Behind the US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 8.6.2023

• Tweet
• Email

• Tweet
• Email

OPENINGS:  The 3-day weekend in the US went narrowly to MEG 2: THE TRENCH (CMC/Warners) with $30M.  That was down more than 1/3 from the $45.4M start for The Meg in 2018, which would ordinarily be concerning for a film with $250M in production/marketing costs, but Meg 2 overperformed internationally even more strongly than its predecessor had, with $112M from 76 markets representing 79% of the worldwide weekend total.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM (Nickelodeon/Paramount) rebooted its franchise, with $28M for the 3-day weekend and $43.1M since its Wednesday opening, at the higher end of projections.  Although the box office was significantly lower than the $65.6M start for the 2014 live-action installment in the series, this Turtles was relatively thrifty by summer tentpole standards with around $175M in total costs.  The film opened overseas with $8.5M.

THEATER CAMP (Searchlight/Disney) crept into the low end of wide release by nearly doubling its theater count to 555.  Despite that expansion, ticket sales were down 10%, translating into a low $1000 per-theater weekend average.

HOLDOVERS:  The phenomenon that is BARBIE (Warners) remained the story of the summer, taking the weekend in its 3rd outing with a 43% decline to $53M.  With $459.4M to date, it seems to be en route to unseating The Super Mario Bros Movie and its $574.2M for the 2023 US box office crown.  Worldwide, it’s passed a magic milestone at $1.03B, and the international weekend added $74M from 69 territories.  The global Super Mario number is $1.35B, which may be reachable.

OPPENHEIMER (Universal) held even better than Barbie, down 39% to $28.7M, and heading past $300M in the US, which would be ahead of Inception‘s $292.6M.  The overseas performance was even more remarkable, with a $52.8M weekend.  Oppenheimer has a chance of catching Interstellar‘s $773.4M worldwide total (it’s already well past that film’s $188M in the US), although probably not Inception‘s $870.8M.

All the good box office news was interrupted by HAUNTED MANSION (Disney), which plunged 63% from last week’s bad start to $9M, and may not get past $70M in the US.  The overseas total is just $17.6M.

SOUND OF FREEDOM (Angel) dropped 45% to $7M in its 5th weekend, on its way to $185M in the US.  No international openings as of yet.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART 1 (Skydance/Paramount) lost 39% to $6.5M, and might reach $170M in the US.  Although the overseas number is more robust at $342.8M, on a worldwide basis Dead Reckoning will likely end up close to 30% below its predecessor Fallout‘s $791.7M, and breakeven isn’t certain on $450M in total costs.

TALK TO ME (A24) had an exceptional hold for low-budget non-franchise horror, down 40% to $6.3M, and on the road to $40M in the US.  It also has $2.7M in early overseas release.

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY (Lucasfilm/Disney) lost almost half its theaters and fell 62% to $1.5M, on its way to $175M in the US.  The $197.8M overseas won’t be enough to get the film anywhere near breakeven.

ELEMENTAL (Pixar/Disney) also saw its theater count chopped, and it was down 65% to $1.2M in its 8th weekend, aiming to pass $150M in the US before it’s done.  It has $275.4M overseas.

INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR (Blumhouse/Screen Gems/Sony, also on VOD) lost more than half its theaters, and shed 66% to $1.1M, probably needing too much of a stretch to hit $85M in the US.  The international number is $101.8M.

LIMITED RELEASE:  SHORTCOMINGS (Sony Classics) opened at 404 with a muted $800 per-theater weekend average.  DREAMIN WILD (Roadside) started at 402 and averaged a sad $300.  PASSAGES (MUBI) averaged $21K at 3 NY/LA arthouses.  WHAT COMES AROUND (IFC) averaged $300 at 14.

NEXT WEEKEND:  The pickings are August-slim, with more horror from THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER (Universal), and offbeat comedy from JULES (Bleecker Street).