411 Box Office Report: Spiral Holds at #1, F9 Dominates Overseas

This weekend’s box office looked pretty similar domestically with Spiral topping the charts, while F9 roared overseas. Spiral topped the domestic charts with for a second weekend with $4.6 million, down 48% from last weekend’s $8.7 million start. That’s a decent hold for a horror film and particularly for the Saw franchise, which hasn’t seen a film hold better than 60% since Saw III dropped “only” 56% all the way back in 2006. In fact, Spiral marks the third-best hold for the franchise, behind only Saw’s 39% second-weekend drop and Saw II’s 47% slip.

Of course, there are caveats there. Most notable is the fact that Spiral, opening in the pandemic era, had the lowest opening weekend for the franchise. It’s still encouraging news though, especially considering the last entry Jigsaw had far from a powerhouse start at $16.6 million in 2017 and then fell 61% to $6.6 million. Spiral now has $15.8 million domestically and $19.1 million worldwide. It has the honor of pushing the horror franchise over the $1 billion worldwide mark, and while it still has a ways to go to hit profit against its $20 million budget, it should be able to make a bit of money for Lionsgate. A $25 million domestic start is still within reach, though it will face stiff competition next weekend.

The bigger news, however, is F9. The latest entry in the Fast & Furious franchise opened to a massive $162.4 million overseas, repping the biggest international opening for a Hollywood film since the pandemic began. It’s also the second-best opening for a Fast film in China, grossing $135.6 million there which was behind only Fate of the Furious’ $191.3 million. It is also the first Hollywood film to open at over $100 million in China since Avengers: Endgame in April of 2019.

Normally, a Hollywood film the size of F9 would never open so wide overseas before its domestic take. Studios are still deeply concerned about piracy and that has led them to typically make sure that films release domestically at the same time or earlier than overseas. The fact that this film is opening overseas five weeks before its June 25th US bow is particularly stunning. But Universal saw this as a way to boost recovery for theaters, and could also claim its stake early on an international footprint that is currently relatively Hollywood-free. It clearly paid off. The budget for the action film is $200 million, a number which will be easily surpassed by the time the film opens domestically.

Jason Statham’s action-thriller Wrath of Man also held on, steady in its third weekend at #2 with $2.9 million. That is an impressive 21% drop, indicating that this film could have some more legs than its 55% second weekend slip suggested. The Guy Ritchie film is now at $18.8 million domestically and a very good $60 million worldwide. It should be able to close out its run domestically at $25 million or so. Still no word on the budget, but this should be a success for United Artists.

Warner Bros held onto #3 as Those Who Wish Me Dead was down a decent 35% to $1.8 million in its second weekend. The action-thriller headed by Angelina Jolie is now up to $5.5 million domestically and $13 million worldwide, in addition to whatever profit is being considered as part of its HBO Max day-and-date release. The film still has a shot at $10 million domestically. No word on its budget, though it doesn’t seem likely to be a profit in theaters for the studio.

Raya and the Last Dragon has continued to show major box office legs, down a mere 2% in its twelth weekend with $1.7 million. The Disney animated film is up to $48.3 million domestically and $109.2 million worldwide, in addition to whatever it brought in via its @29.99 Disney+ Premier Access pricing. The film is now looking to end its theatrical run around $55 million and will be profitable when when all the balance sheets are counted up against its $100 million production budget.

Godzilla vs. Kong also held very well, down just 6% in its eighth weekend to bring in $1.4 million. The MonsterVerse action blockbuster now stands at $96.9 million domestically and $432.3 million worldwide. it’s a big hit for Warner Bros. and Legendary and will end its run over $100 million domestically. The budget was $155 million.

Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train was down just 32% in its fifth weekend with $1.3 million, bringing its totals to $44.9 million domestically and $478.3 million worldwide. The film is obviously a big hit for Funimation and now stands as the second highest-grossing anime film of all-time domestically.

Mortal Kombat was down 29% in its fifth weekend with $935,000. The video game adaptation has grossed $41.2 million domestically and $79.7 million worldwide so far against a $55 million budget. It will be a profitable film due to its HBO Max simultaneous release; the end domestic gross should be around $45 million.

Opening in #8 as a strange sort of pandemic artifact is Scoob!. The Warner Bros. animated film was released in theaters a year after it arrived on HBO Max, where it premiered due to the theatrical shutdown. No one expects big things for this domestic run for obvious reasons, but there’s also no harm in throwing it in theaters to recoup a little extra money. The film grossed $22 million overseas during its 2020 run. The budget was a spendy $90 million, so it’s not exactly becoming a hit with this release.

Opening in at #9 was the drama Dream Horse, starring Toni Collette and Damien Lewis. The equestrian racing tale brought in $844,200 which isn’t bad considering this film was not well-marketed and isn’t exactly something that screams “must see it in theaters.” It was bouyed by strong reviews, sitting at a 91% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes, and to no surprise it drew a older female crowd to see it. No word on what the Bleecker Street production cost, but it is unlikely to top $5 million domestically and American horse racing films don’t tend to have big overseas business.

Romantic drama Finding You was down 27% in its second weekend with $670,000. That’s a solid hold, though the low initial opening weekend definitely makes it seem better than it is. The film is up to $1.9 million domestically and may be able to hit $3.5 million or so, but won’t get higher than that.

Next weekend sees new life as Memorial Day arrives, with two big films in A Quiet Place: Part II and Cruella. The horror sequel has the edge between these two, in part because Cruella will be released day-and-date on Disney+ through Premier Access which is a popular family choice.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Spiral – $4.6 million ($15.8 million total)
2. Wrath of Man – $2.9 million ($18.8 million total)
3. Those Who Wish Me Dead – $1.8 million ($5.5 million total)
4. Raya & The Last Dragon – $1.7 million ($48.3 million total)
5. Godzilla vs. Kong – $1.4 million ($96.9 million total)
6. Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train – $1.3 million ($44.9 million total)
7. Mortal Kombat – $935,000 ($41.2 million total)
8. Scoob! – $850,000 ($850,000 total)
9. Dream Horse – $844,200 ($844,200 total)
10. Finding You – $670,000 ($1.9 million total)