By Chris Kavan - 07/27/22 at 05:32 PM CT
Jordon Peele's Nope came out on top of the box office with the best opening for an original film... since the last Jordon Peele film. Both Thor: Love and Thunder and Minions: The Rise of Gru continue to stay strong. On the MPAA side of things, while this week brought one of the largest amount of ratings this year, it was super short on content and I had to stretch to have something to talk about.
Nope was the weekend's winner starring Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer as sibling running Heywood's Hollywood Horses and soon dealing with an other-worldly presence and their attempt to capture it on film. With Peele saying the film deals with "spectacle" and the way people are treated - by the industry and audiences alike - opened to $44.36 million. That was above the opening for Get Out - at $33.4 million but below the $71.1 million for Us. Moreover, it remains to be seen what the long-term prospects for this one is going to be. While critics were happy with this one, giving it an 82% Fresh rating, audiences were more divided providing it with just a "B" Cinemascore. That was the same score as Us received and if Nope follows the same patter, will wind up at just a bit over $100 million. The budget for this was higher - sitting at around $68 million - and with a major marketing push, $100 million may not be enough for it to hit the black. Still, there is still plenty of summer ahead the only real competition looks to be Brad Pitt's Bullet Train.
In second place, Thor: Love and Thunder evened out with a 51.6% dip and a $22.55 million weekend, topping Ragnarok's $21.7 million third weekend. It also crossed the $275 million mark with a new $276.67 million total. It will soon be the 18th overall film in the MCU to hit the $300 million mark and should be able to top Ragnarok's $315 million total in the near future as well. It has also brought in $322 million international and, as of today, has crossed the $600 million mark worldwide. While this Phase 4 has certainly endured some uneven patches, I don't think the MCU is in any danger, especially after its huge Comic Con trailers and reveals.
In third place Minions: The Rise of Gru took a light 32.8% hit and brought in $18 million and landed just under the $300 million mark with a new $298.18 million total. It is now pacing ahead of Minions ($288 million) and just behind Despicable Me 2 ($307 million) through four weeks in theaters. With $342 million international, Rise of Gru is sitting at over $640 million worldwide.
In fourth place Where the Crawdads Sing took just a 40%, holding on well, for a $10 million weekend and a new $38.35 million total. It goes to show that female audiences are willing to support the right film and this one, based on the best-selling novel, seems to have found a supportive audience.
Rounding out the top five, the year's biggest film, Top Gun: Maverick continues to show long legs with a mere 16.5% drop in its 9th weekend out, adding $10.27 million to its 2022 best $635.83 million total. It has also earned over $1.28 billion worldwide.
Next week families get another option with DC Leage of Super-Pets, A24 is re-releasing their popular Everything Everywhere All at Once back into theaters and B.J. Novak directs (and stars) in the Southern-set mystery/thriller/comedy Vengeance.
As for the MPAA Ratings Bulletin - it's a long list for sure this week - possibly the most movies in any one rating so far, but as mentioned, the quality is lacking, so much so, I am just going to mention this one thing and then provide you with the rest.
The lucky film this time is Emily the Criminal. Emily is played by Aubrey Plaza and she has has enough - enough debt, enough loan, enough of life dragging her down. That is why when she meets charismatic criminal Youcef (Theo Rossi), she throws herself into this new life and gets a taste of how things could be... and wants so much more. This looks gritty and intense. The film also co-stars Bernardo Badillo, Jonathan Avigdori, Gina Gershon and Wesley Han. I figure it's a limited release that could go wide and it looks interesting enough. Rated R for language, some violence and brief drug use.
If you want to peruse the rest of the quite lengthy MPAA Ratings Bulletin please check it out below:
ANTHEM
Rated PG for language and thematic material.
BANDIT
Rated R for language throughout and some sexual material/nudity.
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Rated R for language throughout, some violent content and brief graphic nudity.
DEVIL'S WORKSHOP
Rated R for violent content, language throughout, drug use, some sexual material and nudity.
DEVILS LAKE
Rated R for some violence/bloody images.
DIG
Rated R for pervasive language, violence, some sexual content and brief drug use.
DRAGON BALL SUPER: SUPER HERO
Rated PG-13 for some action/violence and smoking.
EMILY THE CRIMINAL
Rated R for language, some violence and brief drug use.
THE ENFORCER
Rated R for strong/bloody violence, language throughout, sexual content, nudity and drug use.
HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL.
Rated R for language and some sexual content.
INU-OH
Rated PG-13 for some strong violence and bloody images, and suggestive material.
JOURNEY TO HELL
Rated PG for strong thematic content, some language, violence and suggestive references.
LAAL SINGH CHADDHA
Rated PG-13 for some violent content, thematic elements and suggestive material.
LIVING
Rated PG-13 for some suggestive material and smoking.
LOU
Rated R for violence and language.
MANEATER
Rated R for language and some violent content/gore.
PETER PAN AND WENDY
Rated PG for violence, peril and thematic elements.
RAYMOND AND RAY
Rated R for language and some sexual material.
THE RETURN OF TANYA TUCKER: FEATURING BRANDI CARLILE
Rated R for language.
THE SILENT TWINS
Rated R for drug use, some sexual content, nudity, language and disturbing material.
SOMETHING FROM TIFFANY'S
Rated PG for language, some suggestive comments and a drug reference.
TO LESLIE
Rated R for language throughout and some drug use.
