Universal’s umpteenth version of The Mummy was no match for the likes of Wonder Woman as the Warner superhero hit made short order of the new Tom Cruise movie at the North America box office.
The $57.2 million scored from 4,165 screens by Wonder Woman this weekend is the third best to date for a DC Comics property in its second week of business. Only The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises grossed more in their second rounds than Wonder Woman. The 45% drop for Wonder Woman this weekend was smaller than fellow DC Universe flicks Man of Steel (65%), Batman V Superman (69%) and Suicide Squad (67%).
With $205 million in the bank after only ten days, Wonder Woman is fast on its way to joining the $300 million club. Should word-of-mouth continue to remain high, it could go well past that milestone as well. Overseas, the Patty Jenkins blockbuster has cleared $230 million so far.
Landing in second place with a thud was The Mummy with a weak $32.2 million from 4,065 theaters. The $125 million Tom Cruise feature is the first offering from the studio’s new “Dark Universe” franchise, which is hoping to create a Marvel-type series of their own using their classic monsters. Given the inauspicious start for The Mummy in North America, they may have to reconsider their long-term plans.
Reviews for the Alex Kurtzman feature were downright terrible. The film scored a 17% approval rating from critics via Rotten Tomatoes and a 34/100 from Metacritic. To be fair to this latest incarnation, the Brendan Fraiser Mummy flicks from 1999-2008 weren’t critical darlings either. That series, however, had the backing of ticket buyers. This one appears not to. Not only was the new film given a “B-“ grade on CinemaScore, business was also down 5% on Saturday.
Tom Cruise may no longer be a megastar in the States -HAIL, XENU! -, he is still quite the draw overseas, which is where The Mummy scared up a monster-sized $142 million in its first three days. That total represented a whopping 82% of the film’s opening weekend business.
In third place was Fox/Dreamworks’ Captain Underpants with $12.3 million from 3,529 theaters. Off 48%, the family animated feature has brought in a respectable $44.5 million so far. With Cars 3 ready to siphon away the family crowd, Captain Underpants will probably wind down with roughly $65 million in sales.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales continued its fast fade with a fourth place gross of $10.7 million from 3,679 theaters. Down 51%, the sequel has pocketed $136 million domestically and may finish with $150 million in domestic ticket sales. The overseas market has contributed $393 million to the Mouse House’s bank account so far.
Rounding out the top five was Disney’s Guardians of the Galaxy Volume Two. The Marvel Studios release added $6.2 million from 2,911 screens, bringing its domestic total up to a great $366 million. International grosses for the James Gunn feature is $462 million.
- It Comes at Night (A24) $6 million (NEW)
- Baywatch (Paramount) $4.6 million (-48%); $51 million
- Megan Leavey (BST) $3.7 million (NEW)
- Alien: Covenant (Fox) $1.8 million (-56%); $71.1 million
- Everything, Everything (MGM) $1.62 million (-51%); $32 million
Next weekend sees the arrival of Cars 3: Why, God, Why?? ; The Tupac Shakur biodrama All Eyez On Me, the comedy Rough Night and this year’s shark offering 47 Meters Down. Cars 3 should easily win the weekend with an estimated $55-60 million opening.
