Weekend Box Office: Ballerina is no threat to Lilo & Stitch

While many (including us) went into this first weekend of June thinking that the John Wick spinoff, Ballerina, had a good shot at topping the weekend box office, it was not to be. In a huge upset for Lionsgate, whose entire summer slate rested on the shoulders of this big-budget flick, the Ana de Armas-led action movie had a modest, perhaps even disastrous, $25 million opening. While many will cite its $90 million budget and say it has a good chance of breaking even overseas, the company gave this a summer-movie build-up, and likely were hoping for an opening in the high-30s. As it is, it only opened with a fraction of what the most recent John Wick movies have opened at, proving that perhaps the audience fervour for a Wick-universe led film without Keanu Reeves as the star isn’t what they thought it might be. Indeed, one wonders if the failure of Ballerina is going to doom Donnie Yen’s upcoming Caine spin-off?

Meanwhile, Disney’s Lilo & Stitch live-action remake is continuing to rake in huge amounts of money, chalking up a $32.5 million weekend for an astronomical $332 million total, meaning a $400 million final gross is nearly a given. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning fell off 45% from last week for a $15 million weekend, and a $149 million domestic total. It seems unlikely this will match the $200 million earned by Mission: Impossible – Fallout, although internationally the film is nearing the $500 million mark. It’s performing similarly to the recent Gladiator II, in that its performance is fair domestically, but overseas it’s a blockbuster. 

Karate Kid: Legends got K’O’d at the box office, falling to fourth place with $6.7 million and a $35 million total. It was almost beaten by one of the year’s biggest sleeper hits, Final Destination: Bloodlines, which made $6.5 million for a $123.5 million total. With numbers like that, I’m stunned another sequel hasn’t already been announced. 

Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme did pretty well in its semi-wide expansion, earning $6.25 million for a $7 million domestic total. It didn’t do as well as Asteroid City did a few years ago, with a $9 million opening, but Anderson has an audience that will always turn out to see his movies in theatres. Sadly, A24’s Bring Her Back had a harder-than-expected fall in its second weekend, losing 51% of its audience for a $3.5 million weekend and a $14 million domestic total. It will be lucky to pass the $20 million mark, continuing A24’s recent troubled run at the box office. Their much-anticipated romantic comedy, Materialists, may reverse their trend next weekend, but will have to earn excellent reviews and word-of-mouth to be a theatrical success. 

Another anime, Dan da Dan: Evil Eye, made its way to the box office top 10, grossing $3.09 million – another strong showing considering that in many locations these movies are only playing once or twice a day. WB’s zeitgeist-grabbing Sinners made another $2.9 million, with a $272 million total as it starts to wrap up its theatrical run, now that it’s available on digital. Finally, Disney’s Marvel movie, Thunderbolts, is one of their lowest-grossing movies in recent memory, with a $2.5 million weekend and a $186 million total. It’s grossed even less than Captain America: Brave New World, and if Fantastic Four: First Steps fails, heads may well roll at Marvel. On thing is for sure – they are no longer a sure thing at the box office.

The live-action How to Train Your Dragon reboot will be released next weekend. Will it be another family-driven hit? We’ll be back without predictions later this week!