By Chris Kavan - 03/30/22 at 10:13 AM CT
The big news over the weekend - movie related of course - wasn't the box office nor the lack of major ratings updates. No, all anyone seems to be able to talk about came from The Academy Awards - not because of who won or lost but because Will Smith smacked down Chris Rock over a poorly-received joke about his wife, Jada. Now that seems to be all anyone can talk about. And, oh boy, all the conspiracies floating around - eh, at least it's not about sex-trafficking cannibals this time.
The box office is really the only big story as The Lost City dethroned The Batman while Indian film RRR roared to life in a top three performance. Meanwhile Everything Everywhere All at Once - with Michelle Yeoh trying to save the multiverse - had a huge debut in limited release.
The Lost City - a Romancing the Stone for this generation - with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum - took the top spot from The Batman with a $30.4 million opening. That opening is good for a number of reasons - one, it brought back women (56% of the audience) and an older crowd (47% over the age of 35), two demographics who, for the most part, have shunned the box office since the pandemic began. Also good is that audiences awarded it a solid "B+" Cinemascore and critics were likewise enamored with a 76% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Combine that with a rather modest $68 million budget and the film seems to be well on its way to making some real money. It hasn't even fully rolled out overseas yet but still added another $3.7 million (it will expand on April 15th). While this is the first film in quite awhile for Bullock (last seen in 2018's Ocean's Eight), Tatum has already had a certified hit this year with Dog (our of the top five this week - but still riding high with nearly $60 million). For a film that's not part of a major franchise or sequel, this is a fantastic opening and hopefully a new sign that things are getting back to a more normal.
The Batman had to settle for second place after three weeks atop the box office with a $20.4 million weekend leading to a new $331.9 million total. That represents a 44.3% dip, but is just the second film of the pandemic era to top $300 million (following Spider-Man: No Way Home). Its overseas total is running just ahead of the domestic performance with a $340.9 million total for a worldwide total of $672.9 million. Don't feel too bad about it slipping, the film is still doing just fine.
After anime film Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie has an explosive opening, another foreign film lit up the box office in the form of Indian war epic RRR. Despite its 3-hour plus run-time - and NOT being a superhero movie - it made $9.5 million. Its 1,200-theater rollout represents one of the largest rollouts for an Indian-language film and its $7,916-per-theater average is a good sign it was a smart move.
Uncharted took the fourth-place spot with a $5 million weekend (down 36.1%), giving the action/adventure video game adaptation a new $133,55 million total. With an even bigger $223.9 million overseas, the Tom Holland/Mark Wahlberg film sits at a tidy $357.5 million worldwide.
Rounding out the top five, anime film Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie took a 66.1% tumble (totally in line with what I expected) over its surprisingly strong opening, adding $4.57 million for a new $27.7 million total. It has nearly $117 million overseas for a global total of just under $145 million.
Although out of the top five at this point, Spider-Man: No Way Home managed another huge milestone by becoming just the third movie ever to hit the $800 million milestone with a $2 million weekend in 8th place and an $800.5 million total.
Also out of the top five but having a big impact was Everything Everywhere All At Once another A24 offering that follows Michelle Yeoh as a and IRS audited small business owner who finds out that multiple versions of her live in the multiverse - and she is the key to saving them all. In just 10 theaters, the film brought in $509,659 - which amounts to a 2022 best $50,965 per-theater average. This one is going to expand before going wide later in April - we'll see how it does as it goes.
While the box office provided some sparks, once again the MPAA Bulletin was found lacking - as we have no wide-releases to speak of this week. Once again, please enjoy the list anyways and hope for bigger and better next time around:
BLACK SITE
Rated R for strong/bloody violence and language throughout.
BULLET PROOF
Rated R for violence.
CALL JANE
Rated R for some language and brief drug use.
CIVIL
Rated PG-13 for thematic material and strong language.
HOT SEAT
Rated R for language throughout and some violence.
I BELIEVE IN SANTA
Rated PG for mild language.
MY FAKE BOYFRIEND
Rated R for sexual material and language.
NAVALNY
Rated R for some language.
NOT OKAY
Rated R for language throughout, drug use and some sexual content.
ONE YEAR OFF
Rated PG-13 for some suggestive material and language.
THE PRINCESS
Rated R for strong/bloody violence and some language.
TICKET TO NASHVILLE
Rated PG for mild thematic elements.
