Saturday was kind to most movies in the top 10 and saw lifts over Friday, in particular Disney’s Lilo & Stitch and Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning which were respectively up 51% and 55%. Lilo & Stitch is coming in at $63 million for its second frame, while Mission: Impossible 8 is at $27.3M.
Disney executives are skipping around the Burbank lot as Lilo & Stitch is catapulting the studio past the $1 billion mark at the domestic box office with a 30% market share. Disney is the first studio to pass that milestone YTD. Excluding 2020, Disney has grossed $1B+ domestically for 20 consecutive years since 2005, the only studio to accomplish this.
Sony is calling Karate Kid: Legends at $21M but others see it under $20M, like in the $19M range. Oh, no. I mean, if Sony called it at $20M given that everyone is in the high $19M range today, that’s not a big deal. But nobody knows where the extra $1M+ is coming from. Saturday was at $7.3M, off 5% from Friday/previews of $7.7M. If you back out the $2.3M previews, Saturday was an up day for the Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio team-up at +35%.
I’m told that Karate Kid: Legends came on tracking at $35M and dropped to the mid-$20Ms before this weekend. Oh, jeez.
Why wasn’t there a big rush to this film? Why is it under its projections? It’s the Cobra Kai streaming Netflix effect, dummy. With the Karate Kid audience conditioned to stay at home, what’s the big reason for them to run out and watch another fight tournament onscreen? Yes, as we said before, being in the shadow of Lilo & Stitch doesn’t help given the overlap of certain demos. Families are on a budget and they’re going to put their money toward the title that kids are nagging them to see (tracking does take this into consideration with kids under 12).
RelishMix noticed negative chatter, concentrated around the fear that Karate Kid: Legends wouldn’t live up to the hype and the success of previous installments. Comments included, “I mean the story is same as every Karate Kid film,” and, “I do not know how I feel about this. I’m half terrified.”
Call it what you will — $19M-$20M. Note that while it’s under expectations, the picture will be somewhat profitable. It’s an OK piece of business at a $45M net production cost, even though I’m sure Sony would have loved to see bigger numbers.
Let’s not forget the great exits, which should help the film hold.
Karate Kid: Legends was originally dated for June 7, 2024, before the strikes pushed it to December 13, 2024. When it came to business for this film, Sony had second thoughts and chose kids out of school for the summer over a crazy multiple over Christmas, thus moving Karate Kid: Legends back to a post-Memorial Day weekend slot.
Elsewhere this weekend is A24’s Bring Her Back — an excellent, original gross movie with great exits. Beyond the B+ CinemaScore, there’s 80% audience on Rotten Tomatoes with a big hug from critics at 90% certified fresh. Just like A24 was trying to campaign for Toni Colette for Hereditary, there’s an awards push to be done here for Sally Hawkins. Though the movie is at the top of its forecasted range with $7M, it’s a bit surprising it didn’t overindex more and do a number beyond the Philippou brothers’ first movie, Talk to Me ($10.4M), or at least on par. Remember that when it comes to these indie labels, it’s a business of margins and slide rules in regards to P&A spend, from theatrical yield to profiting in the home windows. A 3x-4x multiple off a movie’s opening (Midsommar, Heretic) is typically A24’s theatrical goal on these genre movies; Talk to Me had a 4.6x (final domestic was $48.2M). That movie eased 39% in its second weekend. We’ll see if Bring Her Back can bring more back.
Bring Her Back played best in the East and West and even throughout the U.S. and Canada. AMC Burbank was the pic’s highest-grossing location with just under $30,000.
As we said all weekend, even if the numbers for Karate Kid: Legends and Bring Her Back aren’t dazzling, let’s celebrate depth. All movies grossed an estimated $151M, up 130% from the same post-Memorial Day frame a year ago. I mean, Lilo & Stitch‘s second weekend at $63M reps 95% of what most movies grossed a year ago at $66M.
1. Lilo & Stitch (Dis) 4,410 theaters, Fri $17M (-70%) Sat $25.6M Sun $20.4M 3-day $63M (-57%), Total $280.1M/Wk 2
2. Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning (Par) 3,861 (+4) Fri $7.5M (-70%) Sat $11.7M Sun $8.2M 3-day $27.3M (-57%), Total $122.6M/Wk 2
Imax North American screens brought in $5.6M with a running cume just under $25M.
3. Karate Kid: Legends (Sony) 3,809 theaters, Fri $7.7M, Sat $7.3M Sun $6M 3-day $21M/Wk 1
4. Final Destination: Bloodlines (NL) 3,134 (-389) Fri $3.2M (-43%) Sat $4.4M Sun $3.1M 3-day $10.8M (-43%), Total $111.7M/Wk 3
5. Bring Her Back (A24) 2,449 theaters, Fri $3.1M Sat $2.2M Sun $1.67M 3-day $7.08M/Wk 1
6.) Sinners (WB) 2,138 (-494) theaters Fri $1.55M (-35%) Sat $2.1M Sun $1.5M 3-day $5.22M (-39%), Total $267M/Wk 7
7.) Thunderbolts (Dis) 2,520 (-660) theaters Fri $1.3M (-48%) Sat $2M Sun $1.5M 3-day $4.8M (-50%), Total $181.8M/Wk 5
8.) Friendship (A24) 1,293 (+238) theaters, Fri $780K (-56%) Sat $1M Sun $766K 3-day $2.5M (-44%), Total $12.3M/Wk 4
9.) Last Rodeo (Angel) 1995 (-210) theaters, Fri $642K Sat $876,5K Sun $620K 3-day $2.14M (-60%), Total $10.75M/Wk 2
10.) J-Hope Tour: Hope on Stage (TRAF) 631 theaters Sat $789K Sun $150K, 2-day $939K/Wk 1
Busting into the top 10 is Trafalgar Releasing’s live broadcast of the grand finale of j-hope’s first solo world tour from Osaka Japan’s Kyocera Dome. The concert was transmitted live to 2,700+ cinemas across 83 countries Saturday. Select encores are taking place today around the globe (64% encoring in North America, 46% worldwide). Global projection (sans Japan) for the weekend stands at $4.1M.
11.) The Accountant 2 (AMZ) 820 (-1182) theaters, Fri $214K (-56%) Sat $331K Sun $231K 3-day $776K (-62%), Total $65M/Wk 6
Notables:
The Phoenician Scheme (Foc) 6 theaters, Fri $270K Sat $160K Sun $140K 3-day $570K, PTA $95K, Wk 1
As we said Saturday, it’s the biggest per screen of the year to date. Updated on individual theaters through Saturday: NYC’s Angelika $121K, AMC’s Lincoln Square is $96K, L.A.’s AMC Century City is $58K, L.A.’s AMC the Grove $55K, AMC Burbank $53,400 and NYC’s Alamo Brooklyn stands just under $44K. Movie is 77% certified fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. No audience score yet. Asteroid City, Focus Features’ previous Cannes Film Festival premiere and theatrical release with Wes Anderson, had a RT critic score of 76% certified fresh and audience score of 66%.