By Chris Kavan - 04/06/22 at 11:20 AM CT
Morbius took a (small) bite out of the box office as it took the top spot at the box office this weekend. After a week of not major updates, at least this week brings us one good film to talk about - and a mid-major streaming titles as well.
After the relative success of Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Sony decided that crafting their own spider-verse was a top priority, looking to capitalize on the super hero craze. With the MCU already claiming Blade as their own - along with like half of the Sinister Six - Sony had to dig a little deeper which brings us to Morbius. The so-called living vampire is not exactly a top-tier character, but just cast Jared Leto and let the dice roll, right? While Morbius did indeed top the box office with $39 million, it came on the heels of withering critical reviews (currently at a decidedly Rotten 16%) and a likewise damning Cinemascore at a worrying "C+". In fact, the only other super hero film to score lower was the massive Josh Trank misfire in the 2015 version of The Fantastic Four. An with Michael Keaton's Vulture cameo already spoiled, it seems the studio has big plans for the future - but this stumble may have them scrambling to fix what went wrong (one hopes). With films like Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web in development - not to mention what appears to be a Sinister Six set-up, we'll see if things can get back on track or if this is the beginning of the death knell for this Spider-verse.
Taking a nearly 52% tumble, The Lost City dropped to second place with a $14.7 million weekend, leading to a new $54.5 million total. That is a good total for a non-franchise title and it should continue to play solidly through the month. It is still waiting to roll out to most international locations (scheduled for April 15th) and thus has only added a modest $7 million overseas at this point.
Landing in third place, The Batman dropped just a bit over 46% and brought in $11 million, giving the super dark knight a new $349.2 million total (it has topped $350 million by this point in the week). It is doing even better overseas to the tune of $361.5 million giving the film a global total of over $710 million. There can only be one true bat man - and it ain't Morbius.
In the fourth-place spot Uncharted took a 25.7% hit and took in $3.66 million giving the action/adventure romp a new $138.9 million total. While the Tom Holland/Mark Wahlberg is likely to fall just short of $150 million domestic, it has already proven its worth with over $234 million international. This should be a franchise-started and I have a feeling Holland won't have any trouble finding work after leaving Spider-Man behind.
Rounding out the top five was anime title Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie, holding out with a $1.97 million weekend and a new $29.6 million total. As if a $30 million domestic total wasn't enough, it has already managed a whopping $119.4 million overseas for a global total that should be over the $150 million mark by this point.
Outside the top five: last week's limited-release champion Everything Everywhere All at Once - starring Michelle Yeoh as a multiversal champion - expanded from 10 to 38 theaters an cracked the top 10 in 9th place with $1.07 million (and increase of 115%) and still the top per-theater average by far with a $28,382 per-theater tally.
On the other side of things, Chris Pine didn't find any love with The Contractor which opened in 489 but could only muster up $560,678 in 12th place.
Next week finally brings us the wide release of the aforementioned Everything Everywhere All at Once, Michael Bay's latest actioner in Ambulance and fast and furious video game sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 2. With Morbius not having that big of bite, I'm guessing we'll see a new box office champion.
Last week was an MPAA Ratings Bulletin bust, but this week brings us two titles of interest including Nicholas Cage taking on the most demanding role of his career and Adam Sandler's latest Netflix venture.
The meme-worthy Nicholas Cage has given us a wide range of films throughout his career - some noteworthy and others... less impressive. That being said - bad or good, at least Cage gives it his all and looks like he's having a good time doing it. But with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Cage is taking on the most challenging role of his ENTIRE career - himself. That's right, it's Cage playing Cage as the actor finds himself the object of obsession for mega fan Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal) and the two hit it off for a great adventure of friendship - well, until Cage learns that his new friend is an unscrupulous, violent and overall bad guy and major drug kingpin. Thus Cage finds himself recruited to spy on his new friend and gather information - a ruse that quickly unravels and the actor finds himself in a real-life (but fake) action movie. So just wrap your head around that, people! The film also stars Tiffany Haddish, Ike Barinholtz, Neil Patrick Harris, Demi Moore and Jacob Scipio. I have absolutely no idea how this will be received, but I admit the trailer just makes this look like so much fun - and Cage, being Cage, still looks like he's having a grand old time, even as he's poking fun at himself. Rated R for language throughout, some sexual references, drug use and violence.
While some may find the quality of the Adam Sandler/Netflix deal a bit underwhelming - a deal is a deal. The next film, however, looks like it could be more of a winner. In Hustle, Sandler plays Stanley Beren, a one-time well-regarded basketball scout who has lost his touch. But while in Spain, he finds a diamond in the rough with street-baller Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangomez), and sees the phenom as his way to get back into the NBA's good graces. But it's not just a quest for his own redemption, he truly feels that Cruz can make it in the NBA. Ben Foster, Robert Duvall, Queen Latifah, Jaleel White, Raúl Castillo and María Botto help round out the cast. This has a feel of one of Sandler's deeper films - though I'm sure it won't lose all all the comedy. Rated R for language.
Those are the big films for this week, but you can check out the full MPAA Ratings Bulletin below:
BODIES BODIES BODIES
Rated R for violence, bloody images, drug use, sexual references and pervasive language.
A CHIARA
Rated R for some language and drug content.
DEEP IN THE HEART
Rated PG for some thematic material.
HUSTLE
Rated R for language.
LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE
Rated R for violent content, rape, sexual material, language throughout and teen substance
use.
MONSTROUS
Rated PG-13 for terror, thematic elements and brief violence.
PERSUASION
Rated PG for some suggestive references.
SEE HOW THEY RUN
Rated PG-13 for some violence/bloody images and a sexual reference.
SHEPHERD
Rated R for some disturbing/bloody images and language.
THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT
Rated R for language throughout, some sexual references, drug use and violence.
