Whether he’s jumping cars off cliffs or falling from 15-story buildings, stuntman Colt Seavers is used to going fast. But his movie? It got out of the gate slowly.
Granted, The Fall Guy—the movie that officially launched the summer movie season—did win the weekend’s box-office tourney, earning more than three times that of its nearest competitor. But the film earned just $28.5 million in North America, according to early estimates. That’s significantly less than the $30-40 million prognosticators expected, and it’s way less than the $140 million The Fall Guy reportedly cost to produce (not to mention marketing costs).
The movie did earn a tidy $36.9 million overseas, pushing its worldwide gross to $65.4 million. Still, to break even, The Fall Guy might need to pull off an impressive stunt or two in the weeks to come.
The weekend’s second-place film need not worry about turning a profit. Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menacealready did … 25 years ago.
Released in May of 1999, The Phantom Menace earned $430.3 million domestically during its first run through theaters, making it that year’s biggest film by far. But May the Fourth is always a nice excuse to push something related to Star Wars back into theaters, so the franchise’s overseers at Disney must’ve thought, “Hey, why not make a few million more?” And they did. The Phantom Menace added another $8.1 million to its already galactic-sized bottom line. The finances are strong with this one.
Challengers, last week’s champ, slid to No. 3 in the box-office pecking order, serving another $7.6 million.
Tarot, the weekend’s other wide-release newcomer, dealt itself $6.5 million stateside—enough to sidle into fourth place. The film performed just as poorly overseas, gathering in $3.7 million. Its makers, I’m sure, were disappointed, but I’m not surprised. Given that Tarot is predicated on cursed fortune-telling cards, one might’ve predicted that the movie’s own fortunes could be a bit cursed.
Meanwhile, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire continues to stomp inside the top five. The monster movie earned another $4.5 million to push its overall domestic haul to $188.1 million. Add in the $358.8 million it has earned during its run overseas, and Godzilla x Kong has roared to a grand total of $546.9 million. That’s a monstrous fistful of dollars.
Recent Comments