A pair of family films duked it out for the number one spot at the North America box office this weekend. Fox’s The Call of the Wild took the lead in its first day on Friday, but soon found itself chasing Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog for the rest of the weekend thanks to the latter’s popularity with the matinee crowds. The news wasn’t as good for the latest horror misfire, STX’s Brahms: The Boy II, which was DOA in its fourth place debut.
Overall, the weekend was a quiet one for the movie business as the top ten was 21% lower than one year ago at this time when How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World opened with $57.5 million.
Leveling up to the century club in only ten days’ time, Sonic the Hedgehog sped to an estimated $26.3million from 4,198 screens. Down 55%from its big holiday opening one week ago, Sonic’s domestic total now stands at $107 million. Sonic could finish its North America run around the $175 million mark. Overseas, the Jim Carrey comedy has pocketed $96.5 million so far.
Landing in second place with a decent $24.8 million from 3,752 theaters was Fox’s pricey update of The Call of the Wild. The $135 million take on the classic Jack London novel -starring Harrison Ford and a computer-generated dog- was met with mixed notices from the critics but warmly welcomed by the public. The Chris Sanders-directed film scored a 63% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 47/100 on Metacritic and an “A-“ from CinemaScore. Call of the Wild also brought in $15 million from overseas markets this weekend.
Continuing its fast fade in third place was the Warner Brothers dud Birds of Prey, which was down 59%in its third weekend to earn an estimated $7 million from 3,565 theaters. The overall domestic total for the Harley Quinn flick is $72.5 million. Should the film continue its box office free fall, Prey will be lucky to reach the $90 million mark by the end of its run. Internationally, Birds has flown away with $101 million.
Another week, another awful debut for a horror film. Last week, it was Sony’s Fantasy Island. This week, it’s STX’s Brahms: The Boy II, which landed in fourth place with an awful $5.9 million from 2,151 theaters. The sequel to a 2016 film called The Boy was eviscerated both by the critics and the public in equal measure. Brahms scored a terrible 11% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 30/100 on Metacritic and a “C-“ on CinemaScore.
Rounding out the top five was Sony’s Bad Boys For Life with an estimated $5.9 million from 2,972 screens. Now in its sixth week in top five, Bad Boys 3 has pulled in a terrific $191 million thus far. The hit sequel should cruise past the $200 million mark within the next two weeks before winding down with approximately $210 million. Bad Boys For Life has also earned $200 million from international markets.
- 1917 (Universal) $4.4 million (-46%); $152 million
- Fantasy Island (2020) (Sony) $4.185 million (-66%); $20.1 million
- Parasite (Neon) $3.1 million (45%); $49 million
- Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony) $3 million (-46%); $311 million
- The Photograph (Universal) $2.8 million (-77% – OUCH!); $17.6 million
On Friday, the latest version of The Invisible Man hits theaters.
