Box Office Update
NEW YORK (AP) — “Project Hail Mary” has had an impressive second week, pulling in about $54.5 million, as per studio estimates on Sunday. This performance strengthens its position as the top film of the year so far.
Starring Ryan Gosling, this adventure from Phil Lord and Chris Miller experienced only a 32% drop from its opening weekend, which was notably the best for a non-franchise film since “Oppenheimer” earlier this year. In just two weeks, “Project Hail Mary” has already garnered $300 million globally.
The film, which had a production budget nearing $200 million, has managed to dominate premium-format screens without significant new competition. Interestingly, the K-Pop documentary “BTS: The Return” debuted for streaming on Netflix, possibly stealing some attention.
The drop in its second weekend was even better than that of “Oppenheimer,” which made $46.7 million in its second outing.
On the other hand, the weekend’s highest new release, “They Will Kill You,” struggled, earning only $5 million for Warner Bros. This horror flick, rated R, features Zazie Beetz as a woman who applies for a maid position in an apartment complex, only to find herself becoming a sacrifice.
Though not disastrous for a low-budget film that cost $20 million, it hints at potential oversaturation in the horror genre. David A. Gross, who leads a film consulting firm, noted that a new horror movie has come out every week for the last 14 weeks.
This includes “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” which debuted last week and has since made $16.3 million domestically, along with another horror-comedy that also launched this weekend. IFC’s “Forbidden Fruits,” centered on a group of witches working in a Texas mall, had initial earnings of $1.2 million.
Despite the apparent excess in horror films, Gross anticipates that the genre will still contribute about $2.1 billion to North American box office revenue by 2026, down from $2.75 billion last year. This decrease may suggest that while audiences still enjoy horror films and they are relatively inexpensive to produce, the market may be reaching a saturation point.
Family movies are seeing positive outcomes as well. Pixar’s original “Hoppers” held on to second place with $12.2 million in its fourth week, reaching a global total of $297.6 million.
Next weekend looks challenging for “Hoppers,” as it faces stiff competition from Universal Pictures’ “Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which is expected to see one of the largest openings in 2026.
Top 10 Domestic Box Office Revenue
Final figures will be available on Monday, but the following is a list of estimated ticket sales from Friday through Sunday in theaters across the U.S. and Canada, according to Comscore:
- “Project Hail Mary,” $54.5 million.
- “Hoppers,” $12.2 million.
- “They Will Kill You,” $5 million.
- “Durandal: The Revenge,” $4.8 million.
- “Reminder of Him,” $4.7 million.
- “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” $4 million.
- “Scream 7,” $2.6 million.
- “GOAT,” $2.2 million.
- “Undertones,” $1.7 million.
- “Forbidden Fruit,” $1.2 million.
