It took years, and tens of millions of dollars in reshoots, but Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic finally hit theaters this weekend—and the box office results blew away industry estimates. The film had been pegged to open in the $60 million range, whereas we predicted about $80 million. It turns out we were all wrong, as the movie rallied to an incredible $97 million start—Lionsgate’s best since before the pandemic and a record for music biopics.
Overseas Numbers Are Even Bigger
And that ain’t all. Overseas, Michael did even better with an astounding $120 million. One must remember that overseas, Michael Jackson is an even bigger star than he is in the States (in fact, he has been ever since the release of Bad in 1987), and with numbers like this, it’s clear this is going to be a box office bonanza for Lionsgate, who will no doubt be giving serious thought to greenlighting the rumoured sequel sooner rather than later.
Mario Holds Strong in Second Place
Second place went to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which made $21 million—an incredible showing for Illumination’s latest. It’s already, by far, the biggest-grossing movie of the year, although many believe Avengers: Doomsday could eclipse it when it hits theaters in December. So far, it’s made $386 million, with it well on its way to a $450–500 million finish.
Project Hail Mary Shows Impressive Legs
Also holding up remarkably well is Project Hail Mary, which grossed another $13 million—a modest 36% dip from last week. The legs on Ryan Gosling’s sci-fi adventure have been astounding, with it having blasted past $305 million domestically and likely on its way to a $400 million domestic finish.
Mixed Results for New and Mid-Tier Releases
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy fell 58% in week two to $5.6 million, with a $23 million domestic gross. Overseas, it’s been doing better, having made $65 million worldwide so far, meaning it should turn a nice profit for WB. Another nicely profitable movie is A24’s The Drama, starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson. Despite a controversial twist (or maybe because of it), it’s legged out to a $44 million domestic haul (adding $2.6 million this weekend), making it one of the distributor’s higher-grossing films.
Smaller Films Struggle to Break Through
Pixar’s Hoppers (which drops on digital on Tuesday) is starting to wrap up its run, with $1.9 million this weekend and a $164 million total, making it a solid success for the company. You, Me & Tuscany has proven to be a disappointment for Universal, making $1.5 million for a $17 million domestic haul—far below expectations.
Limited releases didn’t have much luck this weekend, with IFC’s Over Your Dead Body grossing a poor $1.425 million—which amounts to only $919 per screen (I thought it was okay, but not a movie that begged for a theatrical release). It’s a shame that lower-key releases like this, and last week’s Normal (which dropped out of the top 10), aren’t finding an audience. A24’s Mother Mary, which was fortuitously timed with Anne Hathaway’s The Devil Wears Prada 2, also bombed with $1.25 million. The top 10 was rounded out by NBA YoungBoy’s concert film, American YoungBoy, which grossed a solid $1.1 million.
Can The Devil Wears Prada 2 Take the Crown?
Next weekend should be a hefty one for Michael and The Devil Wears Prada 2. Will the Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway reunion be strong enough to dethrone the King of Pop? We’ll let you know next week!
