'Bullet Train's' $30M opening tracks, and 'Maverick' gets a milestone
Sony's (NYSE:SONY) Bullet Train kept to a predictable timetable, leading the weekend's domestic box office with a $30.1M opening that was largely in line with some modest expectations. But that suggests a long road to profitability for the $90M production.
The film made its mark in what may be the biggest overall weekend at the movies for a couple of months, with a fairly empty slate ahead until October.
The rest of the top five films were holdovers, meaning that fellow opener Easter Sunday (NASDAQ:CMCSA) came in with a disappointing $5.25M, good enough for just eighth place among movies.
Rounding out the top five were DC League of Super-Pets (WBD), which drew $11.2M in its second weekend to reach $45.1M cumulative; Nope (CMCSA), which added $8.5M in its third week to draw close to a $100M cumulative total; Thor: Love and Thunder (DIS), which piled up $7.6M in its fifth week (bringing its cumulative total to $316.1M, and $698.9M worldwide); and Minions: The Rise of Gru (CMCSA), adding another $7.1M to hit a total of $334.6M.
Another key number came from the weekend's sixth-ranked film, however. Top Gun: Maverick (PARA) (PARAA) pulled "just" $7M over the weekend - but that number is huge considering that it's the movie's 11th weekend in theaters, through a tough blockbuster season.
And notably, that was the weekend that drew Top Gun: Maverick past Titanic to become the seventh-highest grossing domestic picture of all time. It's unlikely, but possible, that Maverick can take over the No. 6 slot in this ongoing release: That position is held by Avengers: Infinity War, with $678.8M to Top Gun: Maverick's $662.5M.
Exhibitors are generally higher Monday: AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) +12%; Cineworld (OTCPK:CNNWF) -7.7%; Cinemark (CNK) +3.9%; (IMAX) +0.2%; Marcus (MCS) +0.6%; Reading International (RDI) +0.2%; Cineplex (OTCPK:CPXGF) -1.4%; National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) +5.4%.
Meanwhile, Minions: The Rise of Gru (CMCSA) could see a shot in the arm as it's getting a surprisingly sudden Aug. 19 opening in top global box office China.