The box office featured a big surprise this Memorial Day weekend.
No, it wasn’t that The Mandalorian and Grogu claimed its top spot. Everyone knew that was going to happen. Mando and his little green pal earned $81 million over the traditional three-day weekend in North America and $100 million with Memorial Day itself thrown in—more than three times the earnings of its nearest competitor.
Indeed, if Mando and Grogu did surprise, it was in the fact that it didn’t earn more. The film’s domestic debut lags behind that of every other Star Wars movie. The previous low-water mark had been 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. Also released on Memorial Day, Solo earned $84 million over three days and $103 million over four. It was also the first, and so far only, Star Wars movie not to turn a profit, according to Variety. Critics and fans have been kinder to The Mandalorian and Grogu so far, but we’ll have to wait and see if this effort makes the jump to hyperspace.
No, the weekend’s real surprise was at No. 2. Obsession—already the little horror movie that could—actually increased its weekend-over-weekend take, collecting $23.9 million over three days and $30.4 million over four. It’s almost unheard of for any movie to grow in its second week, much less a horror flick (most of which appropriately die and turn to dust rather quickly).
Obsession has now earned a total of $54.3 million in North America and $68.4 million worldwide. Keep in mind that Obsession’s creators spent just $1 million making the thing. While that doesn’t include marketing costs, Obsession’s cost-profit ratio is positively scary. And you wonder why we’re seeing more horror movies lately.
Michael, last weekend’s surprise returning champ, slid to No. 3. It earned $20.7 million during the traditional three-day weekend and $26.9 million over the four-day Memorial weekend. Michael has now collected $314.9 million stateside during its run—enough to buy plenty of sequined gloves.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 finished fourth with $12.7 million over three days and $16.5 million over four. The sequel has banked $200 million domestically and $608 million worldwide, which far outstrips the earnings of the original Devil Wears Prada (which earned $124.7 million stateside and $326.6 million globally). Miranda must be pleased.
The Sheep Detectives continues to stubbornly hold a spot in the top five, gathering $9.2 million over three days and $12.8 million over four. That forced the bloody newcomer Passenger to settle for sixth ($8.7 million over three days and $10.5 million over four).
I Love Boosters, the only other newcomer of note, swiped $3.7 million from moviegoers during the three-day weekend, and just $4.6 million when you include Memorial Day. Apparently most domestic moviegoers loved Boosters just about as much as our reviewer.
Recent Comments