And you thought the Super Bowl was a low-scoring affair.
Admittedly, the big game almost always drags the box office down—so much so that Super Bowl weekend is traditionally one of the slowest cinematic weekends of the year. But the weekend seemed particularly sluggish in 2024. Overall, theatrical releases made just $42 million in North America—the lowest non-COVID mark ever for a Super Bowl weekend, according to Comscore (presumably adjusting its figures for inflation).
So maybe it’s fitting that Argylle—already being called 2024’s first big bomb—finished first for the second straight weekend. It earned an underwhelming $6.5 million en route to its victory, pushing its overall domestic total to $28.8 million. Add another $31.3 million from overseas markets, and the slightly incoherent action comedy has now banked a total of $60.1 million—or about $140 million less than its production costs.
Lisa Frankenstein, the weekend’s biggest new release, struggled to find life. It lurched to a $3.8 million weekend, finishing a distant second to Argylle. But unlike professional football, cinematic wins and losses are judged on a curve: Lisa Frankenstein’s creators spent just an estimated $13 million to make the thing, which means it just might shamble to a profit.
And it did far better than the weekend’s other newcomers. Out of Darkness, a horror flick set in the Stone Age, earned a rocky $1 million to finish 12th. And Turning Red—Disney’s re-release of this COVID-era film—earned a woeful $535,000 to land in 17th place.
The Beekeeper continues to gather its own cinematic pollen, collecting about $3.5 million stateside to land in third place. It has now bottled $54.7 million domestically and a very sweet $133.9 million worldwide.
Meanwhile, The Chosen TV show continues to be the choice for many a moviegoer. The first three episodes of Season Four continues its theatrical run and—despite a three-and-a-half-hour runtime—continues to make money. It made nearly $3.2 million this weekend to finish fourth. And with the next three episodes due in theaters Feb. 15, I’m guessing we’ll be talking about another Chosen entry next week, too.
While other films may be struggling, Wonka’s doing just fine. The PG-rated musical is spending its ninth straight weekend in the top five, collecting another $3.1 million to add to its chocolate coffers. Wonka has now earned $205.3 million in North America and $587.6 million worldwide. That’s worth a tip o’ the top hat, if you ask me.
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