Bob Marley: One Love holds off a vigorous challenge from the latest Demon Slayer episode compilation, while Ordinary Angels and Drive Away Dolls falter out of the gate.
After a strong performance on Valentine's Day and a solid opening weekend, Bob Marley: One Love fell back to earth a bit, though it was still able to hold onto the top spot. The biopic of the reggae singer, who died of cancer in 1981 at only 36, held onto the top spot with $13.5 million. However, that represents a 53% decline from the previous weekend, a poor hold for an adult drama. The film's 12-day total is $71.2 million, so it still seems like it is on track to hit $100 million by the end of its run. However, it will need to stabilize its weekly grosses fairly quickly to ensure it doesn't fall off the pace. One bright spot, however, is that by now it has almost certainly passed Mean Girls to take over the spot of the #1 movie of 2024.
Arguably the most popular anime series in the world right now is Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, a gory action show about a teenage boy who, well, slays demons while also trying to find a cure for his sister, who is turning into a demon herself after being bitten by one. Its immense popularity was confirmed three years ago when the feature film Demon Slayer: Mugen Train grossed $453.2 million worldwide, including $49.5 million in North America, making it the highest-grossing non-Pokémon anime in American history. Last year, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba--To the Swordsmith Village, a compilation of the final two episodes of Season 2 and the first episode of the then-upcoming Season 3, took in $10.1 million in what was essentially free money in its first weekend. Crunchyroll unfortunately didn't report grosses after the first three days, but clearly they were pleased with the results because this weekend saw the arrival of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba--To the Hashira Training, which compiled the last two episodes of Season 3 with the first from the upcoming Season 4. Enough Demon Slayer fans turned out that the collection of episodes topped the Friday box office, but like many anime titles, it faded through the weekend allowing Bob Marley to take the top spot. Still, it managed to outdo Swordsmith Village, taking in $11.5 million over the weekend. We'll see if Crunchyroll reports second weekend grosses this time, but as noted, anime tends to be extremely front-loaded, so the second weekend will likely have a significant drop.
One of the secrets Christian movie producers have learned over the years is to cast a well-known mainstream actor or actress in their film and lean heavily on their presence while selling the film. Sometimes it works, like last year, when Jesus Revolution, starring the then-once and future Frasier Kelsey Grammer, grossed $52.1 million. Sometimes it doesn't, such as this year, when two-time Oscar winner Hillary Swank couldn't get many people interested in Ordinary Angels. Based, as so many of these types of films are, on a true story, Swank plays a hairdresser who, after a snowstorm threatens the life of a young girl who needs a liver transplant, rallies her small town to get her to the hospital in time. The film only took in $6.2 million, and might not make it to $20 million.
Madame Web continues to get tangled up as it fell 61% in its second weekend to $5.9 million and can only report a 12-day gross of $35.4 million. It seems unlikely to hit $50 million, which, not counting the pandemic-crippled The New Mutants, would make it the first Marvel movie to fail to hit that number since Kick-Ass 2, and the first one not rated R since Elektra in 2005.
Migration continues to flap along, taking in $2.9 million for $120.3 million. At this point, it just needs another $4 million to not only make ten times its opening weekend, but also move past Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom to become the highest grossing movie released on December 22 last year.
Argylle continues its fast fade, slipping to $2.5 million, for a total of $41.6 million.
This coming weekend, Timothée Chalamet will likely have the distinction of being the lead in two movies in the Top 10, as Wonka should continue to hang around for at least a couple more weeks. The film took in $2.5 million for a total of $214.5 million. One would think that Hollywood executives would take note of the combined $334.8 million gross of Migration and Wonka--with $148.3 million of that coming after New Year's--and think that perhaps a new family film in the January-February window might have done some business. Then again, they saw the post-New Year's grosses of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish last year and Sing 2 two years ago and still didn't schedule any family movies (other than warmed-over Pixar films) for this time period. After Kung Fu Panda 4 opens in two weeks, there isn't another family movie out until If and Garfield in May, so don't be surprised if Panda also racks up weeks and weeks of strong earnings.
After nearly 40 years and 18 movies together, Joel and Ethan Coen decided to try working solo for a while. Joel's first feature, The Tragedy of Macbeth, quickly went from one of 2021's most hotly anticipated movies to one of its biggest disappointments as soon as people started seeing it, though Denzel Washington did snag an Oscar nomination for playing the title character. However, Macbeth got critical hosannas compared to Ethan's first narrative solo act, Drive-Away Dolls. The road trip comedy, starring Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan as two lesbians whose plans go awry when they inevitably end up with a package wanted by the mob, opened to largely dismissive reviews and meager box office. It drove away with only $2.4 million, or over a million less than Lisa Frankenstein took in two weeks ago during its disastrous opening weekend. Except Dolls to drive away quickly with less than $10 million in tow.
The Beekeeper is wrapping up its long run, making another $2 million for a total of $63.1 million. It should finish somewhere between $65 and $70 million.
The second compilation of TV show episodes in the Top 10 this weekend, The Chosen Season 4 Episodes 4-6 brought in $1.9 million for a eleven-day total of $7.9 million, over $4 million less than what the first three episodes made during their run.
Outside the Top Ten, the lightly-promoted Land of Bad lost nearly half its business, taking in just under $1 million for a ten-day total of $3.6 million.
The Chosen will be out this weekend with the last two episodes of Season 4, replacing episodes 4-6. But that's going to be a sideshow compared to the first mega-blockbuster of 2024. In October 2021, Dune opened to a somewhat disappointing $41 million on its way to $108.3 million final. That said, there were a number of factors impacting its box office, including being caught up in Warner's dumb decision to release their entire 2021 slate of movies day and date on then then HBO Max. 2 1/2 years later, there's almost no real competition in theaters, the Max day-and-date releases are long over, and the reviews for Denis Villeneuve's follow-up have been rapturous. That Dune: Part Two, once again starring Timothée Chalamet, will be the biggest opening of 2024 so far is a done deal. The question is just how big could it be? $70 million seems to be the number most often batted around, but it could go as high as $80 or even $90 million, and has an outside chance of being one of the very rare films that outgrosses its predecessor in its opening weekend. It likely won't go that high, but it's not out of the question. How short-lived will Bob Marley: One Love's time as the biggest grosser of 2024 be? We'll find out next week.
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