It’s been a long time since four movies hit the box office and crossed the $20 million mark. The last time was in June 2022, when Elvis, Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World Dominion and The Black Phone all made over $20 million, and before that, it hadn’t happened since 2017. But this weekend, it just might happen again, with the top four movies all looking at potentially crossing that milestone—although it’s going to be borderline.
Currently, the top two movies at the box office are Avengers: Endgame Encore and Resident Evil. According to Deadline, the Endgame re-release is on track to make anywhere between $24-26 million following an $11 million Friday. Resident Evil should do $23.5 million, which is a steeper-than-expected 61% week-to-week drop (I predicted it would have more staying power).
Third place will go to Heart of the Beast, which is opening stronger than expected for Paramount, with it on track for about $20 million. Its CinemaScore is an excellent A-minus, so it should have legs at the box office (we loved it). The most borderline case is A24’s Chris Hansen movie, Primetime, which could hit $20 million, although if Saturday business isn’t quite as strong as expected, it might come in around $18-19 million. Even still, that’s a very strong number for the A24 movie, which reportedly cost only $15 million.
The odd man out is DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island. Despite excellent reviews (including our own) and a stunning A CinemaScore, it will only barely cross the $10 million mark, which is strikingly low for a big-budget animated film. It just goes to show what a difficult time original animated movies are having at the box office lately, with seemingly only sequels to proven franchises being a sure thing.
If the business is going to sustain itself, movies like this need more support, but one also has to wonder why it didn’t strike a chord at all with mass audiences. What was it about the movie that made people simply shrug it off? It’s a question the suits at DreamWorks Animation will certainly have to ask themselves come Monday morning.
What are you seeing this weekend? Let us know in the comments.