While not the spectacular 3% second weekend drop of fellow Warner horror hit “Sinners” this past spring, it is still just a 43% drop from the $43.5 million opening for director Zach Cregger’s second feature film. It now stands with an $89 million domestic total and $148.8 million worldwide against a $38 million spend.

Last week, “Weapons” became the sixth straight Warner release to open above $40 million in North America, and this week it will become the sixth straight film to clear $100 million in domestic grosses.

While the studio had a weak first quarter of 2025 with box office duds like “Companion,” “Mickey 17,” and “Alto Knights,” Warner turned it around with the near-$1 billion box office run of Legendary’s “A Minecraft Movie.” The streak continued with “Sinners,” “Final Destination: Bloodlines,” Apple’s “F1” and DC’s “Superman.”

Next up on their slate: New Line’s “The Conjuring: Last Rites” in September. Early tracking has that film earning a $35 million opening weekend.

Elsewhere, Disney’s “Freakier Friday” is holding decently this weekend, staying at No. 2 on the charts with a 50% drop from its $28.5 million opening with $14.5 million grossed this weekend. The legacyquel stands at $54.8 million domestic and $86.3 million global against a $42 million budget.

In third is the sole newcomer to the top 5, Universal’s “Nobody 2,” the sequel to the Bob Odenkirk action comedy that was one of the first films to hit theaters when they reopened in 2021. While that film opened to $6.8 million, “Nobody 2” hasn’t significantly expanded the fanbase, opening to $9.25 million.

While not as well received as its predecessor, “Nobody 2” has earned generally positive reception with a B+ on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 78% critics and 89% audience. With a $25 million budget, it faces a relatively low break-even point as it looks to top the $57.5 million global total of the first “Nobody.”

In fourth is Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” which continues to run out of fuel much faster than its $117.6 million opening had suggested with a fourth weekend total of just $8.8 million.

With a domestic total of $247 million and a global total of $468 million, it has passed the $415 million total of “Captain America: Civil War” to become Marvel’s top grossing film this year. But that total is well short of the last two Marvel summer films “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” ($845.5 million) and “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($1.33 billion), not to mention the $594.5 million global total of “Superman.”

Universal/DreamWorks’ “The Bad Guys 2” completes the top 5 with $6.9 million in its third weekend, bringing its total to $56 million domestic as it remains relatively on par with the $57.3 million three-weekend total of the first “Bad Guys.”

Finally, Lionsgate released Sydney Sweeney’s latest film “Americana” in 1,146 locations, where despite Sweeney’s recent headlines for her American Eagle jeans ads, it went largely ignored with just $500,000 grossed from 1,146 locations.

By comparison, A24 released Spike Lee’s latest film “Highest 2 Lowest” in 220 theaters this weekend ahead of a September 5 Apple TV+ release and grossed $894,000, according to theatrical sources, for a $4,062 average, compared to roughly $460 for “Americana.”

“Americana” was a 2023 SXSW film made by Sweeney prior to her breakout role in “Anyone But You,” and was released by Lionsgate through its Premier Releasing label with a targeted release and a $6 million combined acquisition and marketing spend ahead of a release on home platforms, where the studio aims to make its profit.

Lionsgate is putting more of its chips on another upcoming film starring Sweeney: “The Housemaid,” a Paul Feig-directed adaptation of Freida McFadden’s thriller novel getting a wide release this holiday season.

The post ‘Weapons’ Still Roaring at Box Office With $25 Million 2nd Weekend appeared first on TheWrap.

That’s a 40% drop from the film’s impressive $43.5 million opening and, should it hold, give the film an $88 million two-weekend domestic total. Last weekend, “Weapons” made Warner Bros. the first studio ever to have $40 million-plus openings on six consecutive wide theatrical releases, and now the film is in prime position to join the likes of “Final Destination: Bloodlines” and “F1” in the $100 million-plus club.

Mark it down as a breakthrough sophomore title for director Zach Cregger, who first made a name for himself with the modestly successful but critically praised 2022 horror film “Barbarian.” He is next set to direct a reboot film for the “Resident Evil” franchise.

Meanwhile, Disney’s “Freakier Friday” is holding decently with a $14.2 million second weekend, roughly a 50% drop from its $28.5 million opening. The film stands with a two-weekend total of $54.5 million domestic against its $42 million budget.

In third is the sole new release in the top 5, Universal’s “Nobody 2,” with an estimated $9.4 million opening weekend after a $3.8 million opening day from 3,260 theaters. The first “Nobody,” starring Bob Odenkirk, was one of the first films to hit theaters as they reopened following the year-long pandemic closures and opened to $6.8 million.

