It turns out that the usual March box office boom was deferred this year to April, as Warner Bros./Legendary’s “A Minecraft Movie” has proven to be more than a one weekend wonder with a strong $82 million second weekend, dropping 50% from its $163 million opening.
This second weekend total is in the range of what independent trackers had expected the opening of “Minecraft” to be. Instead, the video game film is set for a 10-day domestic total of $270 million and a global total of around $500 million.
After the poor performances of “Companion” and “Mickey 17” earlier this year, “Minecraft” gives Warner Bros. a much needed hit ahead of the release of its biggest tentpole, “Superman,” this July. It also sets “Minecraft” up for an intriguing No. 1 battle next weekend against another Warner title, Ryan Coogler’s critically acclaimed horror film “Sinners,” which is the first in a series of high-budget original films greenlit film chiefs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy and is projected for a $40 million-plus opening weekend.
In second place this weekend is Angel Studios/Mofac Animation’s “The King of Kings,” which is beating projections with an industry estimated $18 million opening weekend after earning $7 million from 3,200 theaters on Friday.
Starring Oscar Isaac as Jesus in an animated retelling of the Gospel story, it is Angel’s best opening since its breakthrough hit “Sound of Freedom” in summer 2023 and breaks a 27-year record held by DreamWorks’ “The Prince of Egypt” for the highest opening weekend by a biblical animated film.
20th Century’s “The Amateur” is in third with an estimated $14.8 million opening weekend, a bad start considering the film’s reported $60 million production budget. The spy revenge thriller starring Rami Malek and Laurence Fishburne has received good-but-not-great reception, earning Rotten Tomatoes scores of 61% critics and 89% audience to go with a B+ on CinemaScore.
“The Amateur” will have to leg out over the coming weekends to turn a theatrical profit, as will A24’s “Warfare” and Universal/Blumhouse’s “Drop,” which round out the top 5. “Warfare” is in fourth with an estimated $8.3 million opening from 2,650 theaters.
Given that CinemaScore only polls for films that have initial wide releases, many of A24’s films including “Everything Everywhere All at Once” do not have grades from audiences. But it is worth noting that “Warfare,” which is based on the recollections of co-director Ray Mendoza of serving in the Iraq War as a Navy SEAL, has earned an A- from opening day moviegoers. Only one other A24 film, the wrestling biopic “The Iron Claw,” has earned a CinemaScore grade that high.
While “Warfare” has a limited audience due to its unflinching, bloody and accurate depiction of war, that buzz along with a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes could help it leg out against a reported $20 million production budget.
Finally, “Drop,” a thriller about a woman forced by text messages from a malicious person holding her sister and son hostage, is on its way to a $7.7 million opening from 3,085 theaters. It’s another sub-$10 million start for the slumping Blumhouse and below the $9.3 million opening earned last month by “The Woman in the Yard,” but has earned better reception than that film with a B+ on CinemaScore and RT scores of 83% critics and 81% audience.
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