Warner Bros.’ sci-fi dark comedy MICKEY 17 shot to the top of the domestic box office with $19.1M in its opening three days. This ended a three-week winning streak for CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD which had claimed the top spot every day since it opened on February 14.
All films in theatres earned $56.0M this weekend, which is well short of the same weekend last year when Universal’s animated KUNG FU PANDA 4 opened with $58.0M and led all films to $136.1M. This is the second weekend in a row with box office grosses lower than in last year at this time. It is also the second consecutive weekend when the total box office languished in the mid $50M range.
Next weekend, the current year will try to get back on track with four new wide-opening movies. They include Paramount’s action-comedy thriller NOVOCAINE, the thrillers BLACK BAG from Focus Features and OPUS from A24, and the animated family film THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE, produced by Warner Bros. and distributed by Ketchup Entertainment. Last year on weekend #11 of the year, the top film was KUNG FU PANDA 4 in its second weekend, earning $30.1M and leading all films to $87.8M.
Bong Joon-ho’s new movie MICKEY 17 is based on the 2022 novel “Mickey7” by Edward Ashton. Joon-ho wrote the screenplay and directed the movie, his first since the multi-award-winning PARASITE from 2019 which established him as one of the world’s preeminent filmmakers. He has also been praised for his earlier work as a writer and director of SNOWPIERCER from 2013.
At the Academy Awards in 2020, PARASITE received six nominations and won four Oscars, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Ho, Best International Feature, and Best Picture. It was the first and only non-English language film to ever win the top award. This recognition catapulted Ho into elite status on the world stage and primed many to track what project he would take on next.
MICKEY 17 was the next project to bring Joon-ho back to the big screen. It follows the life of Mickey Barnes, an “expendable” crew member who is assigned to deadly missions to colonize the ice world Niflheim. When he dies, his consciousness is uploaded into a new clone, with his memories still intact but a fading sense of identity.
The story takes a twist when Mickey 17 unexpectedly survives a mission and encounters his replacement Mickey 18. The two are forced to hide their dual identity from the rest of the crew while grappling with philosophical questions about mortality, selfhood, and what it means to be human.
The film adaptation of Edward Ashton’s novel “Mickey7” was retitled MICKEY 17 by director Joon-ho to emphasize the increasing number of times the protagonist is killed and cloned in the movie. While the book centers on Mickey’s seventh iteration, Joon-ho humorously noted at last year’s CinemaCon that he “killed him 10 more times” in his film, leading to the revised title.
Robert Pattinson (TWILIGHT) shows versatility in the title role, playing both Mickey 17 and Mickey 18. The film features an impressive ensemble cast, including Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo.
Critics are positive about the film, giving it a 79% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes while audiences were slightly less positive with a 73% Popcornmeter score. The Financial Times criticizes the film for over-explaining its themes and dragging subplots, resulting in a predictable narrative. Despite these shortcomings, Robert Pattinson’s performance adds humor, and the film features visually intriguing elements like the human printer and chaotic space grubs.
Overall, the film is considered passable, earning a two-star review. People Magazine offers a more positive perspective, describing MICKEY 17 as a wildly entertaining futuristic epic. The film blends humor, political commentary, and thrilling action, creating a unique and immersive cinematic experience. Pattinson’s dual roles and the film’s vivid imagination contribute to an exhilarating adventure.
GQ notes that MICKEY 17 is Bong Joon-ho’s most American film yet, exploring corporate exploitation and complex sci-fi storytelling. While the film’s premises and performances stand out, it occasionally deviates from its central themes, leading to a somewhat disjointed experience. Nevertheless, it remains inventive and showcases Bong’s adaptability across different cultural landscapes.
PARASITE was made with a production budget of $11.4M and went on to generate $262.6M in worldwide ticket sales, making it both a critical success and wildly profitable with a 23:1 ratio of worldwide box office to production budget ratio. This time, Bong had a much larger budget of $118M to work with to explore the scope of the film’s subject matter.
It will have to earn $295M in worldwide sales to break even. Based on its domestic debut of $19.1M and remembering the fact that 80% of PARASITE’S total gross came from international markets, the film appears to have a chance of getting into the black. As is often the case, the second weekend will be pivotal in determining its ultimate fate.
Finishing second is Disney’s CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD, which earned $8.5M and dropped 43% in its fourth weekend. That brings its 24-day total to $176.6M domestic and $370.8M worldwide. Here is a look at how this film compares to the three previous films in the franchise.
CAPTAIN AMERICA Movies After 24 Days
- CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (7/22/2011) – Domestic Opening $65.1M (3,715 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $25.6M (-61%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $13.0M (-49%), Domestic 4th Weekend $7.2M (-45%), Domestic 24-Day $157.0M, Domestic Total $176.7M, Worldwide Total $370.6M, Budget $140M, RT Critics/Audience 80%/75%
- CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (4/4/2014) – Domestic Opening $95.0M (3,938 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $41.3M (-57%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $25.6M (-38%), Domestic 4th Weekend $16.2M (-37%), Domestic 24-Day $225.1M, Domestic Total $259.8M, Worldwide Total $714.4M, Budget $170M, RT Critics/Audience 90%/92%
- CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (5/6/2016) – Domestic Opening $179.1M (4,226 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $72.6M (-60%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $32.9M (-55%), Domestic 4th Weekend $15.4M (-53%), Domestic 24-Day $372.9M, Domestic Total $408.1M, Worldwide Total $1,153M, Budget $250M, RT Critics/Audience 90%/89%
- CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (2/14/2025) – Domestic Opening $88.5M (4,105 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $28.2M (-68%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $15.0M (-47%), Domestic 4th Weekend $8.5M (-43%), Domestic 24-Day $176.6M, Budget $180M, RT Critics/Audience 49%/79%
While BRAVE NEW WORLD’s domestic totals are lagging, it is plagued with an even more severe drop in international markets compared to earlier movies from the series. CAPTAIN AMERICA 1, 2, and 3 recorded an impressive 62% of their box office in international markets whereas the latest movie is only generating 52%.
