411 Box Office Report: The Lost City Takes Top Spot From The Batman

After three weeks atop the box office, The Batman ceded way for a new champion in Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum’s The Lost City this weekend. The romantic comedy action-adventure film overperformed at the box office in its first frame with $31 million. That marks a triumphant return to theaters for Bullock, whose last theatrical release was 2018’s hit Ocean’s 8, and marks another successful film for Channing Tatum following up Dog.

The Lost City nailed down a fine result regardless of context. The film came into the weekend with expectations that averaged around $20 million to $25 million. One of the biggest question marks coming into the weekend was whether it could bring in the female audience it would likely need to be a hit. The 35+ female demographic has been more careful about returning to theaters than other demos, but this one brought them out in stronger force (the audience was 61% female and 50% over 35). That combined with positive overall reviews (the Rotten Tomatoes aggregate score is 76%) helped deliver strong results for the film. You can check out our own Jeffrey Harris’ review here.

It also helps that word of mouth was fairly good for the movie, which logged a CinemaScore of B+ (good for a romcom) and a RT audience score of 85%. Those helped the movie get a bounce from Friday to Saturday and a pretty decent hold for Sunday. It also puts the film in a position for some pretty solid legs, as there is no direct comedy competition coming for a while. It should be noted that the film has a spendy budget, costing $74 million, so it will need those legs to hit a profit. But its off to a strong start overseas with $3.7 million in only 16 smaller markets and will expand to other markets throughout the next month. Domestically, it should be able to hit at least $100 million and may go higher, so Paramount should be happy with this one’s final gross.

While The Batman did cede the top spot to Bullock and Tatum, it didn’t take much of a hit as it eased just 44% to $20.5 million in its fourth frame. The lengthy DC superhero film continues to bring in the money with strong holds and now stands at $332 million domestically as well as $672.9 million worldwide. These are great numbers for an admittedly expensive film at a $200 million production budget, but it has hit profit range already and is set to continue soaring. It still has its eyes on a $400 million domestic gross and $800+ million worldwide.

There was a bit of a surprise in the #3 spot as Telugi-language Indian film RRR swept in. The period action drama grossed $9.5 million, which marks the second-best start for an Indian film in the US behind 2017’s Baahubali 2: The Conclusion from the same director, S. S. Rajamouli. This is a fantastic performance for yet another film in the burgeoning market. Indian films have been consistently finding footholds in the top 10, albeit for single weeks each time, and RRR is already a hit for Sarigama Cinemas. The film has grossed an estimated $46 million in India per Deadline, though those numbers are not confirmed as the country does not have a centralized reporting system. Either way, this is a great performance and it could make RRR the rare Indian film to spent multiple weeks in the US top 10.

Uncharted’s staying power continued to show, with the video game adaptation down a decent 36% in its sixth frame with $5 million. The Sony movie is now up to $133.6 million domestically and a hefty $357.5 million worldwide, a hit for the studio against its $120 million budget. It is still aiming for a $140 million-plus final domestic take.

Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie suffered a predictable fall in its second weekend, down 75% to $4.6 million. FUNimation’s film dropped on a similar level to last year’s Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train (72%). Don’t shed tears for the film though; it’s doing fine with $27.7 million domestically and $159.8 million worldwide. Anime often leaves theaters soon after its release and that seems likely here, but it’s already a hit.

A24’s Ti West-directed slasher film X had a decent hold, down just 48% in its second weekend to $2.2 million. Horror often falls 50% or more, as do A24 releases, so this is a good sophomore frame for the film. X has now grossed $8.3 million stateside and $8.7 million worldwide with more international markets to come. Domestically it should finish in the $12 million range.

Tatum’s second film in the top 10 this week was the aforementioned Dog, which was down 47% in its sixth weekend. The animal road-trip drama brought in $2.1 million, bringing its totals to $57.9 million domestically and $68.3 million worldwide. The film cost just $15 million in production and is already a hit for United Artists. Dog is now targeting a $62 million domestic total by the time it closes out.

Spider-Man: No Way Home passed another milestone, as it moved past $800 million domestic thanks to a $2 million weekend. That was down 36% from last weekend and brings the film to $800.6 million domestically and $1.889 billion worldwide. The Sony/MCU is still on course to cross $805 million domestic before it exits theaters. The budget was $200 million.

Sing 2 is approaching the end of its time in the top 10, but still had the best hold as it was down just 12% to $1.3 million in its 14th weekend. The animated sequel now stands at $160.3 million domestically and $387.4 million worldwide. It should be able to end its run at around $162 million in the US. The budget was $85 million.

Closing out the top 10 was the Bleecker Street thriller Infinite Storm. The Naomi Watts-led film brought in $751,000 off a semi-wide release in 1,525 theaters. This survival thriller was never going to make much of a splash, and the average reviews (58% on RT) didn’t help. Filmgoers only liked it slightly more with a 60% audience score. There’s no word on the budget, but this will neither be profitable nor in the top 10 for much longer.

Lost City is going to give up the top spot for another superhero film as Morbius opens next weekend. The long-delayed Sony/Marvel film is expected to gross around $35 million to $40 million next weekend.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. The Lost City – $31 million ($31 million, $34.7 million WW)
2. The Batman – $20.5 million ($332 million total, $672.9 million WW)
3. RRR – $9.5 million ($9.5 million total, $60 million WW)
4. Uncharted – $5 million ($133.6 million total, $357.5 million WW)
5. Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie – $4.6 million ($27.7 million total, $144.6 million WW)
6. X – $2.2 million ($8.3 million total, $8.7 million WW)
7. Dog – $2.1 million ($57.9 million total, $68.3 million WW)
8. Spider-Man: No Way Home – $2 million ($800.6 million total, $1.889 billion WW)
9. Sing 2 – $1.3 million ($160.3 million total, $387.4 million WW)
10. The Infinite Storm – $751,000 ($751,000 total, $751,000 WW)