By LINDSEY BAHR
Marvel’s “Thunderbolts” and Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” dominated the North American box office charts again this weekend.
Now in their second and fourth weekends respectively, the two films had some new competition, including a horror movie, a Kerry Washington action pic, a Josh Hartnett airplane thriller, and a Shakespeare-inspired musical. None of the additions made a significant impact.
“Thunderbolts” took first place, with $33.1 million from theaters in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday. That’s down 55% from its opening. Internationally, it added $34 million, bringing its global total to $272.2 million. In just two weekends, the Walt Disney Co. release is already the fourth biggest of the year, globally and domestically.
The movie is also faring better than the previous Marvel movie, “Captain America: Brave New World,” which took a big 68% dive in its second weekend. The key difference was reviews, which don’t always dictate the fate of superhero movies, but good word of mouth has helped “Thunderbolts.”
“The holding power of this film harkens back to the heyday of Marvel,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “The currency of the long-term playability is more important than the sheer opening weekends.”
The studio also has another big movie coming later this summer in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.”
“Sinners,” meanwhile, crossed the $200 million mark in North American ticket sales this weekend, which is especially notable for an original R-rated movie. It added $21.1 million domestically, and $6.6 million internationally, bringing its global total to $283.3 million. Next weekend, it’s also returning to 70mm IMAX screens “by popular demand,” IMAX said.
Warner Bros.’ other juggernaut, “A Minecraft Movie,” has made $409 million domestically and $909.6 million globally in its six weekends in theaters. It added just under $8 million to take third place this weekend, followed by “The Accountant 2” in fourth with $6.1 million.
Several new movies also opened in wide release this weekend, but none seemed to break through the noise. The biggest of the bunch was “Clown in a Cornfield,” which earned $3.7 million (a relative high water mark for its distributor IFC) and cracked the top five.
“The second weekend in May, there is typically a bit of a lull,” Dergarabedian said. “IFC picked a perfect date for this clown to scare people into the theater.”
“Shadow Force,” a Lionsgate action pic with Washington and Omar Sy from “The Grey” filmmaker Joe Carnahan, made $2 million from 2,170 screens. Vertical’s “Flight or Fight,” starring Hartnett as a mercenary on a plane full of assassins, also debuted with an estimated $2 million from 2,153 screens.
In limited release, the Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd movie “Friendship” launched on six screens in New York and Los Angeles and scored the best per-screen average of the year ($75,317) with many sellouts reported. A24 plans to expand the release nationwide over Memorial Day.
Overall, it was a relatively quiet weekend, but thanks to “A Minecraft Movie,” “Sinners” and “Thunderbolts,” the year-to-date box office is up around 16% from last year, according to Comscore data. Compared with 2019, however, it’s down over 32%.
Next week, “Final Destination: Bloodlines” should give the marketplace another jolt before two giants debut over the holiday weekend: “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.”
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. “Thunderbolts,” $33.1 million.
2. “Sinners,” $21.1 million.
3. “A Minecraft Movie,” $8 million.
4. “The Accountant 2,” $6.1 million.
5. “Clown in a Cornfield,” $3.7 million.
6. “Shadow Force,” $2 million.
7. “Fight or Flight,” $2 million.
8. “Until Dawn,” $2 million.
9. “The Amateur,” $1.1 million.
10. “The King of Kings,” $680,656.