With generally positive reception including a B+ on CinemaScore and a 92% Rotten Tomatoes audience score, “Nobody 2” will hope to leg out and turn a profit against its $25 million budget.

The post ‘Weapons’ Stays Atop Box Office With Strong $26 Million Weekend appeared first on TheWrap.

The sophomore film from director Zach Cregger is blowing past the performance of his debut film “Barbarian” both financially and critically. “Barbarian” was glowingly received by critics, but was tepidly received by opening weekend audiences and received a C+ on CinemaScore.

“Weapons” is not only set to eclipse the entire $40.8 million domestic run of “Barbarian” in just one weekend, but both critics and audiences are giving it a thumbs up with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 96% critics and 88% audience and a rare CinemaScore grade of A-.

That makes “Weapons” only the 14th horror movie since 1981 to earn an A- or higher on CinemaScore, and becomes the second Warner horror film this year alongside Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” which earned the third horror A in CinemaScore history, to reach that mark. Other horror films to earn an A- include James Wan’s pair of “Conjuring” films, John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place — Part II” and Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning “Get Out.”

This strong opening for “Weapons” caps off an impeccable summer for Warner Bros. after the successful runs of “Final Destination: Bloodlines,” “Superman” and “F1,” the latter being an Apple production with Warner as distributor. With $1.45 billion grossed domestically so far, it leads all studios in 2025.

Just behind Warner on the studio market share charts is Disney, which is enjoying some mid-budget success of their own with “Freakier Friday,” the legacyquel to Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan’s 2003 body swap comedy. With a $12.7 million opening day from 3,975 theaters, it is on course for a $30 million opening weekend, meeting pre-release projections.

Expected to draw out nostalgic millennials, “Freakier Friday” has earned rave reception with an 94% audience RT score and an A on CinemaScore. It is well on course to turn a theatrical profit against its $42 million budget.

“Freakier Friday” will be some good news for Disney. But on the flipside is Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” which is continuing its steep decline after a strong opening weekend with an industry estimated $15 million third weekend. That’s a 61% drop from its $40 million second weekend, which itself was a 66% opening weekend drop. The movie’s estimated domestic total stands at $229 million through Sunday, 21% behind the pace set by “Superman,” which is passing $330 million domestic with a $7.8 million fifth weekend.

The post ‘Weapons’ Is Another Warner Bros. Box Office Win With $40 Million Opening appeared first on TheWrap.

While more films will come after this, including Universal’s “Nobody 2,” Sony/Columbia’s “Caught Stealing” and Cineverse’s “The Toxic Avenger,” these two movies have been identified as having the best chance to become an August sleeper hit.

With both films enjoying pre-release support and great reviews, it’s not clear who is going to take No. 1. Last week, theatrical sources gave “Freakier Friday” the edge as a film tailored specifically for women in a summer loaded with the usual big blockbusters and one which appeals to the same millennial nostalgia as the “Lilo & Stitch” remake, albeit with for a smaller audience pool.

But “Weapons” is coming in hot, with Fandango reporting that it has the second-highest presales of the year for a horror film thanks to a captivating marketing campaign and near-unanimously positive early reviews, as the film sports a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score with 64 reviews logged.

For now, both films are projected to open to at least $30 million, with significant upside. “Freakier Friday” has a reported $42 million budget, while “Weapons” is a tad lower at $38 million.

Back in 2003, “Freaky Friday” was a box office success for Disney, grossing $160 million worldwide against a $26 million budget and earning Curtis a Golden Globe nomination.

The teens and tweens who saw that film in theaters are grown up, and many of them have kids of their own. While that nostalgia is largely consolidated among millennial women, the PG rating for “Freakier Friday” could make it a popular mother-daughter outing and attract Gen Z moviegoers who haven’t seen the first film. Disney insiders tell TheWrap that presales for the film have reached $3.5 million so far, and there’s hope that strong walkup for matinee screenings can be sustained over several weeks.

“Weapons,” meanwhile, will have a better chance at drawing a broader adult audience and will have the advantage of premium format support, including Imax. It has also captivated the attention of horror fans with marketing that not only explains the premise in a nutshell, but presents it like a chilling urban legend.

If you’ve seen a trailer, TV ad, or even the poster for “Weapons,” you know it by now: At 2:17 AM, every child from the same elementary school class got out of bed, ran into the forest and never came back. It immediately presents a mystery and touches on so many fears that it can capture the attention of a wide range of moviegoers, all while striking a balance between showing hints of the horrors hiding in “Weapons” while not giving everything away, something that another acclaimed New Line horror film, “Companion,” struggled to do with its marketing earlier this year.

