The dystopian thriller “Civil War” from A24 continues to dominate the box office, fending off three new releases to remain the number one film in North America.
Directed by Alex Garland and starring Kirsten Dunst, “Civil War” brought in an additional $11.12 million in its second weekend. The film has now grossed $44.8 million and is already a top-five earner for A24. With a budget of $50 million, it’s also the distributor’s most expensive film to date.
New releases struggled to dethrone “Civil War.” Universal’s vampire horror “Abigail,” predicted to take the top spot, placed second with $10.2 million. Despite missing expectations, the film received positive reviews (83% on Rotten Tomatoes) and is likely to turn a profit considering its $28 million budget.
Guy Ritchie’s action comedy “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” debuted at number four with $9 million. The film, starring Henry Cavill, Henry Golding, and Eiza González, had a weaker showing than anticipated for its $60 million price tag.
The weekend’s final new release, the animated action-comedy “Spy × Family Code: White,” failed to crack the top three, fizzling in fifth place with $4.8 million from 2,009 North American theaters. However, ticket buyers who did show up seemed to enjoy it, awarding the film an “A” CinemaScore and a hefty 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. This debut is unsurprising for an anime film, as David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research points out: “Spy × Family Code: White” — based on the popular manga TV series “Spy x Family” by Tatsuya Endo — has already earned a strong $45.8 million at the international box office, particularly in its home country of Japan.
Holdover titles rounded out the top of the charts. Warner Bros. and Legendary’s monster mashup “Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire” earned $9.4 million in its fourth weekend, taking third place. The film has now grossed a massive $171.6 million domestically and a staggering $485.2 million globally. Despite a strong showing overseas, DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda 4” landed in sixth place domestically, adding $4.6 million to its haul. The animated film has now earned $179 million in North America after seven weeks on the big screen. Globally, the film has earned a mighty $480 million.
Disappointingly, this weekend ranked among the lowest-grossing of 2024 with roughly $65 million in total. Year-to-date revenues are also down 20% compared to the same period in 2023. Looking ahead, theater owners are anxiously awaiting the official start of summer movie season on May 3rd with the arrival of the action comedy “The Fall Guy,” starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. With the box office slumping, movie theater owners are eagerly anticipating the official kick-off of summer on May 3rd with the arrival of “The Fall Guy,” starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. “This has been one of the slowest weekends of the year,” says Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian.