Movie theaters are looking more and more like a wasteland this summer. Neither 鈥� Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 鈥� nor 鈥� The Garfield Movie 鈥� could save Memorial Day weekend, which is cruising towards a two-decade low.
鈥� Furiosa,鈥� the Mad Max prequel starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth, claimed the first place spot for the Friday-Saturday-Sunday weekend with $25.6 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday. Warner Bros. is waiting until Monday to release its four-day estimates.
鈥淭he Garfield Movie,鈥� animated and family-friendly, was the other big new offering this weekend from Sony鈥檚 Columbia Pictures and Alcon Entertainment. It is claiming No. 1 for the four-day holiday weekend with an estimated $31.9 million in ticket sales through Memorial Day. Sony estimates its three-day earnings to be $24.8 million.
Aside from Memorial Day in 2020 when theaters were closed due to COVID-19, these are the lowest earning No. 1 movies in 29 years, since 鈥淐asper鈥� earned $22.5 million (not adjusted for inflation) in its first four days in 1995. Big earners are more typical for the holiday weekend, which has had ten movies crack $100 million, led by 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick鈥檚鈥� record-setting $160 million launch in 2022. Last year, the live-action 鈥淭he Little Mermaid鈥� joined the group with a $118 million debut. Audiences even turned out in greater numbers over the pandemic-addled weekend in 2021 for 鈥淎 Quiet Place Part II,鈥� which made over $57 million.
鈥淭his was a rather slow Memorial weekend,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. 鈥淎 few things didn鈥檛 happen that created this situation: We didn鈥檛 have a tailwind heading into the summer. We kicked off the summer minus a Marvel movie. In a way, we鈥檝e been playing catch up all year long.鈥�
鈥淔uriosa鈥� was never expected to join the $100 million opener club, which Warner Bros. released on 3,804 screens in the U.S. and Canada. But it was supposed to have a slightly stronger showing in the $40 million range over its first four days. That would have been more in line with its predecessor, 鈥淢ad Max: Fury Road,鈥� which opened to $45.4 million in May 2015. 鈥淔ury Road,鈥� starring Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy, went on to gross nearly $380 million worldwide.
This new origin story in which Taylor-Joy plays a younger version of Theron鈥檚 character had a lot of things going for it, too, including strong reviews out of the just-wrapped Cannes Film Festival (it has an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes) and a splashy international press tour with many buzzy premiere looks from Taylor-Joy. Internationally, it made $33.3 million adding up to a $58.9 million global launch. With a reported $168 million production budget, not accounting for marketing and promotion, 鈥淔uriosa鈥� has a long road to profitability.
鈥淭he Garfield Movie,鈥� meanwhile, was more modestly budgeted, at a reported $60 million and is being looked at as a solid launch for the franchise. It previously opened internationally and has earned over $66 million to date. Its domestic launch far surpassed the first weekends of previous attempts at Garfield movies.
Chris Pratt voices the lasagna-loving, Monday-hating orange cat in the movie that got scathing reviews from critics (it has a 37% on Rotten Tomatoes). Audiences meanwhile gave both 鈥淔uriosa鈥� and 鈥淭he Garfield Movie鈥� a B+ CinemaScore and 4.5 stars out of 5 on PostTrak.
In its second weekend, John Krasinski鈥檚 鈥淚F鈥� fell 53%, adding $16.1 million through Sunday and $20.7 million through Monday, bringing its domestic total to $63.3 million. Worldwide, it has surpassed $100 million. 鈥淜ingdom of the Planet of the Apes,鈥� now in its third weekend, added $13.4 million through Sunday, bringing its global total to $294.8 million, making it the fourth-highest grossing film of the year.
This all adds up to a summer moviegoing season that will not only fall short of a normal $4 billion stretch but may even struggle to reach $3 billion. Earlier this week, the industry trade The Hollywood Reporter asked 鈥� what happened to the $100 million opener? 鈥� Notably, 2024 has had none yet. The biggest of the year was 鈥淒une: Part Two,鈥� which opened to $82.5 million and went on to earn over $711 million worldwide.
鈥淢oviegoing begets moviegoing,鈥� Derarabedian said. 鈥淓very studio is rooting for every other studio to have a big hit.鈥�
The lack of a recent runaway hit just puts more pressure on the upcoming films to make up the slack. Still on the way are a slew of potential blockbusters like Paramount鈥檚 鈥淎 Quiet Place: Day One鈥� (June 27), Universal鈥檚 鈥淒espicable Me 4鈥� (July 3) and 鈥� Twisters 鈥� (July 19) and two heavy-hitters from Disney: 鈥淚nside Out 2鈥� (June 14) and 鈥� Deadpool & Wolverine 鈥� (July 26).
鈥淚t ain鈥檛 over yet,鈥� Dergarabedian said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of big movies on the way. The summer heat is on for the June and July films to really deliver.鈥�
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. 鈥淔uriosa: A Mad Max Saga,鈥� $25.6 million.
2. 鈥淭he Garfield Movie,鈥� $24.8 million.
3. 鈥淚F,鈥� $16.1 million.
4. 鈥淜ingdom of the Planet of the Apes,鈥� $13.4 million.
5. 鈥淭he Fall Guy,鈥� $5.9 million.
6. 鈥淭he Strangers: Chapter 1,鈥� $5.6 million.
7. 鈥淪ight,鈥� $2.7 million.鈥�
8. 鈥淐hallengers,鈥� $1.4 million.
9. 鈥淏abes,鈥� $1.1 million.
10. 鈥淏ack to Black,鈥� $1.1 million.
READ ALSO:
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