But all signs point to “Weapons” extending Warner Bros’ box office winning streak to six films. After “Companion” and “Mickey 17” disappointed in the first quarter of 2025, Warner has enjoyed wild success with “A Minecraft Movie,” “Sinners,” “Final Destination: Bloodlines,” “Superman,” and as a distributor, Apple’s “F1.” Combined, those five films have grossed more than $1.3 billion at the domestic box office and $2.7 billion worldwide.

The post ‘Freakier Friday,’ ‘Weapons’ Look to Give Summer Box Office One Last Jolt appeared first on TheWrap.

Despite an A- on CinemaScore and a 92% Rotten Tomatoes audience score, “Fantastic Four” cratered with a 66% second weekend drop to $40 million domestic and $79 million worldwide. The other comparable superhero film, “Superman,” saw a 53% drop in its second weekend.

The retrofuturistic spin on Marvel’s “first family” has largely failed to make the leap from hardcore fans to a wider audience despite that buzz from the former, resulting in a hold that was only two percentage points better than the 68% drop of the tepidly received “Captain America: Brave New World” earlier this year and the critically lambasted 2015 “Fantastic Four” film, which also dropped 68% from its poor $25 million opening.

The downward trend continued on Monday with a daily domestic total of $4.5 million, a 56% drop from the $10.4 million it earned on its first Monday.

That “First Steps” suffered such a second-weekend collapse despite all the critical and commercial momentum bodes poorly not just for the film, but for the Marvel universe’s long-term future. At best, the drop-off underscores the challenges Disney faces in expanding the roster of superhero characters beyond already established franchises 17 years into Marvel Studios’ existence. At worst, this could signal that general audiences just aren’t that into the MCU anymore.

Even with the underwhelming overseas numbers that have plagued fellow superhero film “Superman” and were clearly at play again with “Fantastic Four” this opening weekend, exhibitor sources told TheWrap heading into the weekend that they believed the film would keep its domestic hold below 60%.

That would have kept it well on pace to clear $300 million domestic and $500 million worldwide. Now, those benchmarks are in question if repeat viewings from hardcore fans and interest from general audiences stay low this weekend with Disney’s “Freakier Friday” and Warner Bros./New Line’s “Weapons” hitting theaters.

It’s a scenario that Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian was not expecting.

“The whole recipe was there for what I thought would be a strong second week hold, and instead it ended up holding not much better than ‘Captain America: Brave New World,'” he said. “It’s a real surprise to me because I can’t point to the marketing being bad or the audience not liking it.”

When being good isn’t good enough

In the past, with well-received disappointments like “Elio” and “Transformers One,” sometimes the elements of a film that opening weekend viewers find most enjoyable don’t appeal to wider audiences. That may be the case here with “Fantastic Four: First Steps.”

Film critic Aaron Neuwirth compared the buzz around “First Steps” to that of “Superman,” saying that while “First Steps” pleased most longtime Marvel fans with what is widely considered to be the best cinematic interpretation of Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben, the film “lacked an ‘X’ factor” that the DC reboot film had.

‘”Superman’ had a lot of things people enjoyed that they weren’t necessarily expecting. For weeks, people have been talking about Krypto, Mr. Terrific and the Justice Gang, etc. ‘Fantastic Four,’ which I did like, didn’t have that by comparison,” he said.

“It came as advertised, giving audiences exactly what they were expecting. Sure, it looked good and had fun elements, but there were no surprises, no characters that truly broke out, no wild connection to the rest of the MCU — not that it needed one — or some shocking cameo,” he said. “There wasn’t anything specific that made people go, ‘Oh, you have to go see this film right this second!”

For another James Gunn comparison, look to his “Guardians of the Galaxy,” the film that proved just how much clout Marvel had with audiences by turning some of the most obscure characters of the comic canon into cultural icons. Much of the buzz around the film coalesced around specific scenes and actors, such as Dave Bautista, then known mostly for his WWE work, turning in a surprisingly funny performance as Drax.

The MCU has been devalued

The decline in audience goodwill towards the Marvel Cinematic Universe first took root with the tepid audience reception to the box office hit “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” in 2022 and began to snowball with the financial and critical disappointment of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” the following year.

But until now, the box office misfires for the franchise could be attributed to either poor word-of-mouth, as was the case for “Brave New World,” or the sentiment that a well-received film would require “homework” — watching a bunch of past films and/or Disney+ streaming series — to understand, as was the case this past May for “Thunderbolts*,” which starred characters from TV shows like U.S. Agent and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.

