The first weekend in May is traditionally the beginning of the summer box office season. But with the majority of cinemas in Europe closed it’s been well documented that plenty of big summer tentpoles have moved in to July and onwards, effectively delaying the season.
But with that in mind the US domestic box office is still posting healthier numbers than this time last year thanks to a number of well performing titles.
United Artists Releasing is filling the vacancy left by Disney – which traditionally drops a Marvel movie in this frame – with the release of Miramax/MGM production, Wrath of Man. The R-rated film, directed by Guy Ritchie, had a solid Friday at the B.O. during the pandemic with $3M (including $500K Thursday previews), then continued on to make the same amount of cash yesterday, and reports a preliminary 3-day opening of $8M from 2,875 screens.
Wrath of Man has, so far, opened in nine territories and pulled in a global haul around $25.6M. The film ranked number one in Russia & CIS, where it took $10M, Australia and NZ, taking $3.2M, Taiwan, with $2.5M, and China where it counted $1M from limited previews ahead of its May 10 launch.
Sitting in the No. 2 spot this week is Funimatin/Aniplex’s Demon Slayer which in its 3rd weekend grossed $3.05M (-52%) for a 17-day running total of $39.6M. Warner Bros./HBO Max’s Mortal Kombat at 2,973 locations (-141) took in a further $700K on Friday (-62%) in its 3rd Friday in the No. 3 spot with a 3rd weekend gross of $2.375M (-62%) and a running total of $37.8M.
Fourth place is also owned by Warner Bros. with Legendary’s Godzilla v. Kong (which no longer plays on HBO Max). That pic’s 6th Friday made $505K (-32%) at 2,705 theaters (-48) on Friday for a 3-day of $1.93M (-32%) and a $92.9M running total by EOD Sunday. 5th place belongs to Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon which grossed $420K in its 10th Friday at 2,315 theaters (+505) with a 3-day of $1.865M (+35%) and a running total of $43.8M. The pic is also available on Disney+ Premier for the extra cost of $30. Open Road’s Separation grossed $315K (-54%) in its second Friday on its way to a $1.065M weekend at 1,911 (+160) sites for a 10-day of $3.3M.
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