Gru and the minions celebrated a second week in first place at the North American box office this weekend, while a small horror movie called 鈥淟onglegs鈥� upset the starry $100 million "Fly Me to the Moon."
The supremacy of 鈥� 鈥� was hardly a surprise, as the Universal and Illumination franchise added $44.7 million and pushed the film over $200 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. But the big upset came further down the charts with 鈥� 鈥� more than doubling the debut of the Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum romantic comedy 鈥� .鈥�
鈥淟onglegs,鈥� an original horror about a serial killer starring Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage, made an estimated $22.6 million from 2,510 theaters. That鈥檚 the best ever start for indie outfit Neon (most famous for releasing the Oscar-winning 鈥淧arasite鈥�), which acquired the $10 million film for distribution. Written and directed by Osgood Perkins, 鈥淟onglegs鈥� also scored the best opening for an R-rated film this year.
Neon deployed an innovative marketing strategy for the film, including touches like placing cipher messages in local newspapers and posting a Los Angeles billboard with a phone number that played an 鈥渦nnerving鈥� message. In its first 48 hours, the number received over 250,000 calls.
鈥淟onglegs鈥� was well-received by critics (it has an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes), but audiences gave it a less enthusiastic a C+ CinemaScore.
鈥淔ly Me to the Moon,鈥� an Apple Original Films production, launched with only $10 million over the weekend. It trailed holdovers 鈥淚nside Out 2,鈥� in third with $20.8 million; and 鈥淎 Quiet Place: Day One,鈥� in fourth place with $11.8 million.
Sony distributed 鈥淔ly Me to the Moon,鈥� the Greg Berlanti-directed film about a marketing executive brought in to sell the space race to the American public, and, later, stage a fake moon landing just in case. Apple has not yet announced when it will debut on its streaming service.
The movie opened in 3,356 locations this weekend, attracting an audience that was mostly over 45. In this case, the audience was kinder than the critics, giving it an A- CinemaScore against a 67% on Rotten Tomatoes, suggesting that word-of-mouth may work in its favor over the long run.
The year-to-date gap between box office performance this year and last is getting moderately slimmer. It's now down 16.1% from 2023 thanks to a run of recent successes. But performance still pales in comparison to pre-pandemic standards. On July 14 in 2019, the annual box office take was at $6.2 billion. This year it鈥檚 at $4.1 billion so far.
鈥淎 very unpredictable summer movie season continues,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. 鈥淎nd after a slow start in May (it) has continued to surprise and impress with expected as well as unexpected hits adding bottom-line dollars to the industry鈥檚 most important season.鈥�
In limited release, A24 opened 鈥� ,鈥� an early Oscar contender, in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles. With sellouts in both locations, it made $137,119, one of the best limited openings of the year. The film from director Greg Kwedar is about an arts program at the prison and features many real life participants, including Clarence Maclin in his film debut. 鈥淪ing Sing鈥� will continue playing on four screens through July and expand nationwide in August.
Finally, 鈥淭wisters,鈥� which opens in North America on Thursday, began its international rollout this weekend, earning $11.5 million from 38 markets including in Australia, Mexico and Brazil.
In its wake comes 鈥淒eadpool & Wolverine,鈥� the first Marvel release of the summer.
Estimated ticket sales are for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. 鈥淒espicable Me 4,鈥� $44.7 million.
2. 鈥淟onglegs,鈥� $22.6 million.
3. 鈥淚nside Out 2,鈥� $20.8 million.
4. 鈥淎 Quiet Place: Day One,鈥� $11.8 million.
5. 鈥淔ly Me to the Moon,鈥� $10 million.
6. 鈥淏ad Boys: Ride or Die,鈥� $4.4 million.
7. 鈥淗orizon: An American Saga 鈥� Chapter 1,鈥� $2.4 million.
8. 鈥淢aXXXine,鈥� $2.1 million.
9. 鈥淚ndian 2,鈥� $2 million.
10. 鈥淪ound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot,鈥� $1.3 million.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
