Warner Bros./DC Studios’ “Superman” faced little competition from Sony Pictures’ “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and Paramount’s “The Smurfs,” easily holding on to the No. 1 spot and passing $400 million worldwide.
James Gunn’s well-received start to the new DC universe earned $57.6 million domestic and $45.2 million international this weekend, bringing its total to $235 million domestic and $406 million worldwide.
At this pace, “Superman” will earn somewhere in the range of $350 million domestic and $600 million global, the latter figure being behind the total of the 2013 film “Man of Steel” but still a solid foundation for the franchise reboot. Stiff competition from Universal’s “Jurassic World” and, in some markets, Warner/Apple’s “F1,” have weighed down the overseas numbers for “Superman.”
Farther down the charts, “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and “The Smurfs” are leaving little mark on the box office, earning respective domestic opening weekends of $13 million and $11 million and falling behind “Superman” and the $23.4 million third weekend of “Jurassic World Rebirth.”
“I Know What You Did Last Summer” should be a modest, if frontloaded, success for Sony with a global start of $24.6 million against a reported $18 million budget. With Warner Bros./New Line’s “Weapons” coming in three weeks, it’s unlikely that the film will expand far beyond nostalgic older millennials and Gen Xers with its C+ CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 38% critics and 69% audience.
“The Smurfs” is facing a much bleaker outlook after its $11 million domestic start, relying on a $22.6 million overseas launch to help mitigate the damage as it earns a $33.6 million global start against a reported $58 million budget. The animated film based on the 80s franchise and starring Rihanna as Smurfette has been panned by critics and received a B+ on CinemaScore, the worst grade ever for a “Smurfs” movie.
When it comes to animated franchise films, Paramount has made hundreds of millions more from merchandising connected to the release of movies for “Paw Patrol” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” than they do from box office grosses, and making a “Smurfs” film was almost certainly a similar play that should push the film out of the red in the long run. But given the widespread disinterest from audiences and tepid reaction from those who did buy a ticket — it has a 68% audience score — the ancillary revenue will likely be curtailed compared to those other IP.
Among holdovers, “Jurassic World Rebirth” now stands after three weekends at $276 million domestic and $600 million worldwide. It is only the third Hollywood film so far to pass $600 million globally this year and alongside “How to Train Your Dragon” has made this summer a lucrative one for Universal even if it falls short of the $1 billion total reached by previous “Jurassic World” films.
“F1” completes the top 5 with $9.8 million, bringing its total to $153 million domestic and $460 million worldwide, the highest total ever for an Apple-produced theatrical release though it still might not turn a theatrical profit against its sky-high $250 million-plus budget.
Outside the top 5, A24’s “Eddington” is limping to a $4.2 million opening from 2,111 locations. The dark satire from “Hereditary” director Ari Aster has, like his last film “Beau is Afraid,” divided critics and audiences with a 67% RT score and a C+ on CinemaScore. “Eddington” may do better than the $12.7 million global total for “Beau,” but it still faces an uphill battle theatrically against its reported $25 million budget.
Next weekend will see the release of Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” which is projected for a $100 million-plus opening weekend with some exhibitor sources predicting a possible match of the $125 million opening for “Superman.” Such a start would be a welcome one for Marvel Studios after the underperformance of “Captain America: Brave New World” and “Thunderbolts*,” both of which failed to pass $500 million worldwide.
