come out for Spy x Family this weekend gave the film an “A” CinemaScore. The film also took in $3 million globally on IMAX screens both here and overseas.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire continues to hold steady with only a -24% drop to nab $4.4 million in its fifth weekend to finally cross the century mark domestically at $102,914,000 million. With a $73.2 million international haul, the global cume is currently $176.1 million. The sequel still trails its predecessor Ghostbusters: Afterlife‘s domestic ($129.3M) and international ($74.1M) numbers, even though the budget on this new one was higher ($100M compared to $75M).
Luca Guadagnino’s new film Challengers starring Zendaya had opening bows in Australia on 278 screens (US $672K) and New Zealand (US $97K) this weekend, posting an overall $769K cume. This is a good indicator for its domestic opening next weekend on April 26. Next week will also see the sports romance launch in an additional 51 markets, including France, Italy, Korea, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, and the UK.
Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates:
| Title | Weekend Estimate | % Change | Locations | Location Change | PSA | Domestic Total | Week | Distributor |
| Civil War | $11,127,753 | -56% | 3,929 | 91 | $2,832 | $44,884,414 | 2 | A24 |
| Abigail | $10,200,000 | 3,384 | $3,014 | $10,200,000 | 1 | Universal | ||
| Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire | $9,455,000 | -39% | 3,658 | -189 | $2,585 | $171,617,000 | 4 | Warner Bros. |
| The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare | $9,025,000 | 2,845 | $3,172 | $9,025,000 | 1 | Lionsgate | ||
| Spy x Family Code: White | $4,875,000 | 2,009 | $2,427 | $4,875,000 | 1 | Crunchyroll | ||
| Kung Fu Panda 4 | $4,600,000 | -17% | 2,955 | -149 | $1,557 | $179,982,000 | 7 | Universal |
| Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire | $4,400,000 | -24% | 3,109 | -241 | $1,415 | $102,914,000 | 5 | Sony Pictures |
| Dune: Part Two | $2,900,000 | -33% | 2,014 | -387 | $1,440 | $276,593,000 | 8 | Warner Bros. |
| Monkey Man | $2,200,000 | -46% | 2,641 | -396 | $833 | $21,675,000 | 3 | Universal |
| The First Omen | $1,700,000 | -55% | 2,430 | -945 | $700 | $17,765,038 | 3 | 20th Century… |
| Shrek 2 | $530,344 | -64% | 819 | -693 | $648 | $439,231,000 | 1,040 | Universal |
| Arthur the King | $525,000 | -38% | 712 | -476 | $737 | $24,453,828 | 6 | Lionsgate |
| Sasquatch Sunset | $453,110 | 397% | 856 | 847 | $529 | $566,058 | 2 | Bleecker Street |
| Late Night with the Devil | $150,238 | -67% | 251 | -356 | $599 | $9,666,446 | 5 | IFC Films |
| Bob Marley: One Love | $145,000 | 274% | 1,104 | 1,023 | $131 | $96,838,000 | 10 | Paramount Pi… |
| Immaculate | $127,239 | -73% | 200 | -400 | $636 | $15,580,723 | 5 | Neon |
| Imaginary | $100,000 | -57% | 201 | -204 | $498 | $27,962,041 | 7 | Lionsgate |
| La chimera | $89,233 | -46% | 112 | -104 | $797 | $550,000 | 4 | Neon |
| Housekeeping for Beginners | $80,000 | -5% | 251 | 176 | $319 | $242,000 | 3 | Focus Features |
| One Life | $68,894 | -43% | 123 | -70 | $560 | $5,501,974 | 6 | Bleecker Street |
| Arcadian | $63,232 | -87% | 379 | -721 | $167 | $790,649 | 2 | IFC Films |
| The Beast | $53,200 | 14% | 59 | 36 | $902 | $182,102 | 3 | Janus Films |
| Stress Positions | $28,000 | 1 | $28,000 | $28,000 | 1 | Neon |
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