In August, both humor and terror were present.
Zach Cregger’s eagerly awaited horror picture Weapons did not let down in a month that has historically allowed for the success of edgier films, taking the top spot at the box office with $42.5 million domestically from 3,202 cinemas on its first weekend of release. Internationally, it earned $70 million.
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The movie’s popularity also gave Warner Bros. Pictures, the distributor, the seventh No. 1 opening of the year and made it the studio’s sixth consecutive domestic release to gross over $40 million.
Disney’s chaotic follow-up to the 2003 smash, Freaky Friday, earned $29 million in 3,975 North American theaters during its first weekend of release, placing it in second place. Returning for a double body-swapping between the mother-daughter pair and Lindsay Lohan’s teenage daughter and soon-to-be stepdaughter is Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan.
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According to Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at data company Comscore, viral marketing strategies and robust social media word-of-mouth were promising for the success of both movies.
“This weekend is very appealing for moviegoers because the top two films are so different,” Dergarabedian added. Both are ideally suited for their viewers’ real-time reactions to these movies during the weekend, followed by social media posts.
Weapons takes viewers to the tiny community of Maybrook, where 17 children get up and leave their houses at 2:17 in the morning, leaving their parents in confusion. Through terror, paranoia, and a dash of existential humor, the community must deal with the aftereffects of trauma.
The movie is Cregger’s follow-up to the genre-bending thriller Barbarian, which he directed alone in 2022. Despite having a slower start and a smaller budget, the highly regarded movie had a big impact in its genre and topped the charts when it debuted with $10 million domestically.
Because of its excellent reviews (95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), Weapons created a lot of talk.
Between Friday and today, the Internet is currently exploding. “You can see that people are enjoying it a lot,” Warner Bros. president of global distribution Jeffrey Goldstein said. It begins with a remarkable film, a remarkable advertising campaign, and a remarkable date.
Due to the popularity of the comedy-horror double premiere, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which earned $15.5 million domestically, gave up its two-week stay at the top and fell to third place. After a successful $118 million opening weekend, the superhero film faltered in its second weekend.
Weapons’ spins small town into chaos that mirrors real life, humor and all
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After earning $10.4 million domestically, The Bad Guys 2, which had a strong start at number two during its first weekend of release, ended up in fourth place. With $8.4 million in North American cinemas, The Naked Gun suffered a same fate and ended up in fifth place.
NBC Universal predicts that after a great run in theaters, Jurassic World Rebirth, which placed in seventh this week, will reach $800 million worldwide by Monday.
The movie office success A Minecraft Movie, which debuted with $157 million domestically, helped Warner Bros. recover from a difficult start to the year. Since then, films like Weapons, Superman, and Sinners have been successful.
According to Dergarabedian, the studio established a plan for designing the ideal summer lineup.
Weapons, which opened shortly behind Final Destination: Bloodlines and Sinners, joins a long line of popular horror films this year.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
According to Comscore, this list accounts for the anticipated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at cinemas in the United States and Canada, with final domestic data being revealed on Monday:
1. $42.5 million for weapons.
2. $29 million’s Freakier Friday.
3. First Steps: The Fantastic Four, $15.5 million.
4. The Bad Guys 2 brought in $10.4 million.
5. $8.4 million for The Naked Gun.
6. $7.8 million for Superman.
7. $4.7 million for Jurassic World Rebirth.
8. $2.9 million for F1: The Movie.
9. $2.6 million in total.
10. $2.5 million for Sketch.
