North American movie theaters had a calm weekend, with Sony’s “The Garfield Movie” and Warner Bros.’ “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” continuing to dominate the box office. In a surprising twist, the animated orange cat managed to surpass the wasteland warrior in their second week of release.
“The Garfield Movie” claimed the top spot with an impressive $14 million in ticket sales, while “Furiosa” settled for third place in a close race with “IF,” both estimated to have earned $10.8 million. Ultimately, “IF” had a slight edge over “Furiosa.”
In its second weekend, “Garfield” only dropped 42% in North America, proving its staying power. The film also performed well globally, earning an additional $27 million from international territories, bringing its total worldwide earnings to $152.2 million. With no major competition until the release of “Inside Out 2” on June 14, the animated film featuring Chris Pratt’s voice will continue to dominate the market.
The film “Furiosa” experienced a 59% decline in its second weekend, earning just under $10.8 million from 3,864 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. This brings its total domestic earnings to $49.7 million and its global earnings to $114.4 million, which is still below its production budget of $168 million.
Several new releases opened on more than 1,000 screens this weekend, including Sony/Crunchyroll’s anime “Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle,” IFC’s horror film “In a Violent Nature,” Roadside Attractions’ comedy “Summer Camp” starring Diane Keaton, Alfre Woodard, and Kathy Bates, and Bleecker Street’s father-son drama “Ezra.” However, none of these films managed to secure a spot in the top five at the box office.
Disney’s “Young Woman and the Sea,” featuring Daisy Ridley as the trailblazing first woman to swim the English Channel, received positive reviews upon its release. However, Disney did not disclose the film’s ticket sales. Similarly, Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” is currently being shown in select theaters across the country before its streaming debut next week. Netflix, however, does not reveal box office figures.
In its third weekend, Paramount’s “IF” secured the second spot, earning $10.8 million. This John Krasinski-directed fantasy, starring Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming as characters with imaginary friends, has now generated over $80.4 million domestically and $138 million worldwide. Meanwhile, Disney/20th Century Studios’ “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” came in fourth place during its fourth weekend, raking in $8.8 million. Its total earnings stand at $140 million domestically and $337.1 million globally.
The action-comedy film “The Fall Guy” starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt secured the fifth spot in the box office with a total of $4.2 million. Its domestic earnings reached $80.3 million, and globally, it has made $157.9 million, distributed by Universal.
The Japanese high school volleyball series adaptation, “Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle,” earned an estimated $3.5 million from 1,119 locations. Meanwhile, the slasher film “In a Violent Nature” had a strong opening with $2.2 million from 1,426 locations, which is a significant release for IFC Films and Shudder. Additionally, “Ezra,” a movie centered around a stand-up comedian (Bobby Cannavale) and his autistic son, garnered $1.2 million from 1,320 screens.
According to data from Comscore, the 2024 box office is facing significant challenges compared to both last year and pre-pandemic standards. It is down 23.9% from last year and a staggering 42.2% from 2019, as well as 46.4% from 2018. In contrast, during the same weekend last year, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” debuted with an impressive $120.7 million, while “The Little Mermaid” still managed to rake in over $41.4 million in its second weekend. However, this year has yet to see any film surpass the $100 million mark domestically.
Although films like “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are yet to make their impact felt in theaters this year, the same period in the previous year saw the release of several major hits. These included “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” with a global total of $1.36 billion, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” with $845.5 million, and “Fast X” with $704.7 million.
Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore, acknowledged that this year’s trajectory has caused a significant delay in the entertainment industry. However, he remains optimistic, stating that it is never too late to get things back on track.
Dergarabedian emphasized the importance of momentum in the entertainment business and highlighted the current focus on finding the movie that will kickstart the summer season in the right direction.
One potential contender for this role is “Inside Out 2,” which early projections suggest could open to an impressive $85 million, setting the stage for other highly anticipated films like “Despicable Me 4” (July 3) and “Deadpool & Wolverine” (July 26) to follow suit.
Dergarabedian also pointed out the recent success of family-oriented films, noting that while they may not always have the highest opening numbers, movies like “IF” and “The Gafield Movie” have proven their staying power.
The highest-grossing film of the year so far is “Dune: Part Two,” released by Warner Bros. in March, which has earned over $711 million worldwide. Its domestic earnings of $282.1 million account for 10.5% of the total box office revenue in 2024.
During the Canadian Screen Awards in Toronto, “Dune” director Denis Villeneuve expressed his disappointment at still being at the top spot. While collecting an award, he stated, “I hope that there will soon be other successful films at the box office. I hope the summer box office will improve.”
Comscore has provided estimated ticket sales for the weekend at theaters in the US and Canada. The final domestic figures will be released on Monday.
- “The Garfield Movie” earned $14 million.
- “IF” earned $10.8 million.
- “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” also earned $10.8 million.
- “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” earned $8.8 million.
- “The Fall Guy” earned $4.2 million in box office revenue.
- “The Strangers: Chapter 1” raked in $3.6 million.
- “Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle” brought in $3.5 million.
- “In a Violent Nature” generated $2.1 million.
- “Ezra” made $1.2 million at the box office.
- “Sight” earned $1.1 million.