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Tag: Kung Fu Panda 4

  • Box Office: ‘Civil War’ Drawing Blood in Battle With New Vampire Pic ‘Abigail’ for No. 1

    Box Office: ‘Civil War’ Drawing Blood in Battle With New Vampire Pic ‘Abigail’ for No. 1

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    Alex Garland’s dystopian political action film Civil War about an America torn apart appears to be fending off new vampire pic Abigail at the box office.

    If estimates hold, Civil War will stay No. 1 in its second weekend with $11 million for a healthy domestic total of more than $44 million for indie studio A24.

    Heading into the weekend, Universal’s Abigail was expected to take a bigger bite out of Civil War but is now looking to open in the $10 million range (numbers could shift, of course, depending upon Saturday traffic). That’s still a respectable number for a studio film that cost a modest $28 million to make before marketing.

    Abigail is from Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the directing duo known as Radio Silence who were behind the reboot of the Scream franchise and the horror hit Ready or Not. Their new movie, written by Stephen Shields, follows the horrors that happen when a group of criminals kidnap the 12-year-old, who is the daughter of an underworld figure. The only problem: the young ballerina is a vampire.

    Warner Bros. and Legendary’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire remains a force to be reckoned with in its fourth weekend and is expected to come in No. 3 with more than $9 million as it clears the $170 million mark domestically.

    Guy Ritchie‘s new movie The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare shouldn’t be far behind with an opening in the $8.8 million range. The ensemble film, whose cast includes Henry Cavill, chronicles a covert World War II mission manned by a band of renegades who are tasked with destroying Nazi U-boats (it’s loosely based on real events). The Lionsgate film boasts an A- CinemaScore.

    Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s hit family film Kung Fu Panda 4, now in its seventh outing, and Crunchyroll’s new anime offering Spy × Family Code: White are in a close race for No. 4 with an estimated weekend haul in the $4.5 million range.

    Some box office pundits believe Spy x Family will prevail and come in higher. The animated Japanese spy-action comedy is based on the shōnen manga series Spy × Family by Tatsuya Endo.

    Kung Fu Panda 4‘s domestic total should hover around $180 million domestically through Sunday.

    Overall, weekend revenue is sluggish as year-to-date revenue tumbles more than 20 percent behind last year. Summer can’t come soon enough for Hollywood studios.

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    Pamela McClintock

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  • ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ Leading Weekend Box Office With Tepid $41M-$44M Opening

    ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ Leading Weekend Box Office With Tepid $41M-$44M Opening

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    Sony’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will have no trouble winning a relatively quiet weekend at the box office but opinion is divided as to whether it can reach $42 million to $44 million in its domestic opening.

    Sony remains bullish that it will indeed hit that mark after earning $16 million on Friday, including $4.7 million in Thursday previews. Rival studios, however, show Frozen Empire coming in at around $41 million, behind the $44 million launch of the pandemic-challenged Ghostbusters: Afterlife in 2021. Nearly 40 percent of Friday’s gross came from premium-format screens, including select Imax locations. (Dune: Part Two still has a large Imax footprint.)

    The newest Ghostbusters entry is challenged by middling reviews and a B+ CinemaScore from audiences, compared to an A- for Afterlife. Another challenge is bad weather along the east coast.

    Frozen Empire is a direct sequel to Afterlife, which succeeded in restoring the luster to the classic franchise created by the late Ivan Reitman. His son, Jason Reitman, directed Afterlife, but this time turned over helming duties to series co-scribe Gil Kenan.

    The movie features returning castmembers Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor and Logan Kim, alongside Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts and William Atherton, who starred in the original 1980s films. Series newcomers include Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt.

    Written by Kenan and Reitman, the story follows the Spengler family as they return to the New York City firehouse to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who have developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an army of ghosts that casts a death chill upon the city, demon fighters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.

    The weekend’s other new nationwide opener is Neon’s specialty horror pic Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney, who is fresh off her hit rom-com Anyone But You.

    Immaculate, fueled by younger women, is on course to place No. 4 with an estimated $5 million, in line with expectations for the indie film. The pic earned a C CinemaScore, which isn’t unusual for a horror film.

    In Immaculate, Sweeney plays a devout nun traveling to a remote convent in the picturesque Italian countryside, but her journey soon devolves into a nightmare as it becomes clear her new home harbors a sinister secret and unspeakable horror. It is tracking to open in the low single digits.