We speculate that audiences outside the U.S. may be less interested in an uber-American superhero story given the current geopolitical climate. It appears that BRAVE NEW WORLD will fall short of the $450M in the worldwide box office that it would take for the movie to be profitable from its theatrical run. This downturn calls into doubt the future of the franchise, despite its very profitable history.
Finishing third is the Focus Feature’ survival thriller LAST BREATH, which took in $4.2M during its second weekend and dropped 47%. This brings its 10-day total to $14.7M domestic. With Rotten Tomatoes scores of 78% from critics and 91% from audiences, supporters of the film had hoped that its second-weekend drop would be somewhat more contained. Unfortunately, the 49% drop was the steepest of any picture in this weekend’s top 10.
While director Alex Parkinson did a yeoman’s job to deliver a high-quality movie on a tightly controlled $29M budget, it appears that it will come up short of the $75M in worldwide gross it would need to be profitable. With four new pictures open wide next weekend, LAST BREATH will struggle to hold on to many of its 3,090 current locations, making it that much harder to generate additional sales.
Finishing fourth is NEON’s horror flick THE MONKEY, which took in $3.9M on its third weekend and dropped 39% from last weekend. This brings the film’s 17-day total to $31.0M domestic and $52.1M worldwide. Its opening weekend was the second highest in NEON’s history, trailing only LONGLEGS, also from filmmaker Osgood Perkins. Here is how those two films compare.
THE MONKEY vs. LONGLEGS after 17 Days
- THE MONKEY (2/21/2025) – Domestic Opening $14.2M (3,200), Domestic 2nd Weekend $6.5M (-55%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $3.9M (-39%), Domestic 17-Day $31.0M, Budget $11M, RT Critics/Audience 78%/59%
- LONGLEGS (7/12/2024) – Domestic Opening $22.4M (2,510), Domestic 2nd Weekend $12.0M (-47%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $6.8M (-45%), Domestic 17-Day $58.6M, Domestic Total $73.9M, Worldwide Total $126.9M, Budget $10M, RT Critics/Audience 86%/61%
THE MONKEY will wind up an estimated final box office of $40M, which would make it the third highest domestic-grossing film from NEON of all time, behind last year’s LONGLEGS which earned $73.9M and PARASITE’s $53.8M from 2019. Both of those films were wildly profitable, after being created with relatively low production budgets and generating surprisingly high box office results.
While THE MONKEY has not been quite as successful, it has already crossed into profitability with an estimated current multiple of 4.25:1 in the worldwide box office to production cost. In addition, NEON should be congratulated for taking home its second Best Picture Oscar last weekend with ANORA.
Even a much larger studio would be thrilled to win two Best Picture Oscars in seven years, just ask Netflix. The much smaller indie movie distributor has given a home to some of the most talented filmmakers in the world. While Osgood Perkins’ THE MONKEY is unlikely to win Best Picture, this film’s financial success is helping NEON thrive.
Finishing in fifth place was Sony’s live-action animated sequel PADDINGTON IN PERU which took in $3.85M, a drop of a respectable 15%. After 24 days, the animated family film has taken in $37.0M domestic and $175.8M worldwide. The third movie in the series is running behind the domestic box office of both of its predecessors.
Since its international debut last November, PADDINGTON IN PERU has earned only $138.8M outside North America, whereas each of the first two PADDINGTON movies earned approximately $250M in those markets. Here is a look at the box office history of the PADDINGTON franchise movies.
PADDINGTON Movies After 24 Days
- PADDINGTON (1/16/2015) – Domestic Opening $18.9M (3,303 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $12.3M (-35%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $8.3M (-33%), Domestic 4th Weekend $5.2M (-37%), Domestic 24-day $57.1M, Domestic Total $76.3M, Worldwide Total $326.1M, Budget $55M, RT Critics/Audience 96%/80%
- PADDINGTON 2 (1/12/2018) – Domestic Opening $11.0M (3,702 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $8M (-27%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $5.7M (-29%), Domestic 4th Weekend $3.3M (-42%), Domestic 24-day $36.5M, Domestic Total $40.9M, Worldwide Total $290.1M, Budget $40M, RT Critics/Audience 99%/89%
- PADDINGTON IN PERU (2/14/2025) – Domestic Opening $13.0M (3,890 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $6.5M (-49%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $4.5M (-31%), Domestic 4th Weekend $3.9M (-15%), Domestic 24-day $37.0M, Budget $90M, RT Critics/Audience 93%/91%
We expect the film to finish with around $190M, which would not be enough to cover the $225M needed to reach profitability. Any future PADDINGTON movie will need to be made at a lower cost than the $90M it took to bring Paddington back home to Peru.
Where Are We as of 3/6/2025
After the 9th week of 2025, the domestic box office stands at 121% compared to 2024 and 71% compared to 2019.
