With a 3-day total of $25.6M, Warner Bros.’ FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA took over first place in the coveted Memorial Day weekend, with the total for all movies coming in at $101.1M. Last year, Disney’s live-action remake of THE LITTLE MERMAID opened with $95.6M and the total for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was $163.1M. Two years ago, TOP GUN: MAVERICK blew the doors off Memorial Day with a $126.7M debut, lifting that year’s 3-day total for all films to $177.2M.
Excluding the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, one has to go back to 1999 to find a lower 3-day Memorial Day box office, when STAR WARS: EPISODE I – THE PHANTOM MENACE (in its second week) was the #1 movie in theatres. Recall that earlier this month Fathom brought back a 25th anniversary re-release of that film. The 2024 slump continues, which stood at 24% lower than totals from 2023 as of last Thursday.
On the bright side, Disney offered some good news this week when it announced that $8M of tickets have been sold for opening day showtimes of DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, which arrives on July 26th. This sets a new record for opening day advanced ticket sales for an R-rated feature and makes the case that Marvel’s next MCU blockbuster will be one of the top films of the year.
FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA is the fifth entry in the MAD MAX franchise that began in 1979 with the original MAD MAX, a sleeper hit from Australia made on a budget of only $200,000. It was created by first-time director George Miller and starred Mel Gibson in his second starring role.
Its raw action scenes resonated with audiences, and justified a series of sequels, with MAD MAX 2: ROAD WARRIOR arriving in 1981, MAD MAX: BEYOND THUNDERDOME in 1985, and MAD MAX: FURY ROAD 30 years later in 2015. That film was a prequel that introduced the character of Imperator Furiosa played by Charlize Theron. FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA continues that storyline with Anya Taylor-Joy starring as a younger version of Imperator Furiosa.
Over his 44-year career, George Miller has directed 15 films including all the MAD MAX movies and a wide range of others such as THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK (1987), LORENZO’s OIL (1992), BABE (1985), HAPPY FEET (2006) and THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING (2022).
All of Miller’s films together have generated an impressive $1.3B in the worldwide box office. Critics have praised FURIOSA for lifting the MAD MAX series to new heights in action while allowing the actors space to portray a human element to the story. Its critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes stands at 89%, with audiences giving it an even better 91% score.
HISTORY OF MAD MAX MOVIES
- MAD MAX (3/4/1980) – Opening Domestic $8.8M, Total Domestic $99.8M, Budget $200K, RT Critics 90%, RT Audience 70%
- MAD MAX: THE ROAD WARRIOR (5/21/1982) – Opening Domestic $2.6M, Total Domestic $23.7M, Total Worldwide $36.0M, Budget $4.0M, RT Critics 93%, RT Audience 86%
- MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME (7/12/1985) – Opening Domestic $7.3M, Total Domestic $36.2M, Total Worldwide $52.0M, Budget $12.0M, RT Critics 79%, RT Audience 49%
- MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (5/15/2015) – Opening Domestic $45.4M, Total Domestic $154.3M, Total Worldwide $380.4M, Budget $150M, RT Critics 97%, RT Audience 86%
- FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA (5/24/2024) – Opening Domestic $25.6M, Budget $168M, RT Critics 89%, RT Audience 91%
FURIOSA will be compared to its immediate predecessor MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, which debuted on 4/15/2015 to an opening weekend of $45.4M and a total domestic run of $154.3M. Its worldwide total of $380.4M was even more impressive, making it the top-grossing movie of the series by far. However, FURY ROAD was also quite expensive with a hefty production budget of $150M, resulting in its financials coming in at only break-even.
FURIOSA’s $25.6M opening weekend was only 56% of the total earned 9 years ago by FURY ROAD. Ouch! What’s more, its production budget is said to be $168M, even higher than that of FURY ROAD. Worldwide box office will need to add up to $420M for FURIOSA to reach profitability, which seems to be a challenge given a relatively soft opening.
The next sequel in the MAD MAX series is titled MAD MAX: THE WASTELAND and is only in the early stages of development. Its future may depend on the performance of FURIOSA, and whether the studio can convince George Miller to sign on for another chapter after he celebrates his 80th birthday in 2025.
Sony’s THE GARFIELD MOVIE finished in second place with a gross of $24.8M in its opening weekend. The star character comes from the comic strip Garfield created by Jim Davis, which first appeared in 1976. Originally, the famous orange tabby cat was named Jon, but Davis changed his name to Garfield two years later when he sold his comic strip into national syndication.
