Two of the most famous monsters in the movies joined forces to defeat the box office deficit that 2024 has been suffering from as compared to results from last year.
Warner Bros.’ GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE shot to the top of the box office by earning $80.0M in the past three days, the second-highest opening of the year. Only DUNE: PART TWO had a higher opening when it earned $82.5M four weeks ago. The total for all films this weekend came to $136.4M, compared with last year’s $99.2M left by DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES which contributed $37.2M.
This is also the highest-grossing weekend of the year, beating out the weekend of March 8-10 when all films sold $131.1M at the box office on the opening weekend of KUNG FU PANDA 4 and second weekend of DUNE: PART TWO.
To be fair in the comparison, this year’s results benefitted by the weekend including the Easter holiday, whereas the same weekend last year was the weekend before Easter. Nonetheless, a win is a win and we’ll gladly take it. This is only the weekend this year that has bested the corresponding weekend from 2023. This victory will be one-and-done, as next week’s comp will be the super-successful THE SUPER MARIO BROS MOVIE which brought in $146M all by itself and went on to gross $575M domestic.
GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE is a direct sequel to GODZILLA VS. KONG on this same weekend three years ago when theatres were still dealing with the effects of COVID-19. That film grossed $31.6M domestic in its first three days and $100.9M overall. It did even better with international audiences, earning a total of $470.1M worldwide, with the international audience accounting for 80% of its revenue.
While we expect that GODZILLA X KONG will also do well internationally, we expect it to come in at a more typical 60% international / 40% domestic split rather than the 80%/20% we saw for the earlier film.
This is the 38th feature film for Godzilla and the 13th for King Kong. In this story, Kong encounters more of his species in the Hollow Earth and must team up with Godzilla to stop their tyrannical leader Titan from destroying the planet. The film stars Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, and Kaylee Hottle who all reprise their roles from the 2021 movie.
On Rotten Tomatoes, critics and audiences are chiming in with 55% and 93% scores respectively. After spending $165M to produce the film, conventional wisdom would say that it will need to earn a minimum of $415M globally to reach profitability. Given its robust opening weekend, nearly $50M higher than GODZILLA VS KONG, we feel that THE NEW EMPIRE is well on its way.
GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE came in second place by earning $15.7M, a decline of 65% from last weekend. Its total after ten days is $73.4M domestic and $91.8M worldwide. After last weekend’s opening box office being the second highest in franchise history, this chapter seems to be drifting back into the pack of earlier Ghostbusters sequels. It is worth noting that the original GHOSTBUSTERS had earned only $38.3M after ten days.
However, that was 40 years ago when a leading movie could remain at #1 for much longer stretches. GHOSTBUSTERS led all movies for all of its first seven weeks in theatres, which would be virtually impossible these days. Maybe the 90-day theatrical exclusive window had some impact on that. GHOSTBUSTERS also played in cinema for 30 weeks, another rarity in the current climate.
GHOSTBUSTERS FRANCHISE DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE RECAP
- GHOSTBUSTERS (6/8/1984) – Opening Weekend $13.6M, Second Weekend $15.3M (+12%), First 10 Days $38.3M, Total $243.6M
- GHOSTBUSTERS 2 (6/16/1989) – Opening Weekend $29.5M, Second Weekend $13.9M (-53%), First 10 Days $58.8M, Total $112.5M
- GHOSTBUSTERS (7/15/2016) – Opening Weekend $46.0M, Second Weekend $21.0M (-54%), First 10 Days $86.2M, Total $128.4M
- GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (11/19/2021) – Opening Weekend $44.0M, Second Weekend $24.2M (-45%), First 10 Days $87.5M, Total $129.4M
- GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE (3/22/2024) – Opening Weekend $45.0M, Second Weekend $15.7M (-65%), First 10 Days $73.4M
There was some optimism after its opening that GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE could go on to set a franchise box office record. That sunny outlook was clouded this weekend, and we now expect it to wind up grossing approximately $100M domestically.
DUNE: PART TWO finished in third place in its fourth weekend with $11.1M, a decline of only 37%. After 31 days, it has amassed $252.2M domestic and a stunning $600.5M worldwide. These results eclipse the $108.9M domestic and $406.0M worldwide recorded by the first DUNE movie from 2021. Over the last six months, Timothee Chalamet has starred in two features grossing over $600M worldwide, with DUNE: PART TWO at $600.5M and WONKA at $632.2M.
If you like Mr. Chalamet there’s more good news ahead because his next project, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, began shooting two weeks ago. Will lightning strike for the third time in a row? This movie will be a biopic focused on Bob Dylan, to whom Chalamet bears a striking resemblance. The movie is being directed by James Mangold who also directed the Johnny Cash biopic WALK THE LINE.
KUNG FU PANDA 4 finished fourth with an Easter weekend total of $10.2M, a drop of only 38%. After 24 days, it has earned $151.7M domestic and $302.5M worldwide, already higher than MIGRATION’s $127.2M in its 101 days in theatres. With PANDA 4 having weekend drops of 48%, 44% and now this weekend’s 38%, it’s clear that the movie is benefitting from the phenomenon of family films performing well in theatres over long stretches. This is particularly true when the competition is limited.
MIGRATION was successful in this way, opening on 12/22/2023 and having the field to itself for 2 ½ months until the 3/8/2024 opening of KUNG FU PANDA 4. The next animated family film to arrive in theatres will be Sony’s THE GARFIELD MOVIE which opens on 5/24/2024. Over 6 months, there will be only three wide-release animated family films in theatres.
So much the better for their studios, who are benefitting from the extended window to squeeze everything they can from these films. However, exhibitors may wish to have more of these titles, resulting in a higher overall box office total.
IMMACULATE was able to secure fifth place in its second weekend by grossing $3.3M and dropping only 39%. This is a very good hold number for a horror film that didn’t open very well. This brings its ten-day domestic total to $11.1M and $13.7M worldwide. Its distributor Neon should feel positive about its prospects going forward, after its modest 39% second weekend drop. If it can stay in theatres for the next three weeks, it has a shot to reach a worldwide gross of $25M.
WHERE ARE WE AS OF 3/28
After 12 weeks, the 2024 year-to-date box office stands at 88% compared with the same eleven weeks in 2023, and 67% compared with those weeks in 2019.
