Spiral wins by default, as Hollywood spends one final weekend in a holding pattern.
It was a very slow weekend, at least in US theaters. Overseas, things were more lively, as F9, the latest entry in The Fast & The Furious series, a franchise that has apparently reached the point they no longer need actual words in the movie's titles, grossed a whopping $135 million in China. American moviegoers will get their chance to see the movie in late June, but this weekend was mostly leftovers.
Leading the way was Spiral, which held on to the top spot mostly because there wasn't anything else that could beat it. It took in $4.6 million for a ten-day total of $15.9 million. This will likely be the lowest-grosser in the Saw franchise, but it's hard to tell if lingering effects of the pandemic are to blame, or that perhaps reviving a series that was played out a decade ago wasn't a smart move. That said, the films are cheap, and Hollywood never lets an IP die these days, so expect another attempt to revive the franchise in a few years or so.
The next six movies look pretty much the same as last weekend. Wrath of Man, starring Fast & Furious vet Jason Statham (who isn't in F9, since he's been spun off into his own side series) took in $3 million for a total of $18.9 million. It's still running ahead of what Nobody was doing at this point in its run. Those Who Wish Me Dead brought in $1.9 million for a ten-day total of $5.6 million. That's not great, but it held up OK, so it could be worse.
Raya and the Last Dragon continues to cater to family audiences with a $1.7 million weekend for a total of $48.3 million. It should pass $50 million sometime in early June. Continuing to lumber closer to the $100 million mark is Godzilla vs. Kong, which took in $1.4 million for a total of $96.9 million.
Demon Slayer the Movie is the last film on the chart to gross over a million this weekend, taking in $1.3 million to run its total up to $44 million. Mortal Kombat slipped to just under $1 million, to bring its total to $41.3 million.
The animated Scoob!, yet another reboot of Scooby Doo, was supposed to hit theaters last May. Instead, it ended up becoming one of the first major studio movies to bypass theatrical entirely, arriving on on-demand PPV on the day it was originally supposed to open in theaters, without even simultaneously playing at the handful of drive-ins that were open. Now, a full year later, the film finally got a theatrical release, taking in $0.9 million. At least it did better than the weekend's other opening, Dream Horse, which was only good for $0.8 million. Rounding out the top ten was low-key romcom Finding You, which grossed $0.7 million for a ten-day total of $1.9 million.
The good news for theaters is that they won't have to worry about scraping by on Dream Horse and Spiral anymore, as every upcoming weekend through the end of August has, as of now, at least one huge movie scheduled. This weekend's offerings are a pair of would-be blockbusters, Disney's live-action 101 Dalmatians prequel Cruella, starring Oscar-winning Emmas Stone and Thompson, the former the young Cruella De Vil, and the latter her Miranda Priestly-on-steroids mentor/nemesis. It will also be available on Disney+, albeit with a $30 upcharge. Exclusively to theaters will be A Quiet Place Part II, with Emily Blunt (who knows a thing or two about dealing with Miranda Priestly) as the now-widowed mother trying to keep her kids safe from the aliens with hypersensitive hearing that have devastated the planet. Both should easily leave everything else out this weekend in the dust, though how big one or both get will go a long way toward easing studios and exhibitioners fears--or reignite them (if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say Quiet Place should be an easy #1, with an opening that should at least rival Godzilla vs. Kong's, while Cruella finishes well back, with an opening somewhere between Tom & Jerry's and Mortal Kombat's). Will moviegoers come rushing back? We'll find out next week.
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