“Fantastic Four: First Steps,” a truly homework-free Marvel film, was supposed to answer all those criticisms. But if all of that still isn’t enough to give Marvel’s first superhero team a box office run exceeding the best of the “Ant-Man” films — “Ant-Man and the Wasp” made $623 million in 2018 — that is a bad omen for the franchise’s ability to launch new heroes like Shang-Chi, whose debut film became the first post-COVID shutdown film in 2021 to pass $200 million.

During Marvel’s 2010s “Infinity Saga” heyday, mass audiences were so engaged with the overarching storyline that they showed up even for films that might be classified as well received but lacking in that “X” factor, as Neuwirth put it. Think of films like “Doctor Strange,” which built up to “Avengers: Infinity War” but lacked the dry humor that Benedict Cumberbatch and Benedict Wong would bring to their characters in future appearances.

Or “Captain Marvel,” which grossed over $1 billion as the lead-in to “Avengers: Endgame” in 2019 and was well received at release but didn’t secure any longterm interest in Carol Danvers, leading to its sequel “The Marvels” to become the MCU’s biggest flop four years later.

As TheWrap’s Drew Taylor wrote, the over-saturation and quality inconsistency of Marvel, along with other Disney brands as part of the studio’s push to boost Disney+, has led many moviegoers to decide they’ve had enough. That has been clear with the underperformance of “Thunderbolts*,” but the general audience flight from “Fantastic Four” shows that even strong buzz isn’t enough to get some back in the habit of watching this franchise again, especially as it isn’t clear exactly how the scattered pieces of the MCU will align for next year’s “Avengers: Doomsday” the way there was a neat and orderly buildup to “Infinity War.”

There’s no easy fix to this. Next year’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which will be released by Sony, may be immune from these effects. Like “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and “Deadpool & Wolverine,” two films that actually did well at the box office recently, “Brand New Day” will have familiar (and, importantly, beloved) characters from the Infinity Saga, including Tom Holland’s popular take on Peter Parker.

Since Tobey Maguire first suited up as Spidey in 2002, the webslinger has proven to be Marvel’s Batman in that he’s a constant box office draw no matter what the state of the surrounding franchise. But it is likely that “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars” will fall well short of the $2 billion-plus totals of “Infinity War” and “Endgame,” and not just because of China’s near abandonment of the MCU. With the lack of proper buildup for those films, it is hard to say if those films will have anything that gets hardcore and casual fans alike excited for anything that Marvel has planned beyond those movies.

The outlook for “Fantastic Four”

But “Avengers” is more than a year away. This weekend, the outlook for “Fantastic Four: First Steps” doesn’t look good. Fellow Disney release “Freakier Friday” is expected to take No. 1 with a $40 million-plus opening with strong upside while New Line horror film “Weapons” is looking at a $25 million launch in the No. 2 slot.

Alongside this past weekend’s new releases “The Bad Guys 2” and “The Naked Gun” as well as the upcoming “Nobody 2,” August’s releases are all sleeper hit hunters looking to turn out a specific core demographic. It seemed as if “Fantastic Four” could co-exist with those films, and that’s something Disney insiders say they believe is still possible. But if general interest for that four-quadrant title is lower than expected, those movies could become alternatives that pull away the moviegoers Marvel needs to salvage this theatrical run.

“‘Fantastic Four’ was already pretty heavy on fanboys and light on families even on opening weekend,” said one theatrical insider, pointing to an audience share of 15% under the age of 18 and 6% 12 and under. “If families needed convincing to buy a ticket, then having to compete against ‘The Bad Guys 2’ in the second weekend probably ended up being a bigger hurdle than expected.”

Alongside the family friendly “Bad Guys 2,” there’s “Naked Gun” providing comedy, “Weapons” providing a chilling flavor of horror, and “Freakier Friday” expected to draw out millennial women who saw the first “Freaky Friday” back in 2003, possibly with daughters of their own. It’s the sort of variety that is great for theaters and should make for robust late-summer business, but could further depress overall interest in “Fantastic Four.”

With the way Marvel’s slate is currently set up, it probably won’t be until at least 2028, after two more “Avengers” films have tried to get the world excited about the MCU again, until the franchise tries to introduce another new hero. Perhaps those big crossovers and Robert Downey Jr.’s return will be enough to reverse the growing disinterest for all but the most popular of superheroes and get everyone hyped for a new generation of actors to play the X-Men.

But for now, Marvel’s ceiling has been considerably lowered, held up by a decreasing number of people swayed by positive buzz who can mostly be counted among the MCU’s true believers. If that means $400-600 million global totals are going to be the norm, Disney will have to budget accordingly, something that may already be planned as Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige has publicly announced that the number of films and TV shows his studio will release in the years to come will be significantly scaled back.