Garfield is a fat cat known for being both lazy and sarcastic. He loves to eat, with a particular affinity for lasagna. In 2013, The Guinness World Book of Records named Garfield the most widely circulated comic in history then appeared in 2,580 newspapers. Huge merchandise sales and spin-off TV shows and movies also demonstrated its popularity. THE GARFIELD MOVIE is the first animated feature film in the franchise.
Property rights for Garfield are shared in an unusual three-way partnership, with Paramount having rights to the comics, merchandise, and TV cartoons, Disney (through its acquisition of 20th Century Fox) owning the two live-action movies, and Sony responsible for animated features, of which THE GARFIELD MOVIE is expected to be the first of many.
THE GARFIELD MOVIE was directed by Mark Dindal, who has worked in all aspects of animation including effects, character design, storyboarding artist, voice actor, and director. His previous directorial outings include Cats Don’t Dance (1997), The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), and CHICKEN LITTLE (2005).
The cast for this movie includes Chris Pratt and Samuel L. Jackson with support from Hannah Waddingham and Ving Rhames. The story has Garfield (Pratt) reuniting with his long, lost father, a ragged alley cat named Vic (Jackson). Garfield and his canine friend Odie are forced out of their perfectly pampered lives to join Vic in a risky heist adventure. Critics and audiences do not agree on the outcome, with critics giving it a sour 37% rating on Rotten Tomatoes while audiences liked it to the tune of an 83% score.
After spending $60M on its production, THE GARFIELD MOVIE will need to gross $150M worldwide to be profitable at the box office. It has already opened in 13 international markets where it has generated $49.0M so far. Here’s a summary of the results from the two earlier live-action films.
HISTORY OF GARFIELD MOVIES
- GARFIELD: THE MOVIE (6/11/2004) – Opening Domestic $21.7M, Total Domestic $75.4M, Total Worldwide $203.2M, Budget $50M, RT Critics 14%, RT Audience 38%
- GARFIELD: A TALE OF TWO KITTIES (6/16/2006) – Opening Domestic $7.3M, Total Domestic $28.4M, Total Worldwide $143.3M, Budget $60M, RT Critics 12%, RT Audience 43%
- THE GARFIELD MOVIE (5/24/2024) – Opening Domestic $24.8M, Budget $60M, RT Critics 37%, RT Audience 83%
Given the modest budget and strong international following for the comic strip and earlier films, the new movie has a strong chance to be profitable. The next animated film to arrive in theatres will be INSIDE OUT 2, which opens in three weeks on June 14th. THE GARFIELD MOVIE should do well until then, leveraging a positive word of mouth.
Paramount’s IF came in third place this weekend with a 3-day total of $16.1M, a decline of 52% from its opening. After ten days, John Krasinski’s live-action animated film has brought in $58.7M domestic and $88.8M worldwide.
A 50% drop in the second weekend is respectable, especially because THE GARFIELD MOVIE opened against it this weekend. IF and GARFIELD will share the family audience INSIDE OUT 2 enters the picture on June 14th. As of this weekend, IF seems on track to gross $150M worldwide, far short of the $275M it would need to be profitable from its theatrical run.
20th Century’s KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES grossed an additional $13.4M this weekend, a drop of 48% from last weekend. After 17 days, it has sold $122.8M domestically and $271.7M worldwide, making it the fourth highest-grossing movie of 2024.
Even as it adds to this total in the weeks ahead, KINGDOM has no realistic chance of catching the number three movie of 2024, KUNG FU PANDA 4, which has grossed $536.7M worldwide. It may be profitable however if it continues to produce throughout June and hits $400M in total worldwide ticket sales.
Universal’s THE FALL GUY finished in fifth place with weekend sales of $5.9M, a decline of only 29%. This modest drop is significant because THE FALL GUY became available on Friday to watch at home over VOD services. Its availability online is by Universal’s agreement with exhibitors to maintain exclusive theatrical releases for only 17 days, since the film opened with $27.7M, under the $50.0M threshold required for it to continue its exclusive run in theatres.
A box office decline of only 29% is an accomplishment, one of the best holds of any movie playing in theatres over the Memorial Day weekend. This flies in the face of the argument that a film’s theatrical gross craters when it becomes available on streaming. It also makes one wonder who the at-home audience was for the movie since the theatrical gross declined only modestly. We will continue to track how the “17-day” arrangement between studios and exhibitors impacts box office results.
Where Are We as of 5/23
After 20 weeks, the 2024 year-to-date box office stands at 76% compared to 2023 and 58% in 2019.
