411 Box Office Report: Mickey 17 Tops Weekend With Soft $19 Million, Captain America: Brave New World Down To #2

Mickey 17 ended Captain America: Brave New World’s box office reign, taking the top spot with a moderate start. Bong Joon-ho’s satirical sci-fi comedy brought in $19.1 million in its opening weekend to claim #1. That’s not the most encouraging start for an expensive film, but it’s par for the course (or better) for big-budget original science fiction films. By comparison, other recent original sci-fi “event” films included The Creator ($14.1 million opening) and 65 ($12.3 million opening) in 2023, Moonfall ($9.7 million) in 2022, Chaos Walking ($3.8 million) in 2021, and Ad Astra ($19 million) in 2019.

The point is, Warner Bros. Pictures knew that they had a challenge in getting this film out to audiences, especially since it’s a big swing in an expensive budgeted black comedy. Bong and star Robert Pattinson are both coming off highs; the director for the Oscar-winning Parasite and Pattinson for The Batman in 2022. And while those factors helped, look just above to note that even Brad Pitt has trouble opening expensive high-concept space stories. Not every film is going to be a Gravity, and the point is that Warner Bros. was prepared to take its chances here.

Mickey 17 came into the weekend with a decent amount of critical buzz; Rotten Tomatoes aggregates the critics’ sentiment toward the film at 79% positive. Word of mouth is solid but not spectacular at a 79% RT audience rating and a B CinemaScore. That added up to a solid but still underwhelming opening weekend for the film, which is now fighting against a $118 million budget plus marketing costs.

The bottom line here is that the film is not going to be profitable in theaters. It should leg out better than Ad Astra, which did not have good word of mouth from audiences, but $60 million is likely to be somewhere around its upper limit unless the film proves to have unexpectedly strong legs. It has added an okay $34.2 million internationally and still has some smaller markets to open in, but it won’t be enough to get it into the black.

Captain America: Brave New World had a better than expected fourth weekend as it rung up $8.5 million. That’s down a solid 43% from last weekend’s frame despite losing a number of its IMAX screens to Mickey 17. The film now has $176.6 million domestically and $370.8 million worldwide against an $180 million budget and is continuing to track on a comparable course to Thor: Love & Thunder, albeit with a much lower opening weekend of course. That keeps it on track for close to $200 million and just on the right side of profitable for the studio.

The Last Breath took an expected 47% fall in its second weekend, bringing in $4.2 million. The survival thriller brought its totals to $14.7 million domestically and $14.9 million worldwide with several international markets yet to go. It’s looking likely to finish out in the $22 million range stateside against a $23 million budget, with its path to profit ultimately winding through premium VOD and streaming.

The Monkey continued its solid holds as it was down 39% in its third weekend at $3.9 million. The Osgood Perkins horror film has grossed $31 million domestically and $39.7 million worldwide against an $11 million budget, making it a profitable venture for NEON. It should finish out its US run around $37 million or so.

Paddington In Peru was off a mere 15% in its fourth weekend, adding $3.9 million to its coffers. The threequel has been benefiting from a lack of new competition for families and now has $37 million domestically with $175.8 million worldwide, a likely profit for Sony against a $75 million budget. It looks assured to top Paddington 2’s $41 domestic total.

Dog Man had the same benefit as Paddington In Peru and thus eased 18%. The DreamWorks Animation film scored $3.5 million in its sixth weekend and has a total of $88.8 million stateside with $119.9 million worldwide against a $40 million budget for a comfortable profit. It should end up with around $95 million in the US.

Anora jumped back into the top 10 as NEON threw it back into semi-wide release following its Oscar wins. The Best Picture winner grossed $1.9 million, up 595% from last weekend, and pushed its tally to $18.4 million in the US and $46.2 million against a $6 million budget.

Mufasa: The Lion King again had the best hold in the top 10 as it slipped just 14% in its 12th weekend to $1.7 million. The Disney sequel now has $250.5 million domestically and $708.8 million worldwide against a $200 million budget. It should finish out at around $255 million.

Coming in very quietly at #9 was Angel Studios’ Rule Breakers. The studios’ latest faith-based film scored their lowest wide-release opening yet at $1.6 million despite solid reviews (a 79% RT critic aggregate) and positive sentiment from those who saw it (a 97% RT audience rating and an A CinemaScore). As usual, we don’t have a budget for this one but it’s probably going to finish out around $5 million in the US.

Paul W.S. Anderson’s latest film In the Lost Lands opened with barely a whimper to close out the top 10. The fantasy adaptation, which is based on the George R.R. Martin short story of the same name, was released through Vertical Entertainment and was barely promoted, resulting in just $1 million domestically and $1.1 million worldwide to start. The film’s critical reaction (17% on RT) and low audience satisfaction (46% RT rating) certainly didn’t help either. No word on the budget but Vertical is almost certainly expecting to find any potential money for it on home viewing. It will be out of the top 10 in short order.

Next weekend will see a battle for #1 between Mickey 17 and new arrival Novocaine, with the action comedy expected to open with around $10 million. The espionage thriller Black Bag will battle with horror film Opus, both targeting a mid-single digit start, while The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie and The Last Supper are both looking at low single digit openings.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Mickey 17 – $19.1 million ($19.1 million total, $53.5 million WW)
2. Captain America: Brave New World – $8.5 million ($176.6 million total, $370.8 million WW)
3. The Last Breath – $4.2 million ($14.7 million total, $14.9 million WW)
4. The Monkey – $3.9 million ($31 million total, $39.7 million WW)
5. Paddington In Peru – $3.9 million ($37 million total, $175.8 million WW)
6. Dog Man – $3.5 million ($88.8 million total, $119.9 million WW)
7. Anora – $1.9 million ($18.4 million total, $46.2 million WW)
8. Mufasa: The Lion King – $1.7 million ($250.5 million total, $708.8 million WW)
9. Rule Breakers – $1.6 million ($1.6 million total, $1.6 million WW)
10. In The Lost Lands – $1 million ($1 million total, $1.1 million WW)