This weekend, the domestic box office faced a steep decline compared to the same period last year when “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” drove total earnings to over $200 million. With no major new releases to offset the previous underperformance of “The Garfield Movie” and “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” this weekend’s box office is expected to barely surpass $70 million.
Sony’s animated feature “The Garfield Movie” topped the rankings for its second weekend, outperforming Warner Bros.’ high-budget epic directed by George Miller. This was a reversal from the previous weekend, where “The Garfield Movie” grossed $14 million compared to “Furiosa’s” $10.7 million, allowing Garfield to surpass the action film in total domestic revenue. “The Garfield Movie” has now grossed over $51 million domestically, while “Furiosa” has earned just under $50 million in its first 10 days. The disappointing performance of “Furiosa” sent shockwaves through the industry, given its nearly $170 million budget and largely positive reviews. Conversely, “The Garfield Movie” overcame poor critical reception to recover its modest $60 million budget.
On a positive note, both films (particularly Garfield) had decent second-weekend holds, but it’s clear “Furiosa” won’t stage a significant comeback. “The Garfield Movie” is likely to continue attracting younger audiences until Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” debuts in a few weeks. However, “Furiosa” stands little chance of matching the $153 million domestic haul of its predecessor, “Mad Max: Fury Road.” With $370 million worldwide against a reported budget of around $180 million, “Fury Road” was not a huge financial success either.
Domestic Box Office Faces Tough Summer
A bright spot came from writer-director John Krasinski’s PG-rated family film “IF,” which had a strong third-weekend hold of 32%, generating just under $11 million and overtaking “Furiosa” for the number two spot. This brings the film’s domestic total to an estimated $80 million, with expectations to surpass $100 million by the end of its run. “IF” opened to modest numbers but has held well in subsequent weeks.
The summer’s only blockbuster so far, 20th Century Studios’ “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” continued to perform well in its fourth week. The action film grossed an estimated $9 million this weekend, pushing its domestic total to $140 million. It is poised to surpass the $146 million domestic lifetime gross of its predecessor, “War for the Planet of the Apes.” The top five was rounded out by Crunchyroll’s latest anime release, “Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle,” which grossed an estimated $3.5 million. Outside the top five, IFC’s horror film “In a Violent Nature” made a notable debut, grossing over $2 million this weekend.
Overall, the summer box office has struggled, with a few exceptions, indicating a tough season ahead unless more significant hits emerge.
