Animation got a win this weekend after last weekend's Transformers One surprise tumble. Universal/Dreamworks' The Wild Robot leads the American box office (September 27-29, 2024) chart with a solid $35 million debut. That's just shy of the September record for an animated feature which still belongs to the Hotel Transylvania movies.
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| The Wild Robot. (C) Universal/Dreamworks |
Universal knew they've had a great movie on their hands and were quick to put the word out. It was heavily exposed during the recent Olympics and given a premiere on TIFF. Both critics and audiences were in love with this $78 million-produced adaptation: scoring 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and an A Cinemascore. Interestingly, Deadline is reporting 43% of its weekend attendance came from IMAX and Premium Large Formats. As Oscar buzz start to come around the corner for Robot, the film is well positioned for longevity until Moana 2 arrives on November.
That longevity goal, unfortunately, may not come for Transformers One. With a direct genre competitor this weekend, the film saw a rough 62 percent drop with $9.3 million gross. In 10 days, the film has only been able to amass $39 million domestically.
The second place this week actually went for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice thanks to another strong drop. The sequel scared off $16 million which is just off 16 percent from last weekend. It has also now crossed $250 million, just in time before another Warner Bros. feature Joker: Folie à Deux arrives at the multiplexes. If it continues to hold nicely, a total just shy of $300 million remains in play.
Indian film Devara Part 1 took the fourth spot this weekend with a solid $5.6 million debut in only over a thousand theaters - giving it a strong per-theater average of $5,384.
Speak No Evil also enjoyed a healthy 25 percent drop this weekend with $4.3 million for a total of $28 million.
Meanwhile, Francis Ford Copolla's Megalopolis bombed this weekend with an est. $4 million debut. Copolla self produced this passion project of his with over $100 million. Unfortunately, even those who saw this in theatres may not help its box office or awards chances: 50% Rotten Tomatoes score and D+ Cinemascore.
Deadpool & Wolverine collected another $2.6 million this weekend for a 10 week total of $631 million. My Old Ass expanded to around 1000 theatres this weekend and grossed $2.2 million.
Overall box office weekend is still up from last year when three movies opened (Paw Patrol, Saw X, & The Creator). The trend should continue next weekend thanks to the opening of Joker: Folie à Deux which could easily double last year's opener The Exorcist: Believer.
