(Associated Press) Just like in the movies, Deadpool can't be killed.
“Deadpool and Wolverine” One of the defining films of the summer, the film dominated the box office over a weekend that saw a muted opening and low theater attendance as the summer movie season ended on a disappointing note.
Breaking records and becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, Marvel blockbuster “Deadpool & Wolverine” topped the charts for a second straight week, followed by other films from the summer. Six weeks after its release in theaters, the film earned $15.2 million at the domestic box office from Friday through Sunday and is expected to pass the $600 million mark at the domestic box office after the Labor Day holiday on Monday, making the superhero movie starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman one of just 16 films to reach the milestone.
“Reagan” Biographical film starring role Dennis Quaid “Ronald Reagan,” starring the 40th president of the United States, was the only new release to compete with the pending movies released this summer. The first feature film about President Ronald Reagan beat expectations, earning $7.4 million over the three-day weekend and a cumulative total of $9.2 million, including Monday's estimates.
Audiences responded positively to the film, giving it an A CinemaScore and a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics were less favorable, giving it a 19% rating and rating it “rotten” on the popular rating site. It charted at number 4.
The Memorial Day-Labor Day summer movie season was full of surprises, flops, and surprises: Deadpool, Despicable Me, Inside Out 2, and Twisters all brought in impressive revenue and stayed on the charts for weeks after their release, with all four ranking in the top 10 over Labor Day weekend.
“If you were to paint a blueprint for perhaps the most unpredictable summer in history, 2024 could very well be that,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. May presented us with a challenge.But June, July and early August really started to pay off.”
The summer's cumulative box office gross is more than $3.6 billion domestically, down 10% from 2023's $4 billion season, which is likely “Barbenheimer” Last summer, the box office boom drew crowds to see “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.”
The end of the season saw what Dergarabedian described as a “summer blockbuster domination of the box office charts,” with “Alien: Romulus” and “It Ends With Us” taking the top three spots for the second straight week. Six of the top 10 movies for the weekend had been in theaters for three weeks or more.
“Alien: Romulus” It came in second place, bringing in $9.3 million from Friday through Sunday. The sci-fi horror film, directed by Fede Alvarez and starring Cailee Spaeny, Isabella Merced and David Johnson, has grossed $88.8 million domestically.
“We'll finish it.” It finished third for the third weekend in a row, grossing more than $7.4 million, just beating “Reagan.” The Sony film, which stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni and also directed by him, is expected to gross $136 million domestically over the weekend.
In a sudden collision, “Twisters” It made it into the top five with $7.2 million in its seventh weekend in theaters. The standalone sequel to the 1996 hit Twister stars Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones.
Afraid, a horror thriller about an AI villain, had a modest opening weekend gross of $3.7 million. Sony projects it will gross $4.5 million through Monday, placing it at No. 9 in the weekend charts. The Blumhouse Productions/Columbia Pictures film tells the story of John Cho and Katherine Waterston's family, who are selected to test a new AI assistant. As expected, the technology spirals out of control, threatening the lives of their family and those around them.
Zoe Kravitz's directorial debut, “Blink Twice,” was a hit over the last weekend of August, grossing $4.7 million in its second weekend.
Another quiet beginning is “1992” Set in a chaotic Los Angeles Deadly Riot In its release year, the film grossed just $1.4 million from Friday to Sunday, but distributor Lionsgate expects that to jump to $1.6 million after Labor Day. The film stars Tyrese Gibson, Scott Eastwood and Ray Liotta.
The series marks Lionsgate's third late-summer release with a lackluster opening, after the video game remakes “Borderlands” and “The Crow” both underperformed in August.
“Slingshot,” another upcoming sci-fi movie starring Laurence Fishburne and Casey Affleck, debuted with $485,282 from 845 screens. Distributor Bleecker Street projects the film to gross $572,763 by the end of the year.
These are estimates of ticket sales in U.S. and Canadian cinemas from Friday through Sunday, according to ComScore. Final domestic figures will be released on Monday.
1. Deadpool & Wolverine, $15.2 million.
2. Alien: Romulus, $9.3 million
3. It Ends With Us, $7.4 million
4. “Reagan,” $7.4 million
5. Twisters, $7.2 million
6. Blink Twice, $4.7 million.
7. The Forge, $4.6 million
8. “Despicable Me” $4.1 million
9. Afraid, $3.7 million
10. “Inside Out 2” — $2.8 million
