411 Box Office Report: Across The Spider-Verse Reclaims #1, The Flash Crashes In Second Frame

It was a return to the top at the box office for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse this weekend, while The Flash crashed and burned in its sophomore go. Across The Spider-Verse dropped a mere 29% in its fourth weekend to gross $19.3 million, bringing its totals to $317.1 million domestically and $560.3 million worldwide. The film has well eclipsed Into the Spider-Verse’s final totals of $190.2 million domestically and $375.5 million worldwide and is easily a hit against a $100 million budget, with a final domestic gross looking at around $370 million or so.

Meanwhile, Elemental somewhat made up for its rough start with a strong hold in its second weekend. The Pixar film brought in $18.5 million, a drop of just 39% from last weekend’s numbers. That hold is the sixth-best for a Pixar film and the best since 2009’s Up dropped just 35% in its sophomore frame.

That said, the problem with Elemental is that it started so low to begin with. Even with that hold, the film has now grossed $65.5 million domestically and $121.1 million worldwide, and with a $200 million budget it’s not going to be profitable for the studio. What Disney and Pixar are hoping to do is minimize losses at this point and with a likely $100 million stateside final, it will need overseas numbers to pick up significantly in order to avoid being an outright disaster.

But at least Elemental has a chance to minimize its losses. You can’t say the same for The Flash, which cratered in its second weekend to bring in just $15.3 million. That is a brutal drop of 72% from its already-low $55 million opening weekend. The second weekend fall is the worst of any DCEU film, edging out The Suicide Suad’s 71% drop – and that one was driven by its day-and-date release on HBO Max. By comparison, even the much-hated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had a lower drop (69%), as did this year’s bomb Shazam! Fury of the Gods (also 69%).

There’s no good news left for The Flash, which like Elemental carries a $200 million price tag plus hefty marketing costs. The movie has now grossed $87.6 million domestically and $210.9 million worldwide and may not even top $130 million in the US. With the overseas numbers dropping quickly (down 59% from last weekend), this essentially ends the DCEU on a big write-down for WBD.

Coming in at #4 this weekend was No Hard Feelings, which overperformed slightly. The R-rated Jennifer Lawrence-led comedy grossed $15 million, ahead of projections coming into the weekend that had it around $12 million. It’s a solid start for a number of reasons and reps a rare (albeit very qualified) success for theatrical comedies, a genre that has struggled at the box office.

There were a fair amount of question marks around No Hard Feelings coming into the frame. Lawrence is the film’s primary star, and she’s been out of the spotlight since she took a break from acting a few years ago. In addition, the only thing harder to sell at the box office than comedy is R-rated comedies targeted toward a female demographic. In this case, audiences were interested enough to come out and see, and the reaction has been fairly positive. While critics were only mildly positive at a 66% RT aggregated score, audiences liked it more with an 88% audience rating.

The positive audience word of mouth showed throughout the weekend, as Feelings showed very solid holds for a new release. While selling these kinds of films can be hard, when they do hit they tend to have long runs. (Case in point: Bad Moms, which almost quintupled its $23.6 million start in 2016.) No Hard Feelings will need that as it had a $45 million budget, but with an additional $9.5 million overseas for a $24.6 million worldwide opening it’s off to a good start. Domestically it should be able to make it to $45 million or so and perhaps more.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts relaxed a bit as hit slightly stabilized after last week’s hefty drop. The action blockbuster took in $11.6 million in its third weekend, down 44% from the previous weekend. The seventh film in the main franchise is still not looking like a hit with $122.9 million domestically and $341.2 million worldwide. The overseas numbers are the concerning ones, as that’s where this series has always made its profit. The $195 million budget is an issue and with an expected $145 million domestic total, it needs those overseas numbers to hold on very well.

As mentioned last week, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City got off to a very good start in just four theaters and it expanded to more good news this week. The quirky sci-fi romcom went wide to 1,675 theaters and took in $9 million, the best weekend ever for one of Anderson’s movies. That puts the movie at $10.2 million domestically and $16.7 million worldwide.

Those numbers leave the film a very good position against its $25 million gross. Anderson’s films tend to have very good holds, though they also tend to platform up more gradually than this star-heavy entry did. Still, word of mouth is improving (the RT audience rating has risen from last weekend’s 52% to 62% this weekend) and it should be able to top $40 million by the end of its domestic run.

The Little Mermaid is pushing its way to breakeven, as it was down a mere 22% in its fifth weekend at $8.7 million. The live-action take on the animated classic is now up to $270.2 million domestically and $499.3 million worldwide, doing fine if not great. The film is looking like it will get close to $300 million domestically at this point, and international numbers continue to hold up well enough that it should break even at least against its $250 million budget.

Guardians Of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was down just 33% in its seventh weekend to gross $3.5 million. The MCU film has now grossed $351.1 million domestically and $826.1 million worldwide, staying on course for $360 million-plus domestically. The budget was $250 million.

The Blackening had an okay hold as it was down 50% in its second weekend with $3 million. Lionsgate’s horror comedy has been holding well throughout the week and now has $12.3 million domestically, good numbers against a budget of just $5 million. The flick is looking like it will be able to get close to $20 million in the US and even with little coming in internationally, it’s a money maker for the studio.

The Boogeyman is also looking like it will bring in a profit, as it eased 30% in its fourth weekend to $2.5 million. The Stephen King-adaptation has now grossed $37.7 million domestically and $56.3 million worldwide, with an expected final gross around $45 million. It should make back $35 million budget once all the numbers are in.

We will get a new #1 next weekend as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny arrives. The fifth film in the franchise is looking at around $70 million or so for the three-day weekend. Animated film Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is looking at around $13 million to $15 million.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – $19.3 million ($317.1 million total, $560.3 million WW)
2. Elemental – $29.5 million ($18.5 million total, $121.1 million WW)
3. The Flash – $15.3 million ($87.6 million total, $210.9 million WW)
4. No Hard Feelings – $15.1 million ($15.1 million total, $24.6 million WW)
5. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts – $11.6 million ($122.9 million total, $341.2 million WW)
6. Asteroid City – $9 million ($10.2 total, $17 million WW)
7. The Little Mermaid – $8.7 million ($270.2 million total, $499.3 million WW)
8. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – $3.5 million ($351.1 million total, $826.1 million WW)
9. The Blackening – $3 million ($12.3 million total, $12.3 million WW)
10. The Boogeyman – $2.5 million ($37.7 million total, $56.3 million WW)