By Chris Kavan - 06/09/21 at 04:57 PM CT
A couple of movies to talk about in the bulletin is a fine thing, but the box office comes first and it was a battle between horror sequels with The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It topping A Quiet Place, Part II and an OK showing from a new animated offering.
As expected, the two horror films duked it out for the top spot with The Conjuring emerging as the winner with a $24.1 million opening even as it also streamed on HBO Max for free (provided you pay for HBO Max, of course). The horror sequel earned a respectable "B+" Cinemascore from audiences (on the high end for horror films) and a more average 60% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics. In terms of the The Conjuring series, the film opened above Annabelle Comes Home ($20.2 million) and just below The Curse of La Llorna ($26.3 million). So still on the low end, but impressive combined with its streaming availability and a still-wary audience as things return to normal. Combined with its $33.1 million overseas total, it has a solid $57.1 million global total.
That meant that A Quite Place had to settle for second place with a still good $19.26 million - just under 60% drop - but for a horror sequel, not out of bounds. With its monster opening, the horror sequel now stands at $88.37 million. It's now a race to see if A Quiet Place, Part II can top $100 million before Godzilla vs. Kong (Which is at $99.1 million and still has a chance to crawl across the finish line). Overseas the film also continued to perform well, adding another $50 million giving it a worldwide total of $138.6 million.
Slipping one place, Cruella took a nearly 49% hit, adding another $11 million to its total, which has hit $43.44 million and it should have no problem crossing the $50 million mark by next weekend. It is spit evenly with the international total of $43.4 million for a worldwide total of $87.1 million.
Opening in fourth place for the weekend, the animated Spirit Untamed hit $6.1 million. More a spinoff of the Netflix series Spirit Rides Free rather than the earlier animated film Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron (which made over $122 million worldwide when it opened way back in 2002), it had a decent $1,900 per-theater average. The film does feature some decent vocal talent including Jake Gyllenhaal, Julianne Moore, Mckenna Grace, Walton Goggins, Eiza González, Isabela Merced and Marsai Martin. I'm not expecting much more out of this, but for what it is, it performed admirably.
Rounding out the top five we find the stalwart Raya and the Last Dragon, dipping a bit more than previous weeks with a 45.2% drop - but this comes on he heels of being available on Disney+ for free rather than a premium purchase, so I think its showing is all the more impressive. With another $1,28 million in the bank, Raya has earned $53.5 million rising to $118.6 million worldwide. After a somewhat rough start, Raya has proven it is in it for the long haul, though I have a feeling its days are finally numbered.
On the international front, F9 continues to burn rubber, flying across the $250 million mark with a $256 million total. Next week brings us Lin Manuel Miranda's exuberant and vibrant musical In the Heights along with animated sequel Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway.
This week is a perfectly average offering from the MPAA Ratings Board with Ryan Reynolds playing an video game NPC who gains a life in Free Guy while we get a live-action version of everyone's favorite Big Red Dog - Clifford.
One thing about Ryan Reynolds is that he always keeps things interesting. While I'm still anticipating the next Dead Pool, I guess I can bide my time with Free Guy, which finds Reynolds playing Guy, who seems to live in a fantastically brutal world where gunfights and explosions are common place and the bank teller often finds himself on the losing end. Guy is a typical NPC (or Non-Player Character for you non video-game noobs) - that is a background character in what appears to be a Grand Theft Auto-type violent game. But one day Guy finds himself breaking out of his routine and waking up - and looks to cause a little mayhem himself. The film features a lot of talent to go along with Reynolds with Taika Waititi, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Lil Rel Howery and even the late, great Alex Trebek all along for this ride. I honestly don't know if Free Guy is going to be corny, awful or hilarious, awesome but as a lifetime gamer, I'm willing to give it a shot. Rated PG-13 for strong fantasy violence throughout, language and crude/suggestive references.
Families really have plenty of options in theaters going forward and why not some variety with a live-action version of Clifford the Big Red Dog. The film follows a young girl with a big heart (Darby Camp) who love for a tiny, red puppy causes it to grow to enormous size and hijinks ensue. Jack Whitehall, John Cleese, Sienna Guillory, David Alan Grier, Tony Hale, Izaac Wang, Horatio Sanz and Paul Rodriguez all look to join in the fun. While I'm not sold on the whole live-action, giant red puppy thing, hey, if you're looking to entertain the kids for a little while, I'm sure you could do much worse. Rated Rated PG for impolite humor,
thematic elements and mild action.
Those are the two big films for the week but you can check out the full MPAA Ratings Bulletin below:
BETWEEN FOREVER
Rated R for language, drug use and some sexuality.
C.I.APE
Rated PG for mild thematic elements and brief violence.
CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG
Rated PG for impolite humor, thematic elements and mild action.
THE COLONY
Rated R for some violence.
FREE GUY
Rated PG-13 for strong fantasy violence throughout, language and crude/suggestive references.
KATE
Rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout.
LADY OF THE MANOR
Rated R for language throughout, sexual material and drug use.
MISHA AND THE WOLVES
Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and unsettling images.
OUR LADIES
Rated R for sexual content, language throughout, brief graphic nudity, and teen drinking and drug use.
OUT OF DEATH
Rated R for language throughout, violence and drug use.
RANGADDY
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.
SISTERS ON TRACK
Rated PG for thematic elements, brief sex-ed discussion, and some language.
TROPIC THUNDER - DIRECTOR'S CUT
Rated R for pervasive language, crude sexual references, violent content, drug material and brief nudity. (NOTE: This is different from the R rating issued in bulletin 2015)
