LOS ANGELES — During a slow summer weekend at the box office, new movies failed to make waves and older titles dominated.
What you need to know: “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Alien: Romulus” and “It Ends With Us” once again topped the box office charts, beating out new releases like “You Only Blink Twice” and “The Crow.”
The third “Deadpool” film made $18.3 million, the latest “Alien” film made $16.2 million in its second weekend, and “It Ends With Us” made $11.9 million.
The Walt Disney Co., which owns 20th Century Studios, held the top two spots on the chart, with “Inside Out 2” staying on the list for an 11th consecutive week.
“Blink Twice” debuted in fourth place with $7.3 million, while “The Crow” debuted in eighth place with $4.6 million.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” once again topped the North American box office with $18.3 million in its fifth weekend, and the film’s total international gross has now surpassed $1.2 billion.
The Walt Disney Co., which owns 20th Century Studios, held the top two spots on the chart for the second week in a row, with “Alien: Romulus” following closely behind the bad-mouthing superhero movie. The latest in the 45-year-old franchise brought in $16.2 million in its second weekend after a strong opening. Disney’s “Inside Out 2” also stayed on the charts, earning $2.1 million domestically in its 11th week. The film’s worldwide gross has now surpassed $1.6 billion.
“This is an incredible turnaround for Disney, who shockingly almost disappeared from the radar last year and throughout the pandemic,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “They’ve released some billion-dollar movies and still have Moana in theaters. This is a big comeback year for Disney, there’s no question about it.”
Romance drama “It Ends With Us” also continued its chart-topping run, coming in at No. 3 for the second week in a row with $11.9 million. The Sony film, which stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni and also directed, has grossed $242.6 million worldwide to date. It cost just $25 million to make.
New releases have fallen victim to a crowded movie market, creating what Dergarabedian called “box office deja vu,” with familiar films dominating and making it harder for new releases to gain a foothold. Dergarabedian said the upcoming Labor Day holiday is likely to benefit new releases by spreading word of mouth and drawing more people to theaters over the long weekend.
“Blink Twice,” directed by Zoe Kravitz and starring her partner Channing Tatum, has had a modest start, grossing $7.3 million at the box office and charting at number four. The psychological thriller from Amazon-MGM Studios tells the story of tech tycoon Slater King, played by Tatum, who whisks two women away to his private island. At first glance, it seems like a picture-perfect getaway, but as they learn the truth about the island and the billionaire, something far more sinister unfolds. The film reportedly cost $20 million to make.
Reviews have been mixed, with audiences giving the film a B- CinemaScore, but it has a Certified Fresh rating of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Rounding out the top five is “The Forge,” a faith-focused coming-of-age film about a young man finding his path through Christianity. The film opened with a box office gross of $6.6 million and earned an A+ CinemaScore from audiences. The film was released by Sony’s faith-based brand, Affirm Films.
“The Crow,” another new release, lost out in the rankings to “Twisters” and “Coraline.” “Twisters” ended its sixth weekend at the domestic box office with $6.2 million, while “Coraline,” which was re-released last week for its 15th anniversary, brought in another $5.1 million in its second weekend.
Lionsgate’s “The Crow,” an R-rated adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel and a remake of the 1994 film of the same name, grossed $4.6 million. The studio also released the video game adaptation “Borderlands” in August, but it only grossed $15.2 million in three weeks on a reported budget of $120 million.
Rounding out what Dergarabedian called “the saga of the leftovers,” Despicable Me and Inside Out 2 rounded out the top 10 movies for the weekend, grossing $4.4 million and $2.1 million, respectively. Inside Out 2 has stayed on the charts for 11 consecutive weeks and remains the No. 1 animated movie of all time worldwide.
These are estimates of ticket sales in U.S. and Canadian cinemas from Friday through Sunday, according to ComScore. Final domestic figures will be released on Monday.
1. Deadpool & Wolverine, $18.3 million.
2. Alien: Romulus, $16.2 million
3. It Ends With Us, $11.9 million
4. You Never Knew It, $7.3 million
5. The Forge, $6.6 million
6. Twisters, $6.2 million
7. Coraline, $5.1 million
8. The Crow, $4.6 million
9. Despicable Me, $4.4 million
10. “Inside Out 2” — $2.1 million