By Chris Kavan - 03/02/22 at 11:36 AM CT
It was a a slow weekend at the box office and it looks like the MPAA was reciprocating the feeling but at least still provided something to dissect. As expected, the box office remained unchanged for the top five and the two new entries - Foo Fighters horror film Studio 666 and the limited release of Cyrano, had little impact overall. Next week will be a much different story when The Batman drop and is expected to land somewhere north of $100 million.
Before we get to that, however, we have this weekend where Uncharted, once again, topped the charts with a $23 million weekend. That's a drop of 47.7% over its decent opening and gives the Tom Holland potential new franchise a $83.1 million domestic total. That may seem like a big drop, but it's actually a better hold than every other $50+ opener from last year (Shang-Chi came closest with a 54% drop). Uncharted was also the reason the weekend wasn't a complete loss and actually turned out to be the third best of the year. Uncharted is doing even better overseas with $143 million for a global total now topping $227 million - and with China still to come. Taking everything into account, Uncharted is a solid hit and looks to cement Tom Holland as a box office draw - no MCU needed.
In second place, Channing Tatum's feel-good road-trip animal-buddy-up Dog dipped just under 32%, adding $10.15 million over the weekend for a new $30.9 million total. The film is in good position as counter-programming to what looks a very dark knight and should just add to its total. With a mere $15 million budget, Dog is already a winner and is good news for Tatum - and may bolster the prospects for the upcoming Lost City.
In third place, Spider-Man: No Way Home continued its impressive streak, dipping 22.2% for a a $5.8 million weekend, crossing $780 million and looking better and better for the web-slinging hero to hit $800 million before it ends its run. It's hard to say if any film of 2022 is going to be anywhere this impressive. It has hit $1.85 billion worldwide as well.
In fourth place, Death on the Nile dipped 31.5% and brought in $4.49 million for a new $32.7 million total. It has also $68.3 million worldwide but with a disappointing $5.8 million in China, it's looking more and more like Nile is going to struggle to hit its $90 million budget and is not long for the box office. Maybe a week or two more, but I have a feeling Hercule Poirot is going on a much longer vacation after this.
Rounding out the top five, Jackass Forever is still holding on with a $3.14 million weekend - off just under 40% - for a $52 million total. While it may not have enough steam to catch up to Jackass: The Movie ($64.3 million), the total still looks quite impressive compared to its $10 million budget and is the second-best live action comedy of the pandemic era behind just Free Guy.
Well outside the top five we find Studio 666, the horror/comedy revolving around a fictionalized version of the Foo Fighters and where Dave Grohl goes on a murderous rampage. Strictly for fans, the opening of $1.54 million (8th place) pretty much reflects that.
Just behind that, Cyrano debuted in 797 theaters with a $1.3 million opening in 9th place. Without any major awards-season hype, this one faded into the background.
In milestone news, Sing 2 crossed $150 million domestic ($2.25 million weekend in 6th place) while also crossing $200 million internationally and $350 worldwide. While it was never going to reach the success of the original Sing, this is still an impressive achievement and is by and far the top family film of the pandemic.
Next week Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, Barry Keoghan, Andy Serkis, Jeffrey Wright, Peter Sarsgaard and John Turturro come together to bring us a dark, new chapter with The Batman, which should provide some fireworks at the box office.
The MPAA Ratings Bulletin is short this week, but they've at least offered up some new content in the form of Umma and upcoming horror film about the scary prospect of turning into your parents - or, in this case, your mother.
Horror films come in many forms from graphic slashers to slow-build psychological creep outs. The upcoming Umma seems to be part of the latter category. Sandra Oh plays Amanda, who live a quiet, rural life with her daughter (Fivel Stewart) on a farm where they have a bee colony among other things. But this quiet life is upended when she is given the remains of her estranged mother from Korea and this starts a series of strange events - supernatural even - as Amanda finds herself inexplicably fighting to prevent herself from turning into her mother. I think, deep down, many of us are nervous about turning into our parents - some moreso than others - and while this film plays things a bit more literal, perhaps that underlying fear will help things along. Granted, this film came out of nowhere for me and I haven't really heard much about it and it seems to be targeted more towards women - none of which will help its prospects at the box office. It's coming soon, but I have a feeling it will leave just as quickly. Rated PG-13 for terror, brief strong language and some
thematic elements.
That is the lone major film for the week, but you can check out the full MPAA Ratings Bulletin below:
THE CHERRY BUSHIDO
Rated PG-13 for some violence.
FAMILY CAMP
Rated PG for some action and thematic elements.
JUJUTSU KAISEN 0: THE MOVIE
Rated PG-13 for violent content, bloody images, language, thematic material and
some suggestive references.
MEDUSA DELUXE
Rated R for language throughout, some sexual references and brief drug use.
MID-CENTURY
Rated R for violent content, some language, drug use and brief nudity.
RISE
Rated PG for thematic elements and brief language.
UMMA
PG-13 for terror, brief strong language and some thematic elements.
