Box Office Discussion: Grapes of "Wrath"

 Jason Statham's latest exceeds expectations, while Billy Crystal's might be gone tomorrow.

Jason Statham built his career by starring in a series of violent, gritty action flicks, usually where he was the main attraction.  As the box office for those efforts started to decline, he left them behind to join the ever-increasing cast of the Fast and the Furious movies and to battle a giant ancient shark in a PG-13 movie.  Wrath of Man, a violent gritty action flick where he's the main attraction, and where he's working with director Guy Ritchie for the first time since 2005's barely seen Revolver, is a return to his bread and butter.  Based on the weekend results, his time spent racing around the world has paid off, as the film opens better than every other one of his gritty action flicks over the last decade, all of which were released when the country wasn't in the late stages of a global pandemic.  Wrath's $8.3 million opening is his best for a solo vehicle since The Mechanic in 2011.  There is likely a ceiling to the film--The Mechanic also has the best overall gross, and it topped out at just under $30 million--but its likely that any final gross over $20 million will be seen as a success, and short of an epic collapse, that shouldn't be an issue.  

Wrath's strong opening undoubtedly hurt the next two movies, both of which were largely competing for the same audience.  Last week's champ, Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train slipped to second with $3.1 million.  It's still a stunning success, however, as its gross now stands at $37.2 million, and is looking to finish between $45 and $50 million.

Not so impressive in third is Mortal Kombat, which earned $2.1 million for a total gross of $37.9 million.  This film's fast fade is not unexpected, but probably disappointing to Warner's, which was hoping to start a new franchise, and instead will have a film that will finish well below the 1995 version (and just barely outgross the 1997 sequel).  The film is doing decent business overseas, and a follow-up still seems likely, but like the 90s franchise, this one might not make it to movie #3 unless Mortal Kombat 2 outperforms this one.

Godzilla vs. Kong continues to creep toward $100 million, taking in another $2 million for a total of $93 million.  It's still likely to get there, but there's an outside chance that it might cross that mark after one of the films opening in late May or early June, like Cruella or Quiet Place 2, gets there.

Raya and the Last Dragon stayed steady from last week in 5th, and actually jumped from its gross last week to $1.9 million.  Its gross stands at $43.9 million.  Horror film Separation held up decently for a film of that genre, grossing $1.1 million for a ten-day total of $3.4 million

Opening in 7th was the comedy-drama Here Today, bringing Billy Crystal back to multiplexes for the first time since Monsters University in 2013 (and the first time in a live action movie since Parental Guidance in 2012).  He didn't need to bother.  Even co-starring Tiffany Haddish, Here Today opened to only $1 million, and is likely to finish below the gross of his 90s megaflop My Giant, today remembered only as a punchline on Friends.

Rounding out the Top 10 are three solid spring hits on their way out to make room for incoming summer films.  Nobody, The Unholy, and Tom and Jerry look to be leaving the Top 10 with grosses of $24.6 million, $14.2 million, and $44.8 million, respectively.  

This weekend is looking to be the most crowded opening weekend since the pandemic began, with no less than five new films going wide, two of which will be competing with Wrath of Man for #1.  Likely to top the chart is Spiral, a sequel/spin-off of the long-running Saw series.  The franchise gets a big upgrade in the bankability of its stars, as Chris Rock plays the lead detective trying to track down a new serial killer operating his or her own twisted game, with Samuel L. Jackson as his father.  Jigsaw, the last attempt to revive the franchise, crashed and burned during Halloween 2017, but this one should at least open well.  Also hoping for the top spot is Those Who Wish Me Dead, starring Angelina Jolie as a smoke jumper who has to protect a young boy from killers who have set the forest on fire.  It will probably be at a disadvantage since it is also available on HBO Max this weekend, as opposed to the theater-exclusive Spiral, but should still do good business.  Also opening this weekend is Profile, a thriller about a young female journalist who infiltrates a ISIS group, only to get sucked in, which is told entirely via computer screen (it's actually three years old, having made the festival rounds back in 2018), and Finding You, a drama about the romance between two college-aged kids, one of whom happens to be a movie star.  Vanessa Redgrave is the big name in this one, though she's not playing either of the kids.  Finally, Army of the Dead, Zack Snyder's latest starring Dave Bautista as a mercenary leading a team to rob a Vegas casino during a zombie apocalypse, could earn some business, but as its a Netflix release, we'll never know for sure.  Will Spiral saw its way to the top, or can Wrath hold on?  We'll find out next week.