Key Takeaways
- Box Office Performance: The Running Man opened at $17 million, below expectations.
- Strong Competitor: Now You See Me, Now You Don’t grossed $21.3 million in North America.
- Franchise Future: Predator: Badlands dropped 68%, raising concerns about its franchise viability.
- Awards Contender: Nuremberg performed relatively well among awards titles despite low earnings.
It looks like our predictions earlier this week that The Running Man wouldn’t be able to make much of an impact at the box office have proven apt. We assumed the movie wouldn’t open any higher than $20 million, and that proved to be the case, with the big-budget Edgar Wright movie only making $17 million. That’s a disastrous start for a movie that many assumed would be a blockbuster, proving that star Glen Powell, despite his rise to fame, isn’t quite in the A-list, “I can open anything” company — which now seems to be the near-exclusive domain of his Top Gun: Maverick co-star Tom Cruise. While not the disaster his Anyone But You co-star Sydney Sweeney’s Christy was last week, many thought this action-heavy remake would lure people back to theaters, but it landed with a thud both domestically and internationally, with Exhibitor Relations revealing it only made $11 million overseas.
In fact, it was soundly beaten, both in North America and abroad, by Lionsgate’s Now You See Me, Now You Don’t. The third installment in the caper series led by Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson opened way above expectations in North America with a solid $21.3 million. While that’s not as strong as Now You See Me 2 opened nine years ago (with $22.3 million — not adjusted for inflation), the international box office cume is outstanding, pulling in a huge $54.2 million, including $19.2 million in China. This series has always had a strong global footprint, and with numbers like these, it’s clear Lionsgate will make a nice profit on a movie many thought they were foolish to greenlight. Clearly, there’s still a big appetite for this series (and it helped that the movie was actually pretty fun).
However, last weekend’s big opener, Predator: Badlands, crash-landed back down to earth, falling a hefty 68% this weekend, with only $13 million. It doesn’t have the legs many hoped for, leaving the franchise’s future on the big screen somewhat in limbo — with it unlikely to make much above $85–90 million domestically (although with foreign grosses it should still turn a profit).
The Colleen Hoover adaptation Regretting You continued to pull in the date crowd, making another $4 million, a decline of only 40%, for a $44 million total. The Black Phone 2 narrowly edged out the Russell Crowe–led Nuremberg for fifth place. The Black Phone 2 made $2.65 million for a domestic total of $74.6 million (more than enough to guarantee a third film). Nuremberg made $2.6 million, only a 33% decline from last week, and has made $8.6 million so far. While that sounds low, it’s actually one of the better-performing awards titles of the season. The Osgood Perkins horror flick Keepertanked with only $2.5 million, marking a rare flop for Neon and the director, whose previous Longlegs and The Monkeywere both successful. Sarah’s Oil made $2.3 million for an $8.6 million total, while Bugonia and Chainsaw Man actually tied for ninth place with $1.6 million apiece.
All in all, it was another bad weekend at the domestic box office, but luckily audiences will likely follow the yellow brick road back to theaters to see Wicked: For Good, which opens this week — and not a moment too soon.
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