Disney’s ‘The New Mutants’ Delivers $7 Million, Bill & Ted Return with $1 Million, and ‘Tenet’ Soars Overseas
With an estimated $7 million, Disney’s The New Mutants from 20th Century Studios fell on the lower end of pre-weekend predictions. Critical reception was mixed-to-negative heading into the weekend (35% on Rotten Tomatoes, 45 on Metacritic) as the X-Men universe spin-off found itself unable to build on its Friday performance. Opening in 2,412 theaters, the film took in $3.1 million on Friday and dropped 21% on Saturday ($2.45 million) and 40.8% on Sunday ($1.45 million). It had a $2,902 per-theater average. Still, as theaters across the country continue to re-open, there is a chance that the PG-13 film, which stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Maisie Williams, could attract more ticket buyers. For historical comparison, the last X-Men-related movie, Dark Phoenix, opened to $32.8 million domestically on June 5, 2019.
Internationally, The New Mutants added an additional $2.9 million, bringing its worldwide opening weekend cumulative to $9.9 million.
Finishing in the runner-up position was Solstice Studios’ Unhinged. In its third week of release, the R-rated Russell Crowe thriller earned $2.6 million in 2,331 theaters, down 35% from the previous frame, bringing its domestic cumulative to $8.83 million. It racked up $16.83 million worldwide to date.
In third place was United Artists’ Bill & Ted Face the Music, the third installment in the time-traveling dude-comedy franchise starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. The film opened in 1,007 locations with an estimated $1.03M. The movie also debuted on VOD. The original film in the series, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure opened on February 17, 1989 with $6.17 million (which would roughly translate to $14.56 million when adjusted for inflation).
In fourth place was Paramount’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, which grossed $604,000 in 314 theaters, up 9.8% from last weekend. Three weeks into its run, the big-screen adaptation of the popular kids’ film has a box office cumulative of $2.02 million. It has yet to open overseas.
Fox Searchlight’s The Personal History of David Copperfield landed in fifth place with an estimated $520,000 in 1,360 locations (good for a $382 per-theater average). The PG-rated modern take on Charles Dickens’ classic tale starring Dev Patel saw a 14% bounce from Friday ($171,000) to Saturday ($195,000) before dropping 21% on Sunday ($154,000). Internationally, the indie has managed to add a more robust $9.91 million, bringing its worldwide cumulative to $10.43 million.
Elsewhere, Christopher Nolan’s brainteasing heist epic Tenet scored big with international audiences, grossing more than $53 million in a strong opening weekend across 41 international markets, including Canada. The top markets for Nolan’s film were the United Kingdom ($7.1M on 3,114 screens), France ($6.7M on 1,070 screens), Korea ($5.1M on 2,228 screens), and Germany ($4.2M on 1,955 screens). It was the No. 1 movie in all of those territories. Tenet debuted on more than 20,000 screens worldwide, including IMAX and other premium formats.
The Warner Bros. film will finally start its roll-out in the U.S. on September 3 (with previews from August 31) and will also open next weekend in Russia (September 3), China (September 4), and six other international markets.
Internationally, The New Mutants added an additional $2.9 million, bringing its worldwide opening weekend cumulative to $9.9 million.
Finishing in the runner-up position was Solstice Studios’ Unhinged. In its third week of release, the R-rated Russell Crowe thriller earned $2.6 million in 2,331 theaters, down 35% from the previous frame, bringing its domestic cumulative to $8.83 million. It racked up $16.83 million worldwide to date.
In third place was United Artists’ Bill & Ted Face the Music, the third installment in the time-traveling dude-comedy franchise starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. The film opened in 1,007 locations with an estimated $1.03M. The movie also debuted on VOD. The original film in the series, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure opened on February 17, 1989 with $6.17 million (which would roughly translate to $14.56 million when adjusted for inflation).
In fourth place was Paramount’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, which grossed $604,000 in 314 theaters, up 9.8% from last weekend. Three weeks into its run, the big-screen adaptation of the popular kids’ film has a box office cumulative of $2.02 million. It has yet to open overseas.
Fox Searchlight’s The Personal History of David Copperfield landed in fifth place with an estimated $520,000 in 1,360 locations (good for a $382 per-theater average). The PG-rated modern take on Charles Dickens’ classic tale starring Dev Patel saw a 14% bounce from Friday ($171,000) to Saturday ($195,000) before dropping 21% on Sunday ($154,000). Internationally, the indie has managed to add a more robust $9.91 million, bringing its worldwide cumulative to $10.43 million.
Elsewhere, Christopher Nolan’s brainteasing heist epic Tenet scored big with international audiences, grossing more than $53 million in a strong opening weekend across 41 international markets, including Canada. The top markets for Nolan’s film were the United Kingdom ($7.1M on 3,114 screens), France ($6.7M on 1,070 screens), Korea ($5.1M on 2,228 screens), and Germany ($4.2M on 1,955 screens). It was the No. 1 movie in all of those territories. Tenet debuted on more than 20,000 screens worldwide, including IMAX and other premium formats.
The Warner Bros. film will finally start its roll-out in the U.S. on September 3 (with previews from August 31) and will also open next weekend in Russia (September 3), China (September 4), and six other international markets.
