‘Spider-Man’ Tops Weekend Box Office But ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Passes $700 Million

Yes, it’s nuts that an eight-month-old MCU flick and a Memorial Day weekend release are tops for the Labor Day box office. Yes, that has far more to do with the lack of big movies in the marketplace than Top Gun 2’s James Cameron-worthy legs. Even Forrest Gump, which topped the box office over Labor Day in 1994 as it legged out to $329 million domestic, was an early-July release. Last Labor Day weekend, the oldest movie in the top five was Jungle Cruise in its sixth weekend. In 2019, the top ten featured The Lion King in weekend seven, Hobbs & Shaw in weekend five and three others (Angel Has Fallen, Good Boys and Ready or Not) in their second or third weekends. This year? The top movie for the weekend may be the one in its 15th weekend or a 38-week-old rerelease.

Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick grossed $5.5 million (+16%) in its 15th weekend, placing second to Spider-Man: No Way Home ($6 million). Its Fri-Sun frame is second among all 15-weekend grosses (sans inflation) behind only Titanic ($15.2 million just before Lost in Space knocked it out of the top spot). Its $7 million Fri-Mon gross will put it just above $700 million. Once it passes $701 million domestic, it’ll pass Black Panther ($700.4 million in 2018/$715 million adjusted for inflation) and best the inflation-adjusted grosses of The Dark Knight ($534 million in 2008/$697 million adjusted) and Thunderball ($65 million in 1965/$700 million adjusted). That will make it the biggest tickets-sold real-world, non-fantastical action movie (Raiders and Ben Hur both have fantasy elements). It also singlehandedly saved theaters from Hollywood’s willful withholding of regular theatrical product, making the difference between a summer down 25% and one down 45% despite 50% fewer movies than 2019.

Sony’s Bullet Train earned $5.4 million (-10%) over its fifth Fri-Sun frame for a likely $6.8 million Fri-Mon gross. That will give Brad Pitt’s R-rated actioner an $87.33 million 32-day total. DC League of Super Pets earned another $5.4 million (+32%), getting a noticeable boost from National Cinema Day (it’s cheaper to take a family of five to see a new toon when tickets are $3 instead of $7-$15) and bringing its domestic cume by $81 million. WBD’s $90 million Dwayne Johnson/Kevin Hart toon has earned $160 million worldwide. Sony’s The Invitation earned around $4.4 million (-34%) in its second Fri-Sun weekend for a likely $5.3 million Fri-Mon gross. That will give the vampire chiller a $14.335 million 11-day domestic total. Universal’s Beast earned another $3.64 million (-25%) in weekend three for a $4.34 million (-18%) holiday haul. That will give the $36 million Idris Elba vehicle a $26.12 million 18-day domestic cume.

Universal and Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru earned $3.13 million (+15%) over the Fri-Sun part of a $3.88 million Fri-Mon gross. That gives the $80 million animated prequel/sequel $359.6 million domestic. It earned $12 million worldwide for a new $890 million global total (including $30 million in China), meaning it’ll likely top $900 million global next weekend. Meanwhile, Jurassic World Dominion has earned $375 million domestic and $994 million worldwide on a $185 million budget. It probably won’t get to $1 billion (shame!!), but the average gross among all six Jurassic flicks (not adjusted for inflation) is still above $1 billion each. Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder earned another $2.446 million (-8%) for a new $340 million domestic and $750 million-plus global cume. It’s not my favorite MCU movie by a long shot, but the notion that it’s anything other than a hit (or that general consensus aligned with online discourse) is ridiculous.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero earned around $2.37 million (-49%) in weekend three for a $2.86million Fri-Mon gross. That will give Crunchy Roll’s anime sequel a $35.3 million 18-day domestic cume. Sony’s Where the Crawdads Sing should earn around $1.865 million (-19%) and $2.15 million over the long weekend to bring its cume to $85 million on a $24 million budget. Universal and Monkeypaw’s Nope will gross around $1.89 million over the holiday to bring its domestic cume to $120 million. That’s lower-than-hoped, considering Jordan Peele’s previous picture. However, it’s still a solid result for a star-lite, high-concept, R-rated original. The $69 million flick has earned $159 million worldwide. Three Thousand Years of Longing earned $1.544 million (-44%) in weekend two for a $1.76 million Fri-Mon gross. That will give George Miller’s ambitious but (if we’re honest) always commercially doomed Idris Elba/Tilda Swinton fantasy a $6 million 11-day total.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s Elvis debuted on HBO Max yesterday. It will pull a $1.47 million Fri-Mon gross to bring its domestic total to $149.5 million domestic and $281 million worldwide on an $85 million budget. Paramount’s Orphan: First Kill has earned $4.4 million in 18 days. A24’s Bodies Bodies Bodies will make $900,000 over the holiday to cross $11 million. It’ll pass the $11.8 million cume of A24’s X back in March. Finally, China’s current blockbuster Moon Man got a modest domestic release in 70 theaters. The delightful sci-fi dramedy, about an engineer stranded on Mars as Earth faces an apocalyptic event, will earn around $259,000 over the long weekend. Its Chinese cume is currently at $431 million. That makes it the eighth biggest global grosser of 2022 (right below the $612 million gross of China’s The Battle at Lake Changjin 2) and the second-biggest non-sequel behind The Batman ($770 million).