The post ‘Fantastic Four’ Box Office Dive Is a Bad Omen for Marvel’s Future appeared first on TheWrap.

Overseas, the film is proving to be just as frontloaded, grossing just $39.6 million internationally for a two-weekend global total of $368 million. At this pace, “Fantastic Four” could join last year’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” as only the second film to open to more than $100 million and fail to cross $300 million domestic and $500 million worldwide.

It’s a hard blow to Disney and Marvel’s attempts to regrow widespread interest in the MCU beyond hardcore fans after years of inconsistently received films and streaming shows began to take their toll on the box office for films like “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “The Marvels” and “Thunderbolts*.”

With its lack of required viewing of previous MCU installments, strong critical and audience reception and a $100 million-plus domestic opening, it seemed like “Fantastic Four” had everything needed to leg out through the remainder of the summer. Instead, that all might be too little, too late for a substantial number of former MCU devotees who have fallen out of the habit of seeing every single title the franchise had to offer theatrically and don’t feel inclined to get back into that habit even when the buzz is strong.

Elsewhere, Universal/DreamWorks’ “The Bad Guys 2” and Paramount’s “The Naked Gun” are doing decently in their opening weekends. “Bad Guys 2” has opened to $22.2 million from 3,852 theaters, just a step below the $23.9 million of its spring 2022 predecessor. With two weekends of overseas play, the sequel has a running global total of $44.4 million against an $80 million budget.

“Bad Guys 2” will be looking for modest theatrical profit over the next few weeks, trying to match the $250 million global total of the first “Bad Guys” as it earned an A on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 85% critics and 95% audience. If it did so, it would be enough to make it Hollywood’s highest grossing animated film of the year so far, topping the $145.5 million total of fellow DreamWorks title “Dog Man” back in January.

While Disney’s “Zootopia 2” is expected to be a huge moneymaker, American animated offerings this year like “Elio” have paled in comparison to remakes of animated classics like “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Lilo & Stitch,” the latter of which is the only American film so far this year to gross $1 billion.

The other billion-dollar grosser of 2025 is the Chinese megahit “Ne Zha 2,” which became the first animated film to cross $2 billion worldwide.

“The Naked Gun” is in third with a $17 million opening weekend from 3,344 theaters, hitting the top end of pre-release projections as it earns a $28.5 million global start. Akiva Schaeffer’s revival of the classic police spoof series earned an A- on CinemaScore, the same grade as the original 1988 “Naked Gun” starring Leslie Nielsen.

As expected for a revival of a Gen X comedy classic, “The Naked Gun” got half of its audience from moviegoers over 35. But the 25-34 demo still turned out rather well with a 27% audience share, giving hope that the film could get word-of-mouth from moviegoers who were too young to have seen Nielsen on the big screen. With a reported $42 million budget, that’s who the film will have to draw out for theatrical success.

“The Naked Gun” will likely be Paramount’s final film release under studio chief Brian Robbins, as its merger with Skydance is set to be completed on Thursday. Should he and film division chief Mike Ireland depart, they will leave having ushered Paramount to its first $1 billion-plus year at the U.S. box office since 2014, having done so in 2022 with a $1.3 billion total led by “Top Gun: Maverick” with support from films like “Scream 5,” “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” and “The Lost City.”

Warner Bros./DC’s “Superman” is in fourth with $13.9 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its total to $316 million domestic and $551 million worldwide. Universal’s “Jurassic World Rebirth” completes the top 5 with $8.4 million in its fifth weekend and totals of $317 million domestic and $766 million worldwide.

Finally, there’s Neon’s “Together,” the body horror film starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie that has earned a $6.8 million 3-day/$10.8 million 5-day opening weekend from 2,302 theaters.

It’s a solid start for the indie horror film, which was acclaimed following its midnight Sundance premiere and became one of the festival’s biggest acquisition deals ever after Neon picked it up for $17 million. For comparison, last year’s body horror hit “The Substance” opened to $3.2 million from 1,949 theaters for an average of $1,644. “Together” earned a weekend average of $2,955.

Next weekend will see the release of Disney’s legacyquel “Freakier Friday” and, in the latest example of counterprogramming, Warner Bros./New Line’s harrowing horror film “Weapons.” Both films are expected to have stronger starts than this weekend’s newcomers, with “Freakier Friday” expected to ride millennial nostalgia to a $40 million-plus opening while “Weapons” is headed for $25 million-plus.

The post ‘Fantastic Four’ Stays No. 1 But Tumbles 66% to $40 Million at Box Office appeared first on TheWrap.

