Maverick’ Passes ‘Frozen II’ As ‘Minions 2’ Tops $900 Million

In holdover box office news for the weekend, Sony’s Bullet Train earned $3.25 million (-44%) for a new $92.55 million 38-day domestic total. That’s not bad for David Leitch’s $90 million, R-rated, Brad Pitt-and-friends action comedy that is a ‘new to you’ adaptation for most moviegoers. It should still crawl to $100 million domestic and has already passed $200 million worldwide. It may top out at 2.5x the budget globally, but I expect healthy post-theatrical business and a lot of folks discovering it in seven months on Netflix. It’s not a barn-burner, but A) not every big movie needs to spawn a franchise and B) it’s still a strong enough performance, like Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum’s The Lost City, to convince Hollywood to still make old-school movies amid the franchise plays.

Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick passed the $1.45 billion global gross of Walt Disney’s Frozen II, becoming the biggest ‘part two’ sequel of all time in raw global worldwide grosses. It’s already the biggest ‘part two’ in unadjusted domestic earnings, having passed Pixar’s Incredibles 2 ($609 million in 2018) months ago, and now it’s 2/2. It earned $3.17 million (-47%) on weekend 16 for a new $705.65 million domestic and $1.453 billion global cume. We’ll see if it has enough juice to pass the inflation-adjusted $715 million total of Black Panther. We’ll also see if Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Avatar: The Way of Water challenge Top Gun 2’s various sequel-specific milestones. Prior to this year, we had one $600 million-plus ‘part two’ sequel. By year’s end, we could have four.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s DC League of Super Pets earned $2.835 million (-44%) in weekend seven for an $85.8 million domestic cume. As the only big kid-friendly family flick until (hopefully) Sony’s Lyle Lyle Crocodile in early October, it is benefiting from a barren marketplace. It has earned $169 million worldwide, not great for a $90 million toon, but that domestic figure represents a strong 3.7x weekend-to-total multiplier. Sony’s The Invitation earned $2.62 million (-46%) in its third weekend for an $18.8 million 17-day total. Considering the low profile and $10 million budget for this kinda-sorta Dracula flick, I’m impressed. Universal’s Beast debuted on PVOD on Friday and concurrently earned $1.8 million (-55%) in theaters. The $36 million ‘Idris Elba versus a lion’ thriller has earned $29.3 million domestic and $52 million worldwide.

Universal’s Minions: The Rise of Gru has passed $900 million worldwide as it earned another $1.45 million (-59%) for a new $362 million domestic cume. Spider-Man: No Way Home earned $1.3 million this weekend, plunging 76%. That’s a tough break for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, as now the MCU flick has only earned $813.3 million domestic. At least Jared Leto’s Morbius was briefly the most-watched movie on Netflix, which means something… I think? Jokes aside, it means that Sony’s first window pay-television deal with Netflix is paying off for both sides. Sony’s Where the Crawdads Sing will earn around $1.2 million (-41%) over the weekend for an $87.6 million domestic total. Thor: Love and Thunder debuted on Disney+ on Thursday and will earn $960,000 (-64%) for a $342 million domestic cume.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero will drop 64% this weekend for a $880,000 gross and $36.7 million cume. Nope will earn $800,000 (-54%) over the weekend for a $122 million domestic cume and $165 million global total. At the beginning of the summer, I argued that Nope might domestically outgross Lightyear, Minions: The Rise of Gru and Top Gun: Maverick. One out of three ain’t bad! Jaws dropped 76% in the second weekend of its rerelease for a $620,000 weekend and mere $271.66 million lifetime cume. Fortunately for Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans kicked critical/awards buzz ass at last night’s splashy Toronto premiere. Elvis will cross $150 million domestic over the weekend, because sometimes we deserve good news. Paramount’s buzzy and fun Orphan: First Kill has earned $5 million domestic.