‘Don’t Worry Darling’ And ‘Avatar’ Drop Hard On Friday As ‘Bullet Train’ Tops $100 Million

In holdover news at the Friday box office, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Don’t Worry Darling took a hit from its mixed word-of-mouth and mixed-negative reviews, earning just $2.35 million (-75%) on Friday. That points to a $7.41 million (-62%) weekend gross and $33 million ten-day total. That’s a harder drop than The Girl on the Train (-50% from a $25 million debut) and A Simple Favor (-36% from a $16 million launch), and for the first time since pre-Covid times there’s competition for female-led/targeted multiplex fare. We’re still talking about a $35 million, R-rated original, adult-skewing erotic fantasy thriller, but (at least in weekend two) it isn’t becoming the babysitter-worthy flick of the season. Olivia Wilde’s Florence Pugh/Harry Styles potboiler will still make money in the long run, but (again) it’s clear that the offscreen gossip didn’t make much of a dent.

Sony’s The Woman King had another strong hold, earning $1.725 million (-43%) on Friday to pass $40 million domestic. The Viola Davis/Lashana Lynch/John Boyega action drama should gross around $6.4 million (-42%) over the weekend for a $46.1 million 17-day total. In other Sony news, Brad Pitt’s Bullet Train passed $100 million domestic. That’s A) a decent result for a $90 million, star-driven, adult-skewing, R-rated, new-to-you adaptation and B) 3.33x its $30 million opening weekend. The David Leitch-directed flick legged out thanks to being the last biggie of the summer (and almost the last biggie movie of the summer and the fall by default), and its $231 million global cume is over 2.5x the budget. It’s not a franchise-spawning blockbuster, but it’s a solid hit. In other milestone news, A24’s Everything, Everywhere All at Once passed $70 million domestic.

Forgive the skipping around, but 20th Century Studios’ Avatar was essentially a one-weekend wonder, earning $1.16 million (-66%) on Friday for a likely $4.07 million (-61%) weekend and $18 million ten-day total for the reissue. It was only going to run for two weeks anyway, and it did its job in A) reminding folks how cool James Cameron’s box office champion looked on the big screen and B) restarting online Avatar-centric discourse. 20th Century Studios’ Barbarian earned another $809,000 (-44%) on Friday for a $2.58 million (-47%) weekend and $33 million 24-day total. The buzzy, $4 million grindhouse horror flick is now certain to crack $35 million and may make a run at $40 million domestic. A24’s Pearl earned $205,024 (-66%) for a likely $650,000 (-66%) weekend and $8.2 million 17-day cume. That’s not bad for a Ti West slasher flick.