After a $11.7 million second Friday, industry estimates have “Fantastic Four” earning a $40.8 million second weekend, which equates to a 66% drop from its $117.6 million domestic opening. Theatrical sources and rival studios had predicted a second weekend of at least $45 million, which would have keep its drop to 60% or less.

By comparison, Warner Bros./DC Studios’ “Superman” had a $58.4 million second weekend, dropping 53% from its $125 million launch. “Superman” crossed $300 million domestically on Thursday and is headed for a $13.8 million fourth weekend.

While a mix of new releases and continued competition from “Superman” may be peeling off more moviegoers from “Fantastic Four” than predicted, it’s not an encouraging sign for Marvel that such a well-received installment that introduces a new version of a well-known superhero team is having a tougher time drawing in casual audiences.

Meanwhile, “The Bad Guys 2” and “The Naked Gun” are opening consistent with pre-release projections. “Bad Guys 2” earned $9 million on opening day and is now estimated for a $22.8 million opening weekend from 3,852 theaters.

The $80 million animated sequel is hoping to have similar legs to its spring 2022 predecessor, which opened to $23.9 million and finished with a $97 million domestic/$250 million global total. It has the reception to do that, earning an A on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 84% critics and 95% audience. Now it comes down to how many families come in before kids go back to school.

“The Naked Gun” is in third this weekend, earning $6.2 million on Friday as it heads for an estimated $16.3 million opening. That’s a decent result given the infrequency of comedy films these days, roughly $1 million above the opening of Sony’s R-rated comedy “No Hard Feelings” starring Jennifer Lawrence.

Still, this revival of the hit 1988 police movie spoof needs to leg out to turn on its $42 million budget. The good news is that “Naked Gun” has been well received by critics and audiences alike, earning an A- on CinemaScore alongside scores of 90% critics and 80% audience. Drawing out moviegoers under 35 who were not around to see Leslie Nielsen’s “Naked Gun” films on the big screen is key.

The post ‘Fantastic Four’ Sinks 66% From Box Office Opening Weekend appeared first on TheWrap.

“The Bad Guys” hit theaters in spring 2022 at a time when it was still unclear how willing families were to return to theaters after the COVID-19 shutdown. Against a reported $70 million budget, the film made a respectable $250 million worldwide, and two years later, a sequel was announced.

That sequel, which arrives this weekend and is projected to match or slightly exceed its predecessor’s $24.9 million domestic opening, is the first follow-up to an animated film released after the shutdown. There have been sequels to other films released in the past four years, namely horror titles like “Smile” and “M3GAN,” but this is the first one aimed at families who have shown that if they are going to spend upwards of $60 on four movie tickets before concessions, it’s going to be for a movie about something they’re familiar with.

“The audience is definitely more fragmented, especially with the sheer quantity of options they have at home, and that changes how and when they discover new films,” DreamWorks Animation president Margie Cohn told TheWrap.

For DreamWorks, “Bad Guys 2” represents an opportunity to prove that it’s still in the franchise-building business in a big way. It’s the studio, after all, that minted money with popular animated franchises such as “Shrek” and “How to Train Your Dragon.” But the original “How to Train Your Dragon,” which just got a hit live-action remake, came out 15 years ago; and “Shrek” is nearly a quarter of a century old now. Original animated films are much harder to break out now.

Cohn regularly refers to DreamWorks Animation films like “Bad Guys” and the Oscar-nominated “The Wild Robot” as original films. Technically they’re not, as they are based on YA novels by Aaron Blabey and Peter Brown, respectively.

But in terms of marketing those films to the public, “Bad Guys” and “Wild Robot” aren’t exactly “The Hunger Games” when it comes to mass awareness of the source material, and that means they have faced the same challenges as the numerous true originals that Disney and Pixar have released in recent years, mostly to disappointing results.

Pixar’s “Elemental” legged out to $496.4 million in 2023, but “Elio” bombed last month with $138 million while Disney’s Thanksgiving bust “Strange World” ($73.6 million) and “Wish” ($255 million) combined for less than a third of the $1.05 billion that “Moana 2” made from its November 2024 release. Alongside films like Illumination’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” the audience’s message is clear: they’ll buy movie tickets for known IP and sequels, but originals are largely the domain of streaming, with its at-home convenience and lower cost.

DreamWorks’ box office record reflects this. “The Bad Guys” and “The Wild Robot” made less at the box office, even before inflation adjustment, than pre-pandemic franchise launchers like “Shrek,” “How to Train Your Dragon” and “The Boss Baby.” Granted, those two new films, unlike “Boss Baby” or “Dragon,” were produced on budgets below $100 million, a trend that should continue as DreamWorks is set to increase their use of overseas animation vendors in production.

