Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” (Disney) grossed $97 million on its second weekend, representing a 54 percent drop. That’s in line with other blockbuster openings and an impressive achievement. Disney now has all four of the top weekend totals this year, including the first two weekends of “Inside Out 2.” (The Pixar smash fell only 34 percent its second weekend).
That gets the third “Deadpool” (and the eighth Hugh Jackman “Wolverine”) movie to $395 million domestic and $824 million worldwide by its second weekend, the best of 2024. Whether it bests “Inside Out 2” (currently $627 million) for #1 for the year remains uncertain. “Inside Out 2” is closing in on “Barbie,” which ended up at $636 million last year, but that’s a trivia point; much more important is what these films brought to the struggling 2024 box office.
Unadjusted, “Deadpool 2” has outgrossed any previous R-rated release. However, higher ticket prices distorts this alleged record; it’s still $125 million shy of making the top 10 of R-rated films. (“The Exorcist,” at about $1.1 billion adjusted, remains the biggest). Even so, this will make studios rethink their resistance to R ratings for high-budget productions.
“Deadpool” provided about 55 percent of the weekend total of $171 million. It’s down three percent from last year, which was the third weekend of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” and saw “Meg 2: The Trench” open to $30 million. Three other films grossed over $10 million, led by “Twisters” (Universal). Off by only 35 percent in its third weekend, it’s now at $195 million.
M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller “Trap” (Warner Bros.) led four new films in the top 10 with $15.6 million. This came with a dreadful C+ Cinemascore, although a similar response to Neon’s “Longlegs” had no impact on its success. “Trap” reportedly cost around $30 million before marketing; a sustained run could still save this otherwise mediocre debut. It falls between his two most recent films (“Old” and “Knock at the Cabin”), with the three placing at the bottom of his wide-release openings.
It fared much better than Sony’s “Harold and the Purple Crayon.” The $40 million mostly live-action adaptation of the children’s classic managed only a $6 million opening in a summer when “Inside Out 2” and “Despicable Me 4” (Universal) found massive success playing to family audiences. Both placed higher in their respective seventh and fifth weekends.
Top holdovers fared very well, with both “Despicable” and “Inside” falling less than 25 percent, and “Twisters” and “Longlegs” under 40 percent. The Neon horror movie starring Nicolas Cage is within $500,000 of what “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” totaled for its entire run and at a fraction of the budget.
In more limited release, the faith-based “The Firing Squad” (Atlas) in 803 theaters came in #9 and the Punjabi-language “Naaru Na Peenda Hove” (Rhythm Boyz) was #10 in only 118 theaters.
“Didi” (Focus) is in its second week and “Sing Sing” (A24) is in its fourth. Both expanded with promising results. “Didi” moved into 47 theaters and $440,000, while “Sing Sing” grossed $173,000 in 18. That left both films with per-theater averages of just under $10,000.
Among new specialized releases, “War Game” (Submarine Deluxe) was best among the platform debuts with $15,189 in a single New York theater. Opening wider, “CatVideoFest 2024” (Oscilloscope) grossed $281,000 in 106 theaters, for a $2,650 per-theater average. The Irish “Kneecap” (just selected as its country’s Oscar submission) managed only $449,000 in 703 theaters, for a PTA of only $700.
The Top 10
1. Deadpool & Wolverine (Disney) Week 2; Last weekend #1
$97,000,000 in (-54%) 4,230 (+20) theaters; PTA (per theater average): $22,931; Cumulative: $395,576,000
2. Twisters (Universal) Week 3; Last weekend #2
$22,650,000 (-35%) in 4,009 (-161) theaters; PTA: $5,650; Cumulative: $195,580,000
3. Trap (Warner Bros.) NEW – Cinemascore: C+; Metacritic: 53; Est. budget: $30 million
$15,600,000 in 3,181 theaters; PTA: $4,904; Cumulative: $15,600,000
4. Despicable Me 4 (Universal) Week 5; Last weekend #3
$11,250,000 (-23%) in 3,376 (-233) theaters; PTA: $3.332; Cumulative: $313,970,000
5. Inside Out 2 (Disney) Week 7; Last weekend #4
$6,700,000 (-22%) in 2,615 (-535) theaters; PTA: $2,562; Cumulative: $626,862,000
6. Harold and the Purple Crayon (Sony) NEW – Cinemascore: A-; Metacritic: 35; Est. budget: $40 million
$6,000,000 in 3,325 theaters; PTA: $1,805; Cumulative: $6,000,000
7. Longlegs (Neon) Week 4; Last weekend #5
$4,140,000 (-37%) in 2,150 (-582) theaters; PTA: $1,926; Cumulative: $66,941,000
8. A Quiet Place: Day One (Paramount) Week 6; Last weekend #6; also on PVOD
$1,400,000 (-55%) in 1,039 (-893) theaters; PTA: $1,347; Cumulative: $137,401,000
9. The Firing Squad (Atlas) NEW
$(est.) 910,000 in 803 theaters; PTA: $1,133; Cumulative: $910,000
10. Daaru Na Peenda Hove (Rhythm Boyz) NEW
$615,782 in 118 theaters; PTA: $5,218; Cumulative: $615,782
Other specialized/independent titles
Films (limited, expansions of limited) are listed by week in release, starting with those opened this week; after the first three weeks, only films with grosses over $5,000 are listed. Metacritic scores and initial film festivals recorded when available.
Kneecap (Sony Pictures Classics) NEW – Metacritic: 77; Festivals include: Sundance, South by Southwest, Tribeca 2024
$429,409 in 703 theaters; PTA: $700
War Game (Submarine Deluxe) NEW – Metacritic: 72; Festivals include: Sundance 2024
$15,289 in 1 theater; PTA: $15,289
CatVideoFest 2024 NEW
$281,220 in 106 theaters; PTA: $2,653
Sebastian (Kino Lorber) NEW – Metacritic: 48; Festivals include: Sundance 2024
$12,035 in 3 theaters; PTA: $4,012
Army of Shadows (Rialto) REISSUE
$10,000 in 1 theater; PTA: $10,000
Moving (Cinema Guild) REISSUE NEW
$7,012 in 1 theater; PTA: $7,012
Didi (Focus) Week 2
$440,000 in 47 (+42) theaters; PTA: $; Cumulative: $728,000
The Fabulous Four (Bleecker Street) Week 2
$418,392 in 920 (-125) theaters; PTA: $454; Cumulative: $2,330,000
Sing Sing (A24) Week 4
$172,925 in 18 (+14) (no change) theaters; PTA: $; Cumulative: $534,690
Daddio (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 6; also on PVOD
$10,865 in 11 (-12) theaters; Cumulative: $930,419
Janet Planet (A24) Week 7
$11,206 in 21 (-11) theaters; Cumulative: $750,707