    Legendary and Warner Bros.’ Dune sequel is holding at No. 2 with an estimated weekend haul of $16 million in its fourth outing. The movie will finish Sunday with a sensational domestic cume of $230 million, or thereabouts.

    Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 is also holding in nicely as more and more kids are sprung from school for spring break. The movie, now in its third outing, looks to earn an estimated $14.5 million for a domestic tally of $131 million through Sunday.

    Rounding out the top five is Lionsgate’s Arthur the King, starring Mark Wahlberg. The movie, about the inspirational bond formed between a dog and a group of professional adventurers, is pacing to earn $4.5 million in its second outing for a subdued domestic total of $14.3 million.

    Numbers will be updated Sunday.

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    Pamela McClintock

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  • Dune: Part Two is Still a Hit, Passes First Dune’s Box Office

    Dune: Part Two is Still a Hit, Passes First Dune’s Box Office

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    Image: Warner Bros.

    Two weeks ago, Dune: Part Two came out in theaters, and became the first big hit of 2024. Even with Kung Fu Panda 4 releasing last weekend, that hasn’t really changed—if anything, it’s looking like Part Two is going to have some hefty legs throughout the rest of its theatrical run.

    Denis Villeneuve on Ending Dune: Part Two That Way

    Per Variety, the sci-fi film is more than likely going to make over $500 million by Monday. At time of writing, its global take is $494.7 million, putting it slightly over the $434.8 million of the original movie. While the 2021 film had a simultaneous HBO Max release to contend with , Part Two was touted as being exclusively in theaters, and has the word of mouth to keep it going. (If you have Twitter, you’ve probably heard of the guy who’s seen it nearly 20 times by this point.) Currently, i’s the highest-grossing movie in all of 2024 both domestically and worldwide. Going past $500M would make it one of the few movies to do so in our (not entirely) post-pandemic times, and analysts have speculated the movie will do around $600M when all is said and done.

    Even with Dune’s new milestone, Kung Fu Panda 4 managed to secure the top spot in the domestic box office. Dreamworks’ animated sequel netted another $30 million in North America and $39.6 million internationally. At $176.5 million worldwide, it still has a ways to go before it touches the box office of the first three films, which each made $500-600M during their individual runs.

    Next week, both movies will have some mighty competition in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which has been getting heavy promo in recent weeks. (That, and folks love them some Ghostbusters.) On March 29, the kaiju will go to war in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, though that one may be hurt (or helped) by the recent success of Godzilla Minus One. Given how well it’s doing so far, WB might keep Dune around in theaters for longer than normal—but if not, there’s always streaming.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    Justin Carter

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  • Dune: Part Two Rides the Worm To a Strong Box Office Opening

    Dune: Part Two Rides the Worm To a Strong Box Office Opening

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    Image: Warner Bros.

    It’s March, and we’ve got our first big movie for 2024 in Warner Bros. and Legendary’s Dune: Part Two. Even as its release date shifted around a few times, there’s been a palpable excitement in the air for the second half of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel, and that was before it was getting high marks from nearly everyone. Financially, it’s starting off on the right foot and doing better than originally projected.

    Spoilers of the Week April 24-29

    Per the Hollywood Reporter, Dune has shored up $178.5 million in its starting weekend. $97 million of this came internationally; in regions like France and South Korea, it released a few days ahead of its March 1 date in North America. For North America, it netted $81.5 million, double the opening take of Dune: Part One back in 2021 and also the highest-grossing movie of 2024 to date. The film was initially tracked to be in the $150-$175 million range, but its small surpassing of that suggests it may have a long tail ahead of it.

    Beyond its collective star power and heavy marketing, folks seemed to groove with Part One in the years since its release, if they weren’t already into it. It also helps that there’s nothing else quite on this level in terms of blockbuster scale, and it looks like something worth going out to see in the theaters: per Deadline, $32.2 million of its global take came from IMAX screenings, and it’s now the second-biggest global weekend for an IMAX film behind Batman v Superman in 2016.

    Tentpole-wise, the month of March has some other big films on the horizon: Kung Fu Panda 4 drops next week for the kids, along with Blumhouse’s Imaginary. Then we’ve got Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire towards the end of the month on March 22, concluding with WB and Legendary’s own Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire on the 29th. At the moment, Dune has word of mouth on its side, ditto a desire to see this all come to a close with an eventual adaptation of Dune Messiah and those popcorn buckets, so time will tell how those movies fare against it.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    Justin Carter

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