Despite the challenges, Cohn says DreamWorks isn’t backing down and is instead leaning on sequels like “Kung Fu Panda 4” — the studio’s highest-grossing post-shutdown release with $547.9 million — or the upcoming “Shrek 5.”

“We are committed to doing one original and one franchise film every year. We don’t want to stop searching for new characters and new stories to tell,” she said, pointing to “Forgotten Island,” a true original adventure comedy that DWA will release in September 2026 ahead of “Shrek 5.”

Still, it takes overwhelmingly strong word-of-mouth for animated movies without an IP hook to convince families to give them a chance theatrically rather than wait for streaming. “The Wild Robot,” which was one of last year’s best-reviewed films of any kind, opened to a modest $35.7 million domestic last September but legged out to a 4.03x multiple and a final domestic total of $143.9 million.

Those legs, combined with the sustained post-theatrical interest that “The Wild Robot” earned from its Oscar buzz, got DreamWorks to greenlight a sequel. Conversely, “The Bad Guys,” while well-received by critics and building its own devoted fanbase, didn’t get quite the same level of widespread acclaim. So how might the sequel do?

Data from film tracking company Greenlight Analytics suggests we won’t see the big breakout numbers that “Moana 2” and “Across the Spider-Verse” earned after their predecessors got years of streaming play, barring a significant late surge in interest after reviews are published. While awareness among audiences is consistent with the first “Bad Guys,” intent to see the sequel in theaters has remained flat among polled moviegoers at 34%, similar to “Elio” ahead of its $20.8 million opening

By comparison, the first “Bad Guys” saw theatrical intent rise from 26% to 45% in its runup to release, perhaps getting a boost like Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” did from families who were making their first trip back to theaters after a year stuck at home.

This is a factor in why tracking for “Bad Guys 2” has remained in the mid-$20 million range, but that’s also on par with the $28 million opening that Paramount’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” earned from a similar release slot in August 2023, going on to gross $118 million domestic.

“The Bad Guys 2” might be able to have a similar domestic run if word-of-mouth is strong, and if it matches the overseas performance of its predecessor, it will be another modest success for DreamWorks against its $80 million budget.

But pre-release data doesn’t suggest that two years of streaming play have built up increased interest to see Mr. Wolf and his band of former thieves in theaters for their second round the way “Moana,” “Inside Out” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” built up buzz for their sequels. While those 2010s films had the advantage of being popular streaming picks while families were stuck indoors during the pandemic, “The Bad Guys” hit home release at a time when the world was opening back up.

Building new family franchises in the 2020s without a popular icon like Mario or Sonic is a challenge that DreamWorks, along with the rest of Hollywood, is still trying to figure out. But they will need to find an answer soon, because audiences won’t be satisfied with legacyquels and remakes of 2000s and 2010s hits forever.

At the very least, theaters can count on DreamWorks to keep trying.

The post ‘The Bad Guys 2’ Marks a New Era of Franchise Building for DreamWorks appeared first on TheWrap.

On tap for the big screen: Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s “The Bad Guys 2,” Paramount’s revival of the comedy “The Naked Gun,” and Neon’s critically lauded date night film from hell “Together.”

None of these films are projected to take No. 1 from “Fantastic Four,” but “Bad Guys 2” is projected to take the No. 2 spot with an opening weekend in the $20 million range against an $80 million budget. The first “Bad Guys” earned a $23.9 million opening in April 2022 and went on to earn $97 million domestic and $250 million worldwide.

“The Naked Gun” is projected to take third with an opening in the mid-to-high teens. For comparison, Sony’s “One of Them Days,” one of the few other pure comedies in wide release this year, opened to a $14 million four-day start on MLK weekend this past January.

Finally, “Together,” a Sundance film which Neon acquired for $17 million in one of the festival’s biggest deals in history, is projected for a $7-10 million start over its 5-day launch after earning $1.3 million from early access screenings. After stewarding Osgood Perkins’ “Longlegs” to breakout success in 2024, Neon is banking on “Together” being its next big summer indie horror hit.

Hunting for Sleeper Hits

All three films are heading into theaters with strong reviews as they try to attain sleeper hit status in a month that, in recent years, has been threadbare in terms of new releases. The Rotten Tomatoes scores currently stand at 85% for “Bad Guys 2,” 90% for “Naked Gun” and a stunning 97% for “Together.” Though in the case of “Together,” with its ambiguous ending, it might be a movie that wows critics more than audiences, who have given it an early 78% RT score.

