Box Office: ‘Suicide Squad 2’ Sinks Like ‘Fantastic Four’ As ‘Luca’ Nabs $5M In China

In other holdover news that isn’t Free Guy or Jungle Cruise, Sony’s Don’t Breathe 2 earned $5.05 million (-53%) in weekend two for a $19.672 million ten-day cume. That’s not a surprise, as the film (which positions the first Don’t Breathe’s villain as its redemptive anti-hero) hasn’t exactly been drowning in acclaim and buzz, but an eventual $25-$30 million domestic cume isn’t half-bad for a $10 million horror sequel. MGM’s Respect cost way too much ($55 million), and it may be a one-weekend wonder anyway. The Jennifer Hudson-as-Aretha Franklin biopic earned $3.8 million (-58%) in weekend two for a $15.8 million ten-day total. Hudson may still end up in the awards season race, but at this point even the $30 million earned by Chadwick Boseman’s Get On Up in August 2014 may be a pipe dream.

Warner Bros.’ The Suicide Squad tumbled in weekend three, earning $3.41 million (-54%) for a miserable $49.27 million domestic and $140 million global total. It’s playing almost identically to Josh Trank’s infamous Fantastic Four reboot ($56 million from a $25 million debut) six years ago, so we can expect a likewise over/under $55 million domestic finish for the $185 million (!), R-rated James Gunn-directed DC Films sequel. Four million households checking out the movie on HBO Max in the first ten days isn’t nothing. Heck, it’s the biggest such ten-day debut for any WB theatrical save for Mortal Kombat (five million households). However, that’s not necessarily new subscribers or folks who otherwise would have canceled the service, and the notion of consumers catching a movie they missed in theaters when it airs on HBO isn’t exactly a novel or new concept.  

In another relative win for the “only in theaters” crowd, M. Night Shyamalan’s Old earned another $1.14 million (-52%) in weekend five. That gives the $18 million, self-financed thriller a $45.183 million domestic and $80 million worldwide cume. It has topped the $33 million overseas cume of Shyamalan’s found-footage comeback vehicle The Visit ($98 million worldwide in late 2015). Disney’s Black Widow earned another $1.1 million (-42%) in weekend seven for a $180.15 million domestic cume. That puts it within reach of Ant-Man ($181 million in 2015) and Thor ($181 million in 2011), sans inflation. Disney reported around $125 million in streaming/VOD transactions, which means the film was almost as leggy outside of theaters (2.08 x its $60 million Disney+ debut) as it was in domestic theaters (2.26 x its $80 million opening weekend).

David Lowery and Dev Patel’s film nerd darling The Green Knight debuted on PVOD this past week, and it earned another $572,551 (-44%) in weekend four for a $15.944 million 24-day cume. Covid or no Covid, an over/under $17 million finish for A24’s arthouse tone poem counts as a win. Warner Bros.’ $150 million Space Jam: A New Legacy earned another $505,000 (-54%) in weekend six for a $69.22 million domestic and $148 million worldwide cume. Matt Damon’s $20 million Stillwater, which is currently in theaters and on PVOD, earned another $450,000 (-65%) in weekend four for a $13.6 million 24-day cume. Sony’s $15 million Escape Room: Tournament of Champions now has $25 million domestic and $42 million worldwide, while Snake Eyes arrived on VOD this week with $28 million domestic. It’s three strikes and you’re out for G.I. Joe.

Finally, Pixar’s Luca earned a decent $5 million via its opening weekend in China. That’s on par with the $5.5 million debut of Soul, which then nabbed $13.5 million in weekend two and legged out to $57 million. Could that happen again? Maybe, but Free Guy is opening next weekend, and it’s hoped that the video games-and-American-pop-culture comedy will play at least somewhat like Ready Player One ($220 million in 2018) or Zootopia ($235 million in 2016). Although by Covid standards (30% of China’s theaters are closed), anything close to Detective Pikachu ($93 million) would be an unmitigated triumph. At least Hollywood flicks are returning to the world’s biggest overseas marketplace, even if it’s ever more apparent that China doesn’t need Hollywood flicks amid a steady line-up of homegrown biggies.