‘Don’t Worry Darling’ Drops 62% As ‘Avatar’ Tops $2.9 Billion

In holdover box office news for the weekend, Warner Bros. Discovery’sWBD
Don’t Worry Darling earned $7.3 million, dropping a harsh 62% and ending day ten with $32.8 million domestic. The $35 million original, R-rated, star-driven, adult-skewing erotic fantasy thriller fell harder in weekend two than A Simple Favor (-36% from a $16 million debut) and The Girl on the Train (-50% from a $25 million launch), showing that the mixed reviews and word-of-mouth are having an impact. To the extent that opening weekend grosses were juiced by gossip-driven curiosity and/or obsessive Harry Styles fans, well, ask me again if My Policemen makes money this season. Otherwise, it was an all-encompassing (marquee director, ensemble cast, high concept and R-rated escapism) package, one that performed as it would have done with or without the gossip.

If it levels out next weekend, it will be akin to the deluge of Marvel fans that juiced the openings for Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness expecting an Avengers-level event. Regardless, it’s holding better overseas with an international 40% drop for a $6.4 million weekend and a $21.9 million foreign total. That gives the Olivia Wilde-directed and Florence Pugh-starring flick $54.7 million worldwide. The conventional rate of descent argues for an $85 million global cume. Like Sony’s Bullet Train ($100 million domestic and $235 million worldwide on a $90 million budget), it’s not a blockbuster or a franchise-created. Still, it’s a solid middle-of-the-road theatrical hit that will make up for any commercial deficiencies in post-theatrical. Not to belabor a point, but this is how it’s supposed to work.

Sony’s The Woman King continued to kick butt, earning $7 million and dropping just 36% in weekend three. The Viola Davis/Lashana Lynch/John Boyega action drama has earned $46.7 million domestically and $50.6 million worldwide. The conventional rate of descent suggests a domestic total of over/under $65 million, but the legs thus far imply a $70 million-plus finish. Actual theatrical profitability will depend on overseas grosses, but that race has just begun. 20th Century Studios’ Avatar earned $4.695 million (-55%) in weekend two. It has made $58 million globally thus far in this two-week reissue (and $115 million if you count the 2021 reissue in China). That brings its lifetime totals to $779 million domestic and $2.905 billion worldwide. It has carried out its goal of reminding people how cool Avatar looked and played in theaters.

20th Century Studios’ Barbarian earned another $2.8 million (-42%) weekend for a $33.1 million 24-day total. The buzzy, $4 million grindhouse horror flick is now sure to crack $35 million and may make a run at $40 million domestic. Warner Bros. Discovery’s leggy DC League of Super Pets earned $1.305 million (-25%) for a $91 million domestic and $194 million worldwide cume. Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick has earned $713 million domestically and $1.476 billion worldwide. Searchlight’s See How They Run sits with $8 million after 17 days, while Universal’s Minions: The Rise of Gru has $366 million domestic and $925 million worldwide. A24’s Pearl earned $725,000 (-62%) in weekend three for an $8.26 million 17-day cume. That’s not bad for a dirt-cheap (but buzzy) Ti West slasher flick.

A24’s Everything, Everywhere All at Once passed $70 million domestic. It and The Woman King join Elvis and Top Gun: Maverick as the year’s Oscar contenders that audiences have paid to see in theaters. We’ll see (aside from Avatar 2 and Black Panther 2) what joins them. Universal’s Ticket to Paradise continues to show that maybe, just maybe, the live-action theatrical comedy isn’t dead. The George Clooney/Julia Roberts romp, about a divorced couple who try to sabotage their daughter’s vacation wedding, has earned $9.4 million this weekend. That brings its overseas cume to $45 million. It opens in France, Italy and Mexico this week, South Korea next week and Japan on November 3. It may already be a hit by the time it opens in North America on October 21.