Blockbuster season has officially kicked off. Following last weekend’s smash debut of Dune: Part Two, Universal and Dreamworks Animation have followed that up with Kung Fu Panda 4 which seized the top spot this weekend with $58 million. This beats Dreamwork’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World which opened with $55M.
Its Rotten Tomatoes critical score is not that great at 72%, but — and I say this all the time — children don’t read movie reviews. Its audience score is better at 82%. Its CinemaScore is a great A-, with an 80% PostTrak score.
Dune Part Two is still mighty, dropping only 47% in its second frame, earning $46.2M and bringing its domestic total to $152M, which is more than the first Dune made in its entire run. But keep in mind, the first installment came out during the pandemic and was released day-and-date on HBO Max, so a lot of people just stayed home to view it.
But those spectators are clearly invested in this franchise and are turning out to theaters for the sequel. And any second-weekend drop of less than 50% is phenomenal! Even the biggest blockbusters tend to drop around 60% in their sophomore frames.
Another new release jumped in at #3 — the horror movie Imaginary managed to take in $9.9M despite apparently not being very good. Its budget was only $10M, so it has almost matched that, but to break even it needs to make approximately $10M more factoring in marketing costs.
It received a C+ CinemaScore and 57% via PostTrak. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a dismal 32% Tomatometer score and no audience score. I guess audiences that saw it didn’t feel compelled to go online to rate it. This poor reaction may sink Imaginary‘s chances of turning a profit.
Another new release came in at #4, Angel Studios’ Cabrini, a faith-based film, directed by Alejandro Monteverde, who was also behind the successful Sound of Freedom. OF COURSE, the audience for this movie loved it, giving it an A CinemaScore, 94% via PostTrak, and 98% via Rotten Tomatoes. But surprisingly, even critics are generous to this picture, with a 90% RT score, but that’s based on just 64 reviews.
Cabrini earned $7.2M. Rounding out the Top Five is Bob Marley: One Love.
You can see the numbers below:
- Kung Fu Panda 4 – 4 $58.0M
- Dune: Part Two – $46.2M
- Imaginary – $9.9M
- Cabrini – $7.2M
- Bob Marley: One Love – $4.1M
In two weeks, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire opens. That should boost the box office even further.
What have you checked out lately? What are you looking forward to?
