It was a quiet weekend at North American movie theaters, by Sony鈥檚 鈥淭he Garfield Movie," Warner Bros.' 鈥� " and a slew of holdovers. Flipping the script , the animated orange cat crept ahead of the wasteland warrior in their second outing.
鈥� 鈥� earned a chart-topping $14 million in ticket sales while 鈥淔uriosa鈥� settled into third place in a close race with 鈥淚F,鈥� according to studio estimates on Sunday. Both 鈥淚F鈥� and 鈥淔uriosa鈥� are estimated to have earned $10.8 million, with 鈥淚F鈥� getting the slight edge.
鈥淕arfield鈥� fell only 42% in its second weekend in North America. It also topped the global box office adding $27 million from international territories, bringing its running worldwide to $152.2 million. The animated pic featuring the voice of Chris Pratt will essentially have the market to itself until 鈥淚nside Out 2鈥� arrives on June 14.
鈥淔uriosa,鈥� meanwhile, fell 59% from its first weekend, adding just under $10.8 million from 3,864 locations in the U.S. and Canada. That puts its running domestic total at $49.7 million and its global sum at $114.4 million against a $168 million production budget.
There were several new releases that opened on over 1,000 screens this weekend: Sony/Crunchyroll鈥檚 anime 鈥淗aikyu!! The Dumpster Battle鈥�; IFC鈥檚 horror 鈥淚n a Violent Nature鈥�; Roadside Attractions鈥� Diane Keaton-Alfre Woodard-Kathy Bates comedy 鈥淪ummer Camp鈥�; And Bleecker Street鈥檚 father-son drama 鈥淓zra.鈥� None managed to crack the top five, however.
Disney also released the well-reviewed 鈥� ,鈥� starring Daisy Ridley as the first woman to swim the English Channel, but did not report its ticket sales. Likewise, Richard Linklater's 鈥� 鈥� is currently playing in select theaters around the country before it comes to streaming next week, but Netflix does not release box office numbers.
Second place went to Paramount鈥檚 鈥� ,鈥� with $10.8 million in its third weekend. starring Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming has now made over $80.4 million domestically and $138 million worldwide. Disney/20th Century Studios鈥� 鈥� 鈥� landed in fourth place in its fourth weekend with $8.8 million. It has now made $140 million domestically and $337.1 million globally.
And the Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt action-comedy 鈥� 鈥� which is currently available to purchase at home, rounded out the top five with $4.2 million, bringing its domestic total to $80.3 million. Globally, the Universal release has made $157.9 million.
鈥淗aikyu!! The Dumpster Battle,鈥� based on the Japanese high school volleyball series, made an estimated $3.5 million from 1,119 locations. The slasher 鈥淚n a Violent Nature鈥� opened to $2.2 million from 1,426 locations (a massive release for IFC Films and Shudder). And, 鈥淓zra,鈥� about a stand-up comedian (Bobby Cannavale) and his autistic son, earned $1.2 million from 1,320 screens.
The 2024 box office is struggling compared to both last year (down 23.9%) and pre-pandemic standards (down 42.2% from 2019 and 46.4% from 2018), according to data from Comscore. On this weekend last year, 鈥淪pider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse鈥� opened to $120.7 million while 鈥淭he Little Mermaid鈥� was still pulling in over $41.4 million in its second weekend. This year has yet to have any film open to over $100 million domestically.
While 鈥淏arbie鈥� and 鈥淥ppenheimer鈥� had yet to storm theaters at this point last year, there had been several substantial hits including 鈥淭he Super Mario Bros. Movie鈥� ($1.36 billion global total), 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3鈥� ($845.5 million) and 鈥淔ast X鈥� ($704.7 million).
鈥淚t should come as no surprise given the nature of this year鈥檚 trajectory that we are running this far behind," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. 鈥淚 understand why people are concerned about where this year is going, but it鈥檚 never too late to get things running again.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a momentum business,鈥� he added. 鈥淭he attention right now is focused on what will be the big movie to get the summer moving in the right direction.鈥�
That could arrive in the form of 鈥淚nside Out 2," which could open to over $85 million according to early projections, and propel other juggernauts like 鈥淒espicable Me 4鈥� (July 3) and 鈥淒eadpool & Wolverine鈥� (July 26).
Dergarabedian also noted that absent a big superhero movie, it's the family-oriented films that have been resonating recently. They might not open to the biggest numbers, but as 鈥淚F鈥� and 鈥淭he Gafield Movie鈥� have proven, they have staying power.
The top-grossing movie of this year remains 鈥� ,鈥� which Warner Bros. released in early March and has made over $711 million globally. Its domestic take of $282.1 million represents 10.5% of the overall box office for 2024.
鈥淒une鈥� filmmaker Denis Villeneuve over the weekend said that he was 鈥渄isappointed to still be number one鈥� while at the where he was collecting an award.
鈥淚 hope soon that there will be other successes at the box office,鈥� . 鈥淚 hope sooner or later that this summer box office will be much better.鈥�
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. 鈥淭he Garfield Movie,鈥� $14 million.
2. 鈥淚F,鈥� $10.8 million.
3. 鈥淔uriosa: A Mad Max Saga,鈥� $10.8 million.
4. 鈥淜ingdom of the Planet of the Apes,鈥� $8.8 million.
5. 鈥淭he Fall Guy,鈥� $4.2 million.
6. 鈥淭he Strangers: Chapter 1,鈥� $3.6 million.
7. 鈥淗aikyu!! The Dumpster Battle," $3.5 million.
8. 鈥淚n a Violent Nature,鈥� $2.1 million.
9. 鈥淓zra,鈥� $1.2 million.
10. 鈥淪ight,鈥� $1.1 million.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
