The Northmen, Men and More in This Week's MPAA Ratings Bulletin

By Chris Kavan - 03/23/22 at 08:09 PM CT

Another solid ratings bulletin with a couple of heavy-hitters this week while the box office was once again dominated by The Batman while an anime title had a strong opening in second place.

The Batman has faced no serious competition yet and it easily took the top spot at the box office for the third straight weekend. Adding another $36.7 million, The Batman dipped 44.8% but that was still enough for the film to hit the $300 million domestic mark. That makes it only the second film to hit that mark in this pandemic era behind the runaway success of Spider-Man: No Way Home. An all-star cast led by Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, Paul Dano, Andy Serkis and John Turturro helps this pitch-black hero rise above the rest and even a hefty three-hour running time can't slow things down. It has earned nearly as much on the international front - $298 million and counting, though it's anticipated China opening was tempered by a nation that is dealing with it's own Covid spike and thus 30% of the lucrative market's theaters were shuttered and only added $12.1 million from the country. It shouldn't hurt it too much in the end as The Batman has proven, along with Spider-Man, that heroes both dark and more light-hearted can cast a wide appeal.

In second place by a wide margin - and perhaps a bit of a surprise - was Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie. This prequel to the hit anime series follows a young man haunted by a violent spirit who finds himself recruited to secretive school where he learns to control his companion - and finds out the school handles some even more deadly supernatural happenings. The film opened to a strong $14.8 million and is the second big hit for FUNimation following the $21.2 million opening of Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train last April. It just goes to show that anime is still a huge draw - and not just here as the film has also earned $112.1 overseas already. While the longevity of anime titles tends to be shorter - the opening alone means this is going to be just fine and also means we'll be seeing more anime titles in the future.

In third place Uncharted continued its solid run with a $7.82 million weekend and a new $125.7 million total. The action-adventure film featuring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg continues to do even better overseas with a $211.4 million total for a strong $337 million worldwide total. It's a better-than-expected total for a film that otherwise had a middling reception.

In fourth place Ti West's latest horror film, X, opened to $4.4 million. A throwback to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, X follows a group of actors and crew filing an adult film in a rural Texas farmhouse only to find out the puritanical owners are willing to go to great lengths to protect the decency standards of their home. The film stars Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow,
Kid Cudi and Martin Henderson among others. West is known for horror offerings like The House of the Devil, The Innkeepers and The Sacrament - but has been mainly directing TV episodes of late. It's nice to West back in the game and X has received strong reviews (95% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). Even if it doesn't make major waves, it's nice to see horror back in the picture.

Rounding out the top five - Channing Tatum's Dog managed to nudge out Spider-Man: No Way Home (which is out of the top five after 3 1/2 months) with a $3.9 million weekend leading to a new $54.1 million total. Tatum will next challenge The Batman (along with Sandra Bullock) in The Lost City but Dog has proven Tatum is still a nice draw at the box office.

Other films of note: The Outfit, about a mob tailor (Mark Rylance) trying to survive a fateful night, opened to $1.49 million in 8th place while another horror film, Umma (starring Sandra Oh) opened to $915,290 in the 11th place spot.

Next up, The Lost City provides some more action and should upend The Batman while we also get a lockdown comedy/romance with 7 Days.

MPAA Official Logo

While a lot of people think all movies these days are sequels, reboots and huge franchise tentpoles but one look at Robert Eggers and you know originality is alive and kicking. The man behind The Witch and The Lighthouse is back with The Northman. While the story seems pretty straight-forward - young Viking prince seeks revenge against those who murdered his family - since this is Eggers, I'm expecting something visionary and probably very dark. Plus, this is a director that doesn't rely on fancy effects and takes a more practical approach so stars Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Gustav Lindh, Elliott Rose and Willem Dafoe worked for their art here. Of course Taylor-Joy and Defoe have already worked with Eggers - and returned - which can only means he's doing something right. Along with Ari Aster, I think Eggers is one of the best modern directors out there - not afraid to take chances. Even if his movies don't break hundreds of millions - there's nothing else like them out there and that counts for something. Rated R for strong bloody violence, some sexual content and nudity.

Staying with the theme of unsettling horror, let's turn to Alex Garland, who has likewise proven himself with films like Ex Machina and Annihilation. This time he's less sci-fi and more real world horror with Men. Jessie Buckley plays Harper, a young woman trying to grapple with her husband's sudden suicide and takes a trip to the country. Rory Kinnear looks to play multiple parts and each seems to place more and more of a burden on her from guilt to shame or worse. It does look like there is a bit of supernatural element - and I'm not sure why all these men wear the same face but one thing's for certain, Garland also knows how to craft something interesting and I want to see where this trip goes. Rated R for disturbing and violent content, graphic nudity, grisly images and language.

Also of note is while it doesn't have a release date as of yet, the Netflix film Blonde - a biopic of Marilyn Monroe from Andrew Dominik and starring Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Garret Dillahunt and Julianne Nicholson (among others) has received and NC-17 rating - the first for a Netflix original.

You can check out the full MPAA Ratings Bulletin below for the rest:

THE BLACKLIGHT

Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexual content/nudity, and drug use.


BLONDE

Rated NC-17 for some sexual content.


CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH

Rated R for language and some sexual content.


THE DROP

Rated R for sexual content, language and some drug use.


EAST OF MIDDLE WEST

Rated R for language, some violence and teen drinking.


EVIL DEAD RISE

Rated R for strong bloody horror violence and gore, and some language.


FATHER OF THE BRIDE

Rated PG-13 for brief suggestive material.


GIVERS OF DEATH

Rated R for violence, language throughout and some drug use.


HOSTILE TERRITORY

Rated R for violence.


MARGAUX

Rated R for violence and gore, language, drug use and some sexual material.


MEN

Rated R for disturbing and violent content, graphic nudity, grisly images and language.


THE NORTHMAN

Rated R for strong bloody violence, some sexual content and nudity.


PEACE RIVER

Rated PG-13 for some violence, a bloody image, and thematic material including suicide.


PETITE MAMAN

Rated PG for some thematic elements and brief smoking.


SLUMBERLAND

Rated PG for peril, action, language, some thematic elements and suggestive references.


SPIDERHEAD

Rated R for violent content, language and sexual content.


UNPLUGGING

Rated R for language, some sexual content and brief drug use.

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