Low Impact Bulletin This Week as Spiral Leads Slow Weekend and F9 Roars Overseas

By Chris Kavan - 05/26/21 at 11:39 AM CT

It's going to be a pretty mundane update on both the box office and ratings front this week as there was no new wide release (domestic) opening and no new wide release ratings, either. In fact, the biggest news by far was on the international front where F9, the latest in the Fast and Furious franchise, had a monster opening that bodes well for the future of getting back to normal.

Until we do that, through, Spiral once again took the top spot at the box office, dropping 47.5% and earning $4.6 million for a new $15.8 million total (it has earned $22.5 million worldwide). That pushes the Saw franchise to over $1 billion in ticket sales, which for horror is an impressive feat. Still, Spiral is stalling a bit even as theaters are opening back up and people try to get things back to normal. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and I think people are just leaning on the cautious side for now.

In second place, Jason Statham's Wrath of Man had a decent hold, dropping under 20% with nearly $3 million for a new $18.8 million domestic total. While his action film has done pretty good on the domestic front, it is really punching up overseas where it has earned over $52 million, adding up to $71 million global.

After a muted opening, Angelina Jolie's Those Who Wish Me Dead took a 32% hit, earning $1.9 million for a new $5.6 million total. This one isn't doing much better overseas, with just $7.5 million to date for a worldwide total of a disappointing $13 million.

Once again with the best hold of any film in the top 10, Raya and the Last Dragon slipped a micro 2% and actually gained a spot, moving from 5th to 4th place with $1.66 million for a new $48.3 million total and it flirts with $50 million domestic even as it become available for purchase on home viewing. Its worldwide total is just under $112 million as well and as summer begins, we'll see if family viewing continues to drive this for at least a few more weeks down the road.

Jumping back into, and rounding out the top five, Godzilla vs. Kong shed a mere 7.6% for a $1.4 million weekend. The film sits just under $97 million on the domestic front, even as it is still trying to push for that $100 million goal. It has earned over $432 million worldwide thus far as well.

But forget domestic, the biggest news over the weekend was F9, which isn't opening in the U.S. until June 25th, but tested the waters in just eight foreign markets, where it made a big splash. Thanks to China, it earned a monster $162 million - $135 million in China. It marks the first U.S. film to open above $100 million since Avengers: Endgame in 2019. It is also a sign that markets outside the U.S. are ready to get back to normal too - but as India and Japan attest, we're not out of the woods yet.

Memorial Day Weekend is going to offer on the early tests to see if American are ready to get back into theaters as A Quiet Place II squares off against Disney's Cruella. Let the sparks fly!

MPAA Official Logo

And as stated, I, unfortunately, have no new movies to highlight in the MPAA Ratings Bulletin this week as not a single wide release nor even streaming title of note came out. So I will present you the list as per usual and hope for something more exciting in the future.

AILEY

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.


THE BIRTHDAY CAKE

Rated R for pervasive language, violence, some sexual references, nudity and drug use.


CODA

Rated PG-13 for strong sexual content and language, and drug use.


HOW IT ENDS

Rated R for language throughout, sexual references and drug material.


INFINITE

Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some bloody images, strong language and brief drug use.


JURASSIC HUNT

Rated R for some bloody violence and language.


THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH

Rated R for violence.

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