Behind the US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 8.13.2023

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OPENINGS:  THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER (Universal) stirred little interest from critics or audiences, and set sail with a flat $6.5M.  It hasn’t yet opened overseas, but will have a difficult time trying to recoup $100M or so in production/marketing costs.

The tiny JULES (Bleecker Street) launched for some reason at 780 theaters, and managed a lousy $835K for the weekend.  No international openings so far.

GRAND TURISMO (Columbia/Sony), which was originally supposed to open in the US this weekend but pushed to August 25 (while maintaining a possibly unprecedented schedule of as-yet unreported “previews”), did debut in 30 overseas territories with $10.7M.

HOLDOVERS:  Without meaningful new competition, BARBIE (Warners) had no trouble retaining the weekend crown, down 36% to $33.7M in in its 4th weekend, and on a path to become the #1 film of the year ahead of Super Mario Bros.  The worldwide total is nearly $1.2B (about $160M below Super Mario), with international at $657.6M after a $45.1M weekend in 75 markets.

OPPENHEIMER (Universal) had an even slimmer decline, down 35% to $18.8M and headed toward $300M+ in the US.  It’s reached $384.8M overseas after a $32M weekend in 79 territories.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM (Nickelodeon/Paramount) dipped 44% to $15.8M, and should pass $100M in the US.  It’s considerably softer overseas thus far, with $21.9M after a $10.4M weekend in 47 markets.

Although MEG 2: THE TRENCH (CMC/Warners) fell 58% to $12.7M in the US, and likely won’t earn more than $90M in the US (a long way below the $145.5M of its predecessor), its real audience is overseas, where it has $202.8M after a $43.7M weekend in 75 territories.  Meg 2 was co-financed by a Chinese studio and features that country’s star Jing Wu in the cast, and China has contributed $90.2M to the international total.

HAUNTED MANSION (Disney) stabilized with a 39% drop, but that still only gave it $5.6M for its 3rd weekend, and it may not reach $70M in the US.  The off-shore results were even worse with $22.7M to date.

TALK TO ME (A24) has clearly become the summer horror movie of choice, down a remarkable 19% to $5.1M in its 3rd weekend, and possibly able to hit $50M in the US.  It has $5.2M in early international release.

SOUND OF FREEDOM (Angel) dropped 36% to $4.8M in its 6th weekend, headed toward $185M in the US.  It still hasn’t opened overseas.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART 1 (Paramount) lost 29% to $4.7M in its 5th weekend, and will hope to get past $175M in the US, which would be $45M below Fallout.  Although it’s stronger internationally with $362.9M after a $10.9M weekend in 67 markets, that’s nowhere near Fallout‘s $571.5M.

LIMITED RELEASE:  PASSAGES (MUBI) expanded to 40 theaters with a $2500 weekend per-theater average.  DAY BY DAY (Utopia) averaged $4500 at 7.  BETWEEN TWO WORLDS (Cohen) had a $3200 average at 2.

NEXT WEEKEND:  BLUE BEETLE (DC/Warners) will aim for the action audience, while STRAYS (Universal) and BACK ON THE STRIP (Luminosity) attempt to mine R-rated comedy.  Limited releases include LANDSCAPE WITH INVISIBLE HAND (UA/MGM).