Repeats likely to rule box office, as market awaits new Marvel
A few weeks of growing release activity at the domestic box office gives way this weekend to something of a lull before the Marvel storm.
Last weekend saw three wide debuts, but this weekend has just one: Liam Neeson assassin-for-hire film Memory (Open Road). But with poor word-of-mouth for that film, the big proceeds will likely be divvied up by last week's winners.
That includes the previous No. 1, animated film The Bad Guys (NASDAQ:CMCSA), which grossed just under $24 million to top a fellow family film, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (PARA) (PARAA), which drew $15.7 million. Another contender could be Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (WBD), which grossed $14 million last week in its second weekend in theaters.
Less of a challenge should come from two other entrants from last weekend: The Northman (CMCSA), which grossed $12.3 million in domestic theaters, and Nicolas Cage meta-movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (LGF.A) (LGF.B), which drew just $7.1 million.
Family films - in short supply in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic - are in charge for the moment: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (PARA) (PARAA) has grossed a total of $146.3 million domestically, and a total of $291.6 million worldwide. The Bad Guys has piled up $28.3 million at home, but another $63.9 million overseas for a global total of $92.2 million. And Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (WBD) has a cumulative $67.1 million domestically and $284.1 million worldwide.
The single and modest Liam Neeson release this weekend comes as the box office braces for the next weekend's release of the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (DIS), making something of an unofficial launch to blockbuster season well before Memorial Day.