Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” will take the No. 1 spot at the box office for a third weekend, earning $32.5 million and fending off Lionsgate’s “Ballerina,” which is underperforming with a $25 million start.
“Lilo & Stitch” is continuing its push to leg out to the $1 billion mark, currently standing at $335.8 million domestic and $772 million worldwide. Its legs will be challenged next weekend by the arrival of another remake: Universal/DreamWorks’ “How to Train Your Dragon.”
“Ballerina,” a “John Wick” spinoff starring Ana De Armas, is opening below projections of a $30 million start, with its $25 million opening roughly a third of the $73.8 million opening of “John Wick: Chapter 4” in 2023.
While Lionsgate says they are in line to turn a profit on the film thanks to foreign presales that allowed it to recoup a substantial portion of the film’s $80-90 million budget, “Ballerina” risks being squeezed out by the summer competition despite positive audience reception, which includes an A- on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 76% critics and 94% audience.
Some of that competition is coming from Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” which is providing similar action-packed thrills to a predominantly male audience that overlaps with “John Wick.” The final “Mission” film earned $15 million in its third weekend, bringing its total to just shy of $150 million domestic and $450 million worldwide as it continues on the trajectory of its 2023 predecessor, “Dead Reckoning.”
Sony/Columbia’s “Karate Kid: Legends” is in fourth with $8.5 million, a second weekend drop of 58% from its $21 million opening for a lackluster $35 million 10-day total against a $45 million budget.
In a narrow race for the last spot in the top 5 are Warner Bros./New Line’s “Final Destination: Bloodlines” in its fourth weekend and the wide release opening of Focus Features’ “The Phoenician Scheme.” Currently “Bloodlines” has the edge with $6.3 million as it stands with a franchise-best domestic total of $123.5 million.
Right on its tail is “Phoenician Scheme” with $6.25 million from 1,678 theaters. The start for Wes Anderson’s latest film is below the $9 million of his 2023 predecessor, “Asteroid City,” while the film’s B- CinemaScore is below the B earned by “Asteroid” two years ago.
Finally, Neon released last year’s TIFF Audience Award winner, “The Life of Chuck” in limited release in 16 theaters this weekend. Directed by Mike Flanagan and based off a short story by Stephen King, the film earned $216,000 for a per theater average of $13,500.
