“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” dominated the domestic box office again, looming large over newcomers “Monkey Man” and “The First Omen.”
Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s monster tentpole added $31.7 million from 3,948 theaters in its second weekend of release. Ticket sales dropped a standard (for a tentpole of its size and scale) 60% from its mighty $80 million debut and stand at $132 million domestically and $361 million globally.
First-time director Dev Patel’s action thriller “Monkey Man” nabbed second place with $10.1 million from 3,029 venues, while Disney and 20th Century’s supernatural prequel “The First Omen” trailed at the No. 4 spot with a muted $8.4 million from 3,375 locations.
Both “Monkey Man” and “The First Omen” were destined for streaming — and not the big screen. With “Monkey Man,” originally set at Netflix, Universal Pictures landed rights for $10 million after filmmaker Jordan Peele (whose production company has a distribution deal with Universal) saw the movie and felt it deserved a theatrical release. “The First Omen” was produced for Hulu but pivoted to cinemas because horror has been a reliable theatrical draw, and it’s generally more financially rewarding for studios to put movies in theaters before they land on streaming. It cost around $30 million, so neither “The First Omen” nor “Monkey Man” has a terribly tough path to profitability during their big screen runs.
“Monkey Man” has been well received by audiences (it landed a “B+” CinemaScore) and critics (it holds an 86% average on Rotten Tomatoes), so word-of-mouth could help in the coming weeks. Patel, in addition to directing, stars in the R-rated movie as Kid, an anonymous man who exacts revenge on the corrupt leaders who are responsible for the death of his mother. Through his journey, he becomes the savior of the poor and powerless people.
“This is a good opening for an original action thriller,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “It was not expensive to make, and it’s going to be very profitable.”
“The First Omen” didn’t get much of a boost at the international box office, where it launched with $9.1 million for a global start of $17.5 million. The film, the sixth installment in the horror franchise and its first new entry in 18 years, wasn’t as embraced with its lousy “C” CinemaScore and 67% on Rotten Tomatoes. The prequel story follows an American woman who is sent to work at a church in Rome and discovers a sinister conspiracy to bring about the birth of the Antichrist.
Although those tepid grades aren’t unusual for the horror genre, a debut under $10 million is not a promising sign for its commercial prospects. Even without adjusting ticket sales for inflation, “The First Omen” didn’t come anywhere close to matching the debut of its series predecessor, 2006’s Liev Schriber and Julia Stiles-led “The Omen,” which opened to $16 million and tapped out with $119 million.
Since “Monkey Man” and “The First Omen” landed behind expectations, they did little to offset the year-to-date deficit. Overall, box office revenues are 10% behind 2023, according to Comscore. It’s a drop from last weekend when North American ticket sales were down by just 6.3%.
Elsewhere, several holdovers such as “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” “Kung Fu Panda 4” and “Dune: Part Two,” rounded out box office charts.
In third place, Sony’s “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” added $9 million from 3,835 theaters. After three weekends of release, the sci-fi comedy sequel has generated $88.8 million at the domestic box office and $138 million worldwide. It cost $100 million to produce, and since theaters get to keep half of ticket sales, “Frozen Empire” may not have the staying power needed to justify the studio’s return to the business of busting ghosts.
Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda 4” rounded out the top five with $8 million from 3,398 venues. So far, the animated family film has grossed $166 million in North America and a solid $410 million globally. With its $85 million production budget, “Kung Fu Panda 4” is well positioned in its theatrical run.
“Dune: Part Two” dropped to sixth place with $7.2 million in its sixth weekend of release. The sci-fi epic has amassed $264 million in North America and $660 million globally, strengthening its standing as the year’s highest-grossing movie.
