411 Box Office Report: Weapons Scores Second Week At #1, Nobody 2 Opens Quietly

Weapons spent another weekend atop the box office thanks to a good sophomore hold. The Zach Cregger-directed horror film scored $25 million in its second weekend, down 42% from its opening weekend haul. That’s one of the best horror holds of the year and while it’s not on the level of Sinners’ 5% drop, that’s an unprecedented hold than no one ever expected it to match

Weapons has already reached full smash hit status with $89 million domestically and $148.7 million worldwide against a budget of just $38 million. The film looks likely to cross $130 million in the US with ease and officially stamps Cregger as a top name in the genre.

Disney’s Freakier Friday spent a second week at #2 as it was down 49% to $14.5 million. Those are also good numbers when you consider the film’s strong opening. The comedy is now at $54.8 million domestically and $86.3 million worldwide, well on its way to an $85 million-plus domestic finish. This will end up being a hit for the studio and a boost for the theatrical comedy. The budget was $42 million.

Less positive news went to Universal’s Nobody 2, which opened a bit quiet at $9.3 million. That’s a little below the $10 million to $12 million that was expected for the action sequel, which got plowed over by the heavy offering of male-skewing films in the marketplace right now. The start is an improvement on the $6.8 million launch of the first film, but that was in March of 2021 when theaters were just starting to open back up post-COVID lockdown.

Nobody came in with fairly positive marks from critics (a 78% aggregate on Rotten Tomatoes) and had positive sentiment from fans (89% RT audience rating and a B+ CinemaScore); this is primarily a combination of it going up against late July holdovers and being undermarketed. Awareness of the sequel was fairly low and a number of male-skewing films have posted very good holds, which left Nobody without much air to breathe.

The good new for Uni is that Nobody 2 was fairly cheap, with the budget at just $25 million. The studio will have to hope for good holds to make up ground on theatrical before it hits home viewing; as it stands it has $4.9 million overseas with a number of markets yet to play. Domestically it should be able to land at about $25 million. This won’t be a hit, but at worst Universal will have minimal losses before home video.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps stabilized a bit as it was down 44% in its fourth weekend to $8.8 million. Marvel definitely appreciates that the film is finally evening out, and it looks to be likely to bring in an okay profit. Right now it has $247 million stateside with $468.7 million worldwide against a $200 million budget and should be able to cross the finish line with $275 million or so domestically.

The Bad Guys 2 had a great third weekend, as it eased just 29% to $7.5 million. This is the kind of hold that Universal was hoping for with the animated sequel, which now has $57.2 million in the US and $117.4 million worldwide. It still has to keep pushing to get to past its $80 million production budget but domestically it’s now looking likely to approach $80 million – not the hit that the first film did, but decent enough that it won’t be called a failure.

Superman continues to soar as it took in $5.3 million in its sixth weekend. That’s a drop of just 34%, despite the fact that it hit digital on Friday. If people want to see your film in theaters, they’ll go see it even if it’s available at home. Superman now has $340.9 million domestically and $594.5 million worldwide. It should be able to top $360 million and could conceivably pass The Batman’s $369.6 million by the end of its run. The budget was $225 million.

The Naked Gun took in another $4.8 million, down 42% in its third frame. The spoof comedy has now totaled $42 million stateside and $72.9 million worldwide against a $42 million budget, and should cross $50 million domestically with ease.

Jurassic World Rebirth keeps on trucking, off 40% to $2.9 million in its seventh weekend. The dino sequel has grossed $332.1 million domestically and $828.6 million worldwide, a big success against a $180 million budget. $340million appears to be its domestic endgame.

F1: The Movie had another victory lap was down a mere 9% in is eighth weekend to take in $2.7 million. The Apple Original film (distributed by Warner Bros.) now has $182.8 million in the US and $590 million worldwide against a $200 million budget. It’s a full on hit and should end close to $190 million.

Coming in at #10 was the Tamil-language action thriller Coolie, which did well with $2.5 million. The Rajinikanth-starring film had okay reviews at 63% on RT (out of just eight reviews) and has totalled $39.9 million worldwide. Like most foreign films, it should be front-loaded.

Weapons is likely to hold the top spot again next weekend, with no high-profile contenders to take the throne. Sony Pictures and Netflix will give their sensation KPop Demon Hunters a sing-along theatrical release that could find its way into the top three with as much as $10 million, while independent releases Honey Don’t! (Focus), Lurker (MUBI), and the English dub of Ne Zha 2 (A24) will all be in the single digits.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Weapons – $25 million ($89 million total, $148.7 million WW)
2. Freakier Friday – $14.5 million ($54.8 million total, $86.3 million WW)
3. Nobody 2 – $9.3 million ($9.3 million total, $14.2 million WW)
4. The Fantastic Four: First Steps – $8.8 million ($247 million total, $468.7 million WW)
5. The Bad Guys 2 – $7.5 million ($57.2 million total, $117.4 million WW)
6. Superman – $5.3 million ($340.9 million total, $594.5 million WW)
7. The Naked Gun – $4.8 million ($42 million total, $72.9 million WW)
8. Jurassic World Rebirth – $2.9 million ($332.1 million total, $828.6 million WW)
9. F1: The Movie – $2.7 million ($182.8 million total, $590 million WW)
10. Coolie – $2.5 million ($2.5 million total, $39.9 million WW)