DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE continued to lead all other movies on a slow Labor Day weekend, earning an additional $15.2M over the past three days, a drop of only 17% from last weekend’s total. This marks the fifth time in the past six weekends that the superhero duo has come out on top. During that stretch, only ALIEN: ROMULUS in its opening from August 16 -18 produced a higher result. Since both movies have an R rating, it is also the sixth consecutive weekend in which an R-rated film has topped the box office charts.
All titles this weekend generated $81.1M, which was down slightly from last year at this time when the first three days of Labor Day weekend produced $89.2M, led by the opening of Denzel Washington’s EQUALIZER 3 with $34.6M. The late summer surge of 20224 has slowed, with the 2024 box office slipping back slightly when compared with 2023.
Momentum should pick back up next weekend with the much-anticipated opening of BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE. Positive reviews have been plentiful, following its world premiere last Tuesday at the Venice Film Festival. The sequel to the 1988 hit BEETLEJUICE is expected to be one of the top-earning pictures remaining on this year’s release schedule.
After 38 days, the cumulative total for DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE stands at $599.5M domestic and $1.246B worldwide. The 2024 domestic box office has been lifted by two record-breaking titles: Marvel’s DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE setting a new marker for an R-rated film and Pixar’s INSIDE OUT 2 becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Here are the top five movies in 2024 based on domestic results to this point.
FIVE TOP-GROSSING MOVIES OF 2024 AS OF 8/29
- INSIDE OUT 2 (6/14/24) – Disney/Pixar, PG-Rated, Domestic Gross $647.2M
- DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE (7/26/24) – Disney/Marvel, R-Rated, Domestic Gross $584.3M
- DESPICABLE ME 4 (7/3/24) – Universal/Illumination, PG13-Rated, Domestic Gross $350.0M
- DUNE: PART 2 (3/1/24) – Warner Bros/LEgendary, PG13-Rated, Domestic Gross $282.1M
- TWISTERS (7/19/24) – Universal, PG13-Rated, Domestic Gross $250.8M
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE has earned the second most of any movie this year, with a worldwide gross of $1.246B. That is more than six times the $200M Disney spent to make it, which equates to a staggering $500M in profit.
ALIEN: ROMULUS continued to hang around in second place with $9.3M, a drop of 43% compared to last weekend. This sixth movie in the sci-fi series is performing at a robust rate, with 17-day totals of $88.8M domestic and $254.4M worldwide. This positions it in second place behind PROMETHEUS, the franchise leader from 2012.
ALIEN: ROMULUS vs PROMETHEUS AFTER 17 DAYS IN RELEASE
- PROMETHEUS (8/8/12) – Domestic Opening $51.1M, Domestic 17-Day $108.5M, Third Weekend Drop -52%, Domestic Total $126.5M, Worldwide Total $403.4M, Budget $130M, RT Critics/Audience 73%/68%
- ALIEN: ROMULUS (8/16/24) – Domestic Opening $42.0M, Domestic 17-Day $88.8M, Third Weekend Drop -43%, Budget $80M, RT Critics/Audience 80%/85%
There is an outside chance that ALIEN: ROMULUS could overtake PROMETHEUS’s domestic numbers if it manages to stay on screen for a few more weeks at the majority of the 3,120 locations where it is now playing. Because ALIEN: ROMULUS has not performed well internationally, it is unlikely to approach the $400M that PROMETHEUS earned globally. A key market that factored into PROMETHEUS’ success was Russia, where it earned $21.3M. Of course, that contribution is not available for ALIEN: ROMULUS this time around.
Sony’s romantic drama IT ENDS WITH US held onto third place by earning an additional $7.425M, a drop of 36%. The Blake Lively film continues to outperform all expectations, with a 24-day gross of $133.7M domestic and $260.6M worldwide. This makes it the highest-grossing original (non-sequel) film of 2024, which no one expected before its opening. It is currently in 11th place among all movies this year, only slightly behind A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE which brought in $138.9M. We estimate that IT ENDS WITH US will wind up earning $155M in the domestic market.
ShowBiz Direct’s biopic REAGAN finished in fourth place by taking in $7.4M. The movie was filmed in 2020 and is only now being released at the home stretch of the 2024 Presidential election cycle. The screenplay is based on a 2006 book by Paul Kengor entitled ‘The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.’
The movie was directed by Sean McNamara, beginning his work on the project eight years ago in 2016. Dennis Quaid stars as Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, with Penelope Ann Miller co-starring as Nancy Reagan. The story follows Reagan’s life from his childhood through his years as President. Interestingly, the story is told as a conversation between two former KGB agents.
While critics have been very negative about the film, giving it only a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences have been extremely positive with a 96% score. This may indicate that moviegoers choosing to watch the film are predisposed to support Reagan’s political legacy. Produced on a budget of $25M, the movie will need to earn $62M to reach profitability, with almost all of this coming from U.S. theatres.
Fifth place belongs to TWISTERS, which took in $7.2M and dropped only 17%. The action sequel is one of the summer’s most popular films, still playing at 3,005 locations after 45 days in theatres. It has now earned $258.0M domestically and $358.8M worldwide. Two weekends ago, TWISTERS had dropped to 8th place and last weekend it was in 6th. As much as this is a tribute to the appeal of TWISTERS, it is also an indication of the relative lack of success from wide releases over the past several weekends.
WHERE ARE WE AS OF 8/29
After 34 weeks, the 2024 year-to-date box office is 85% of 2023 totals and 73% of 2019 totals at this same point in the year.
