Godzilla: King of the Monsters debuted at the top of the box office this weekend but its gross was more along the lines of a prince rather than a king.
King of the Monsters grossed $47.7 million which was well below its box office tracking of $50-55 million. The figure was actually originally $49 million but once the final numbers were released, Godzilla underperformed even more. The film’s opening is well short of the $93.2 million opening for the 2014 reboot as well as the $61 million opening for Kong: Skull Island which has to make you wonder if they’re worried about next year’s Godzilla vs. Kong after the lower than expected opening for this film. The movie carried a budget of $170 million and that’s a figure it definitely won’t see stateside so it will have to rely on overseas play and even that figure came in on the lighter side this weekend. Godzilla debuted in 75 markets with an estimated $130 million for a worldwide opening totaling $179 million. Leading the way was a $70 million opening in China, which is relatively on par with the debut for Kong: Skull Island. While that opening doesn’t seem too bad, it’s about $10 million less than what tracking indicated its overseas debut would be.
So what went wrong here? The film earned a “B+” CinemaScore which is solid and despite negative reviews from critics (40% rotten as of this writing), the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes comes in at a far better 86%. What seems to be the case is that people who like this sort of thing, really enjoyed it but it just didn’t entice other moviegoers to go see it. The film lacked a universal appeal that would allow it to exceed expectations which is a shame because judging from the people I know who have seen it, they think it’s quite good and exactly what they hoped for.
Dropping to second is Aladdin with $42.8 million. That’s a drop of 53.2% which is solid in the post-Memorial Day weekend frame as some films tend to fall 60% or more after the holiday weekend. The film has grossed $185.5 million at the domestic box office and internationally the film added another $78.3 million this weekend for an international gross totaling $261 million for a global take just shy of $446 million.
Debuting in third is Rocketman with $25.7 million. I was one of those people that thought this figure for tracking was way too low and even predicted an opening in the $45 million range, especially after seeing how Bohemian Rhapsody performed but after looking into more, it looks like many people didn’t expect it to open that high and it really doesn’t need to. Working against it is that the film opened during a pretty crowded frame while Bohemian Rhapsody had the focus mostly to itself. Rocketman is also R-rated and doesn’t sugarcoat the harder aspects of Elton John’s life and it doesn’t shy away from his sexuality or his relationship with men which could, unfortunately, turn off some moviegoers. That being said, people seem to love it and bestowed the film with an “A-” CinemaScore and thanks to stellar reviews, this may end up being a film the legs it out. It may not be an out the gate hit like Bohemian Rhapsody but it definitely has quite the life ahead of it if word of mouth takes off.
Landing in fourth is the horror/thriller Ma with $18 million. Add this to the long list of Blumhouse movies that were made on the cheap and turn a profit before the weekend is over. The film cost $5 million to make and even if it sees a typical horror movie decline, it has a potential shot at about $50 million domestic and then a long life once it hits the home market. The film received a “B-” CinemaScore which is decent for horror and Octavia Spencer is earning raves on social media with many people saying that moviegoers should see it just to see her performance.
Rounding out the top five is John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum with $11 million. The film was down 54.9% but it has grossed $125.7 million at the domestic box office which has easily made it the highest grossing entry of the franchise so far. When you can make the third film of your franchise earn more than the first two films, you’re definitely doing something right. Additionally, the film grossed an estimated $12.7 million internationally from 77 markets, pushing the international total to $95.9 million for a global gross topping $221 million.
Check out the full top ten results below:
| Film | Total | % Change | Gross to Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onward | $10,601,952 | -72.9% | $60.3 |
| Bloodshot | $9,176,695 | NEW | $9.17 |
| I Still Believe | $9,103,614 | NEW | $9.10 |
| The Invisible Man | $5,890,805 | -61.1% | $64.3 |
| The Hunt | $5,304,455 | NEW | $5.3 |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | $2,522,584 | -67.3% | $145.7 |
| The Way Back | $2,356,115 | -71.2% | $13.3 |
| The Call of the Wild | $2,226,720 | -67.1% | $62 |
| Emma. | $1,295,215 | -73% | $9.9 |
| Bad Boys for Life | $1,102,208 | -63.5% | $204.2 |