Thanks in good part to the box office and awards success of “The Substance,” body horror is having a moment that “Together” could capitalize on. Like with “Longlegs,” Neon has put together an offbeat marketing campaign including an offer for, of all things, free couples therapy for anyone going to see the movie as a pair. How well it builds word-of-mouth will depend on whether moviegoers embrace the film’s cringe-inducing moments where Dave Franco and Alison Brie’s bodies start to fuse together and the pitch-black humor that comes with it, or if the film’s uncertain ending leaves them wanting something more conclusive.

“The Naked Gun,” which carries a reported budget of $42 million, is openly embracing its status as a straight-up comedy at a time when such films are an endangered species theatrically. In a PSA-style ad that has the fingerprints of producer Seth MacFarlane all over it, the film’s star Liam Neeson implores the public to buy a ticket for “Naked Gun” to help save the future of comedy in theaters amidst a montage of classics from the genre like “Anchorman” and “Clueless.”

While there’s a variety of factors that have gone into the decline of theatrical comedy, a big one is that tentpole blockbusters like “Superman” and most of Marvel Studios’ output have been filled with laughs along with big-budget action, making them a replacement for audiences to get their comedic fill. “The Naked Gun” will likely get an opening weekend audience that skews towards the Gen Xers who saw the original 1988 film starring Leslie Nielsen, but its sleeper hit hopes hinge on word-of-mouth among younger audiences who have never seen this brand of absurdly straight, sight gag-heavy comedy.

Lastly there’s “Bad Guys 2,” which is projected for a similar run to its 2022 predecessor even as the demise of Pixar’s “Elio” has left this summer without a breakout animated hit.

DreamWorks has a history of releasing animated films right before or right after kids go back to school, as seen with last September’s “The Wild Robot.” The late summer-early autumn positioning puts a ceiling on its top potential — DreamWorks’ top grossing post-COVID film is “Kung Fu Panda 4” with $549 million in March 2024 — but with an $80 million budget, “Bad Guys 2” could be a decent success for the studio while providing theaters with more of the animated fare they want Hollywood to provide in off-peak release slots.

What about ‘Fantastic Four’?

Amidst all of this, there’s the question of whether “Fantastic Four: First Steps” can hold as well as “Superman” has or if even a well-received, homework-free Marvel film isn’t enough to get lapsed moviegoers to give the MCU another chance.

So far, the midweek numbers for “Fantastic” are not quite as strong as “Superman” but still very good with a $10.4 million Monday and a $14 million Tuesday. The target for “Fantastic Four” is a second weekend total of at least $45 million, which would put its drop from a $117.6 million opening below 60%.

Like “Superman,” “Fantastic Four” is shaping up to be a domestic-driven film with softer numbers overseas, likely keeping its global total ceiling to around $600 million. That makes it more important for the film to keep drawing in moviegoers who haven’t kept up with Marvel lately and who aren’t interested in the lower-budget offerings hitting theaters this weekend.

The post How Will ‘Bad Guys 2’ and ‘Naked Gun’ Fare Against ‘Fantastic Four’ at the Box Office? appeared first on TheWrap.

The latest Marvel film is in lockstep with fellow July superhero film “Superman,” enjoying similarly strong reception with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 88% critics and 93% audience and an A- on CinemaScore. If matinee screenings overperform estimates, “Fantastic Four” could slip past the $125 million domestic opening of “Superman.”

Two months ago, the last Marvel film “Thunderbolts*” didn’t get very far after its solid $74.3 million opening weekend, grossing just $389 million worldwide. With a domestic start that is at least two-thirds higher than that film, “Fantastic Four” probably won’t reach the $1.33 billion heights of last year’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” but will at least join “Superman” in a $600 million-plus global run.

That not only gets Marvel back on the right track but Disney as well. While the parent studio has Hollywood’s sole $1 billion-plus grosser this year with “Lilo & Stitch,” it has also dealt with multiple box office busts like “Snow White” and “Elio” along with the aforementioned “Thunderbolts*.”

“Fantastic Four: First Steps” gets the second half of this year off on the right foot, and will continue with films like “Freakier Friday” and “Tron Ares” before finishing off with “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”

Elsewhere, “Superman” has taken a larger drop in its third weekend thanks in part to “Fantastic Four,” but is still estimated for a decent $24.7 million weekend total with a domestic cume of $289 million and a global cume approaching $500 million.

Universal’s “Jurassic World Rebirth” will hit $300 million domestic in its fifth weekend, earning $13 million for the frame as it approaches $700 million worldwide.

The post ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Soars to $123.5 Million Box Office Opening appeared first on TheWrap.