411 Box Office Report: Deadpool & Wolverine Returns To #1 As The Crow Bombs

Deadpool & Wolverine returned to the top of the box office as the new releases opened mildly at best this weekend. The MCU sequel scored $18.3 million in its fifth frame, down just 39% from last weekend’s numbers to return to the top spot for the fourth non-consecutive week.

The team-up movie is now up to $577.2 million domestically and $1.211 billion worldwide, huge numbers against its $200 million budget. As it stands, it is the sixth-highest grossing MCU film domestically behind The Avengers ($623.4 million) and eighth-highest worldwide, just a tiny bit behind Iron Man 3 $1.215 billion). It is on course to finish above $600 million with ease, and perhaps higher.

Alien: Romulus took an expected fall, down 61% from its opening weekend to $16.2 million. This was right in line with where people expected it to land. While that fall looks hefty, it’s right on par with the franchise’s history, about on par with Prometheus (59%) and Alien Resurrection (60%) and better than the holds of Alien: Covenant (71%), Alien vs. Predator (68%) and Alien 3 (64%).

As it currently stands, Romulus is a hit for Twentieth Century Studios at $72.6 million domestically and $225.4 million against a $90 million budget. It’s still looking well on course to cross $100 million domestically and will likely set the stage for another entry in the franchise.

It Ends With Us continues its great run, as it slipped 50% in its third weekend to $11.9 million. The romantic drama is a massive money maker for Sony Pictures with $120.8 million domestically and $242.6 million worldwide against a budget of just $25 million. It’s now the highest-grossing film of Blake Lively’s career, having topped Green Lantern which she had a supporting role in and grossed $116.6 million domestically and $219.5 million worldwide. It Ends With Us should finish off with around $150 million.

The first of the new releases was Blink Twice, which $7.3 million. That’s about where the Zoe Kravitz-directed thriller was expected to land. It’s Channing Tatum’s third film at the box office this summer behind Apple’s bomb Fly Me To the Moon ($20.4 million domestically and $38.2 million worldwide) and his cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine), and this is the lowest opening of the three.

It must be said, however, that Blink Twice is by far the cheapest Tatum movie this summer, with a budget of $20 million. The film, which sees Tatum playing a tech billionaire who hosts a suspicious party on his private island, scored solid reviews with a 78% aggregated Rotten Tomatoes critic score although audiences are milder on it at a B- CinemaScore and 69% RT audience rating. Those audience numbers don’t bode greatly for the film’s legs. It has added $6.7 million overseas for a $14 million worldwide total and will need to perform better to be profitable in theaters. A $20 million domestic total seems to be its upside.

Sony Pictures’ The Forge opened at #5 with $6.6 million, again hitting about where it was expected to. The drama opened right between fellow 2024 releases Unsung Hero ($7.7 million in May) and Ordinary Angels ($6.2 million in February), a perfectly fine result for a low-profile faith-based drama.

The Forge didn’t get much promotion and has only a smattering of reviews, though they are largely good at 80% positive on RT. Like many films of its genre, the movie is scoring with its target demo and has a 100% audience rating on RT as well as an A+ CinemaScore. It should make it to about $20 million stateside, a very good result against a $5 million budget with targeted marketing.

Twisters was off 38% in its sixth weekend to bring in $6.2 million. The disaster film sequel is now up to $248.7 million domestically and $347.4 million worldwide, a hit for Universal against a $155 million budget with digital revenue already coming in. It’s on course for $260 million domestically.

Following its strong re-release last weekend, Coraline continued the trend with a second week at $5 million, down 49%. The 2009 stop-motion animated film now has an all-time total of $106.9 million domestically and $157.7 million worldwide, marking a very strong return to theaters.

The weekend’s most high-profile new release was DOA in The Crow. The Rupert Sanders-directed remake of the supernatural action-thriller garnered a mere $4.6 million for Lionsgate, below even the mediocre high single digit expectations. It’s better than the $1.6 million start of star Bill Skarsgard’s Boy Kills World in April, but that film was a niche property with less marketing and was in 800 less theaters.

Frankly, this wasn’t something that was unexpected. Buzz around The Crow has been bad since the moment it was announced, and even before that point. The film has been in development for over 15 years and went through a revolving door of talent. Marketing for the film was almost universally received poorly, and the film itself went over even worse at a 20% RT critic aggregate. That’s not quite Borderlands bad, but it’s not far off. And the audience scores are mediocre at a B- CinemaScore and 66%.

A lot of those numbers ring similar to Blink Twice, so why is it so much worse for The Crow? Short version: budget and marketing. Whereas Blink Twice cost $20 million and had a light marketing campaign, The Crow cost $50 million and Lionsgate put their promotional machine behind it. There’s no good news here for this film, which will likely finish out at a fair sight less than $15 million domestically and lose lots of money.

Despicable Me 4 was down just 30% in its seventh weekend to bring in $4.4 million. The animated sequel has now grossed $348.3 million domestically and $885.4 million worldwide to date, impressive numbers against a $100 million budget. The film is now looking at around $355 million or more by the end of its stateside run.

Inside Out 2 closed out the top 10 with $2.1 million, down 39% in its eleventh weekend. The Pixar sequel is nearing the end of its theatrical run with $646.3 million domestically and $1.649 billion worldwide, of course a megahit. It should finish off with $650 million stateside. The budget was $200 million.

Next weekend will see Deadpool & Wolverine continue its battle with Alien Romulus for #1 as Sony’s AI-themed sci-fi horror flick AfrAId takes aim at a mid-single digit opening.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Deadpool & Wolverine – $18.3 million ($577.2 million total, $1.211 billion WW)
2. Alien: Romulus – $16.2 million ($72.6 million domestically, $225.4 million WW)
3. It Ends With Us – $11.9 million ($120.8 million total, $242.6 million WW)
4. Blink Twice – $7.3 million ($7.3 million total, $14 million WW)
5. The Forge – $6.6 million ($6.6 million total, $6.6 million WW)
6. Twisters – $6.2 million ($248.7 million total, $347.4 million WW)
7. Coraline (Re-release) – $5 million ($106.9 million total, $157.7 million WW)
8. The Crow – $4.6 million ($4.6 million total, $4.6 million WW)
9. Despicable Me 4 – $4.4 million ($348.3 million total, $885.4 million WW)
10. Inside Out 2 – $2.1 million ($646.3 million total, $1.649 billion WW)