411 Box Office Report: Thunderbolts* Holds Well For Second #1 Weekend

It was a second week atop the box office for the Thunderbolts*, as the MCU film held on well to reign again. The ensemble superhero movie brought in $33.1 million in its second frame, which equates to a 55% drop. That’s quite a good hold for an MCU movie, on par with the drop for Deadpool & Wolverine and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (54%). It’s far better than the drops for other recent MCU films like Captain America: Brave New World (68%), The Marvels (78%), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (70%), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (63%), and Thor: Love and Thunder (68%).

Of course, the caveat to the above information is that most of those films opened higher than Thunderbolts*. The true comparison is Shang-Chi, which opened to $75.4 million (similar to Thunderbolts*’ $74.3 million) and then legged out to $224.5 million domestically. That would be a moderately successful result for this latest film, which is sitting at a $180 million production budget and needs both the domestic and overseas grosses to be solid.

Thus far though, it’s doing the trick thanks to the strong reviews and word of mouth. It has $128.5 million domestically and $272.2 million worldwide and while it will take a hit from the arrival of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning in two weeks, that will also be a Memorial Day weekend which should help slow its fall. As it stands, it should get close to the aforementioned Shang-Chi domestic total and the foreign numbers are coming in well enough that it will be able to earn some profit.

Sinners had another solid hold this weekend as it was down 26% in its fourth frame to $21.1 million. That puts the vampire flick at $214.4 million domestically and $283.3 million worldwide, a hit against a $90 million budget. As it stands, the film is looking likely to close out at around $250 million in the US and that will have Warner Bros. very happy.

A Minecraft Movie eased 42% in its sixth weekend to rake in another $8 million. That puts this blockbuster hit at $401 million stateside and $909.6 million worldwide, bringing in boatloads of profit against a $150 million production budget. It’s still looking likely for around $420 million, perhaps a bit more.

The Accountant 2 stabilized in its third weekend as it was down just 36% to $6.1 million. That’s an encouraging sign for this sequel, which is running behind the first film with $50.9 million domestically and $76 million worldwide. Amazon MGM just needs this one to cover marketing and distribution costs before it heads to Prime Video to make Amazon its profit, and it should be able to do that. The budget was $80 million.

The first of a number of new releases landed at #5 as the slasher Cown In a Cornfield started off with $3.7 million. That’s somewhat better than was expected for the film, which was looking to do around $2 million. This IFC Films release is based on a popular horror novel by Adam Cesare and the audience showed up for what is a low-profile but successful launch.

For perspective, Cornfield is now IFC Films’ most successful opening weekend of all-time as a distributor. The previous high for the smaller indie studio was Late Night With the Devil, which started with $2.8 million on its way to $10 million. Like Late Night, Clown in a Cornfield was buoyed by good reviews; we’re looking at a 74% Rotten Tomatoes critic aggregate. Audience reactions are more divisive at a 64% RT audience score and C+ CinemaScore, but that’s par for the course for horror.

All this is to say that Cornfield is already a hit for IFC, who spent less than $1 million on the production budget. There’s no word on international numbers yet but it should be able to make it to $10 million in the US and will reap more benefit for IFC’s parent company AMC when it hits Shudder and PVOD soon.

Lionsgate wasn’t so lucky with Shadow Force, which opened as a dud with $2 million. The action thriller was the latest victim of Lionsgate’s issues with marketing their films, a problem that helped weigh down a string of failures at the end of last year like The Crow, The Killer’s Game, Never Let Go, and White Bird. This film’s opening was behind the starts of all of those films except White Bird and represents a very bad start for a movie that cost $40 million.

It also doesn’t help that, like most of those films, Shadow Force wasn’t liked by critics. The movie has a low 32% aggregate on RT, although those who did see it liked it more with a B CinemaScore and an 83$ RT audience rating. None of that will bring it to profit, though; this film will be lucky to get to $7 million in the US and it would take an international miracle for overseas grosses to bring it anywhere near breakeven.

Fight or Flight was also in the same range, as Vertical Entertainment’s action thriller also took in $2 million. The Josh Hartnett-starrer is less than $14,000 below Shadow Force in the estimates , so that could change. (More on that momentarily.)

There’s no word on how much Vertical paid for this film, but it’s nowhere in the $40 million range that Shadow Force cost. Vertical picked this up as a distributor and the opening is in the range of their previous top starters like The Exorcism ($2.4 million in June of last year) so the studio is probably on track with their expectations. This should finish a bit higher than Shadow Force due to positive word of mouth and will be fine once it hits PVOD.

Until Dawn was down a very solid 48% in its third weekend to gross $2 million. Again, the finals may change between this, Shadow Force, and Fight or Flight; Until Dawn is just over $1,000 below Flight in the Sunday estimates. The video game adaptation is looking like a modest success with $18 million domestic and $38.4 million against a $15 million budget. It’ll get past $2 million but not too much more.

The Amateur was down 43% in its fifth weekend, taking in $1.1 million. The action-thriller is now up to $39 million in the US and $90 million worldwide against a $40 million budget. It’s looking like it will make some profit for 20th Century Studios with an expected final total in the US around $41 million.

The King of Kings spent one last weekend in the top 10 as it slid 60% to $681,000. The animated film now has $59.1 million domestically and $65.9.3 million worldwide.

Next weekend will very likely see a new #1 as Final Destination: Bloodlines opens with an expected $30 million to $35 million. The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow is looking at around the mid-single digits

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Thunderbolts* – $33.1 million ($128.5 million total, $272.2 million WW)
2. Sinners – $21.1 million ($214.4 million total, $283.3 million WW)
3. A Minecraft Movie – $8 million ($401 million total, $909.6 million WW)
4. The Accountant 2 – $6.1 million ($50.9 million total, $76 million WW)
5. Clown In a Cornfield – $3.7 million ($3.7 million total, $3.7 million WW)
6. Shadow Force – $2 million ($2 million total, $2 million WW)
7. Fight Or Flight – $2 million ($2 million total, $2.4 million WW)
8. Until Dawn – $2 million ($18 million total, $38.4 million WW)
9. The Amateur – $1.1 million ($39 million total, $90 million WW)
10. The King of Kings – $681,000 ($59.1 million total, $65.9 million WW)