411 Box Office Report: Twisters Soars To $80.5 Million To Claim #1

Twisters dominated at the box office this weekend, blowing past expectations to claim an easy #1 finish. The standalone sequel to the 1996 disaster thriller took the top spot with $80.5 million, marking the best opening for a live-action film since Dune: Part Two opened to $82.5 million back in February.

The opening is a huge win for Warner Bros. considering expectations going into the weekend were in the $50 million to $65 million range. Those expectations were clearly too low as early as Friday, when the film grossed $32.2 million on its first day. The opening is roughly double the $41.1 million that the first film did when it opened back in May 1996.

Twisters earned its money thanks to a few factors. For one, the first film has built up a solid fanbase in the last 28 years, resulting in plenty of nostalgia here. But that alone won’t drive a film to blockbuster numbers; in this case, Warner Bros. did a very good job marketing the film as an old-fashioned summer spectacle starring Hollywood’s new bankable star in Glen Powell.

When reviews started coming in strong, that solidified the fact that this was going to be a sizable hit. The film has a very decent 78% aggregated score on Rotten Tomatoes – but more importantly, the fans are giving it great word of mouth with a 92% RT audience score and an A- CinemaScore. Those numbers led to its projections being raised throughout the weekend.

It should be said as a caveat that Twisters was not a cheap film, with a reported $155 million production cost plus marketing. But it’s in very good shape now, with $42.7 million overseas (which includes two weekends for some markets due to an early international rollout). That gives the film $123.2 million thus far, which puts it in a very good position even though it is likely to drop heavily to new competition next weekend. A $200 million domestic total should be very doable for this film, and overseas numbers will push it into hit territory.

Despicable Me 4 dropped to #2 in its second week, down a very respectable 45% to $23.8 million. That brings the animated sequel to $259.5 million domestically and $574.4 million worldwide thus far against a $100 million production budget. The film is still on course for over $300 million domestically by the end of its run, and it is obviously a major hit for DreamWorks Animation and Illumination.

Inside Out 2’s path to new records kept going strong, as it was down just 36% in its sixth weekend to $12.8 million. The Pixar sequel has now tallied up $596.4 million domestically and $1.44 billion worldwide, putting it on an easy road to surpass The Incredibles 2’s $608.6 million to become the studio’s highest domestic performer. The film should cross the $615 mark domestically and is a massive hit against a $200 million budget.

Longlegs followed up its very impressive opening weekend with a strong sophomore frame. NEON’s serial killer horror film grossed $11.7 million, down just 48% from its opening tally. That’s a good hold for horror in general, to say nothing of a horror film that opened with double its expected start. It’s clear that despite the film’s divisive online reaction, the hype is holding out for this film.

As it stands, Longlegs is already NEON’s #2 domestic performer of all-time with $44.7 million and is set to easily surpass Parasite’s $53.4 million stateside final. The movie is still very early in its overseas run and has $46.7 million worldwide. Its domestic final appears likely to top $65 million at this point.

A Quiet Place: Day One held on decently in its fourth weekend, down 46% to $6.1 million. The sci-fi horror prequel is still doing very well with $127.6 million domestically and $241.4 million worldwide against its $60 million budget, already well into profit for Paramount Pictures. It should end its domestic run somewhere in the $145 million to $150 million range.

Fly Me To the Moon followed up its disappointing opening weekend with a rough fall, dropping 65% to $3.3 million. Not a lot of positives to look at here considering the $100 million budget. As always, the caveat for Apple Original Studios films is that we know it’s a loss leader for Apple TV+, but by just about any measure this is going to be a weak finish. The film has $16.4 million domestically and $30.7 million worldwide and will probably finish in the $24 million range at this point.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die was off 37% in its seventh weekend to $2.7 million. The action sequel now grossed $189.3 million stateside and $388 million worldwide, great numbers all in all for a $90 million film. It should finish off with around $195 million in the US.

Coming in at #8 is the Indian Hindi-language comedy Bad Newz. The Moviegoer-distributed film brought in $1 million, perfectly okay numbers all things considered. No word on its budget, but it has a $4.8 million worldwide gross and will be out of the top 10 next weekend.

MaXXXine is continuing to drop, as it sank 60% in its third weekend to $819,000. The final film in Ti West’s X trilogy now has $13.9 million domestically and $16.9 million, making it the highest-grossing film in the franchise to date. Still no word on its budget, but the domestic final should be around $16 million at this point.

The Bikeriders climbed back into the top 10 with $700,000 in its fifth weekend, jumping 75% from last weekend’s take. The period biker drama now has $21.2 million domestically and $33.3 million worldwide, not profitable in theaters against its $30 million budget.

Next weekend will see a new box office champion as Deadpool and Wolverine should dominate with an opening above $160 million which will make it the best opening ever for an R-rated film.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Twisters – $80.5 million ($80.5 million total, $123.2 million WW)
2. Despicable Me 4 – $23.8 million ($259.5 million total, $574.4 million WW)
3. Inside Out 2 – $12.8 million ($596.4 million total, $1.43 billion WW)
4. Longlegs – $11.7 million ($44.7 million total, $46.7 million WW)
5. A Quiet Place: Day One – $6.1 million ($127.6 million total, $241.4 million WW)
6. Fly Me To the Moon – $3.3 million ($16.4 million total, $30.7 million WW)
7. Bad Boys: Ride Or Die – $2.7 million ($189.3 million total, $388 million WW)
8. Bad Newz – $1 million ($1 million total, $4.8 million WW)
9. MaXXXine – $819,000 ($13.9 million total, $16.9 million WW)
10. The Bikeriders – $700,000 ($21.2 million total, $33.3 million WW)