Stiff competition from last weekend’s box office champ didn’t stop Warner Brothers’ Godzilla: King of the Monsters at finishing on top for its debut.
The sequel to 2014’s Godzilla came up a little shy of $50 million with $49 million from May 31-June 2. Warner’s had projected an opening in the $55 million range.
A putrid 39% approval rating from critics at Rotten Tomatoes didn’t help as the sequel came up way short of the original’s $93.2 million debut. While fans loved the monster battles, the plot and story were lambasted no matter where you look.
Disney’s Aladdin took second place with $42.3 million and came a lot closer to King of the Monsters than anyone expected. Aladdin has now earned $185 million and $446 million globally through approximately 10 days of release.
Paramount’s R-rated Elton John biopic Rocketman debuted with $25 million to top studio estimates in the $20 million range. With an “A-” CinemaScore rating it should have decent legs and finish its domestic run north of $50 million.
Universal and Blumhouse’s Ma did what Blumhouse-produced films are so great at: exceed their production budgets during the opening weekend of release. Produced for a mere $5 million, Ma opened with $18.2 million domestically and just over $21 million around the world.
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum landed in fifth place with $11.1 million to raise its domestic haul to $125 million. The global total stands at $221 million and climbing for what won’t be the final film in the franchise.
Here’s the remainder of the Top 10 box office results for May 31-June 2.
6. Avengers: Endgame ($7.3 million)
7. Pokemon Detective Pikachu ($6.6 million)
8. Booksmart ($3.3 million)
9. Brightburn ($2.3 million)
10. The Hustle ($1.3 million)
Next weekend, Fox’s X-Men continuation Dark Phoenix will take on Universal’s The Secret Life of Pets 2. The latter is expected to steal the crown from Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
