Box Office: ‘Suicide Squad 2’ Limps To $50M As ‘Jungle Cruise’ Tops $100M

In box office news that isn’t about Candyman ($22.3 million domestic and $27.5 million worldwide) and Free Guy ($24 million in China, a 27% dip in North America and a $179 million global cume), Paramount’s The PAW Patrol Movie earned another $6.625 million (-50%) for a $24.081 million ten-day total. That’s not awful for a $26 million animated offshoot which is concurrently available “for free” on Paramount+. Teen Titans GO! to the Movies ended with $29 million domestic in 2018 (albeit on a $10 million budget). At this rate, PAW Patrol should end with around $37 million domestic. The Boss Baby: Back in Business (which was concurrently offered on Peacock) has earned $56.63 million domestic and $100 million worldwide. Yes, it’s an $82 million sequel to a film that earned $527 million on a $125 million budget in 2017, but c’est la vie.

Meanwhile, Universal’s F9 has earned $704 million worldwide, including an $200,000 debut in Peru and a Japanese cume ($27.7 million) likely to land between Hobbs & Shaw ($27.9 million) and Fate of the Furious ($35.6 million). It is the first Hollywood flick to top $700 million in all of 2020 and 2021, as well as the second-biggest global grosser in that same time between China’s Detective Chinatown 3 ($685 million) and China’s Hi, Mom ($825 million). Meanwhile, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow has now earned $181.5 million domestic, passing the raw grosses (sans inflation) of Captain America: The First Avenger ($176 million in 2011), Ant-Man ($180 million in 2015) and Thor ($181 million in 2011). The Disney+ Premier Access availability may have kept this one under $200 million domestic, so Bad Boys For Life ($204 million in January of 2020) still reigns supreme.

Walt Disney’s crowdpleasing Jungle Cruise still cost too much ($200 million), but it’s legging like a champ. The Dwayne Johnson/Emily Blunt action comedy earned $5.02 million (-21%) in weekend five to pass $100 million domestic and will pass Rampage ($103 million) this week. It has earned $187 million worldwide thus far. I’d love to know if the “Premier Access” grosses (after a $30 million worldwide debut) were anywhere near as leggy as the theatrical ones, as The Rock’s “family fun in the jungle” flicks (Rampage, Jumanji 2, Jumanji 3, Journey 2, etc.) are popular casual purchases/comfort watches for families. With Venom: Let There Be Carnage moved to October 15 and Hotel Transylvania 4 sold to Amazon, Disney is going to run the tables for the next month with Shang-Chi, Free Guy and Jungle Cruise. At this juncture, only James Bond can stop Mickey Mouse.  

Warner Bros.’ The Suicide Squad earned $2.035 million (-40%) in weekend four for a $52.8 million 24-day cume. The $185 million, R-rated James Gunn DC Films sequel (which is one of the better mainstream theatrical offerings of the summer)  has earned $155 million worldwide, which means that, yes, it’s going to end up way below even the $203 million (on an $82 million budget) global cume of Cathy Yan’s (also very good) Birds of Prey from just before Covid arrived worldwide in early 2020. Here’s hoping it will at least outgross Fantastic Four ($56 million domestic and $167 million worldwide), as it’s obviously a much better movie. Still, audiences didn’t want to see another Suicide Squad. The 4.7 million households over the first 17 days (behind Godzilla Vs. Kong and Mortal Kombat) is a more complicated conversation for a stand-alone post.

Sony’s Don’t Breathe 2 earned $2.835 million (-44%) for a $24.579 million 17-day cume. We’re dealing with a sequel to a film that opened with $26 million five years ago, but it’s still a $10 million release that has earned $35 million worldwide, so it’ll break even (at worst) in the end. Likewise, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions has earned $25 million domestic and $45 million worldwide on a $15 million budget. Yes, the first film earned $155 million on a $9 million budget, but, again, profit is profit. Alas, MGM’s Respect (which debuted on VOD on Friday) earned around $2.1 million (-45%) in weekend three for a $19.56 million 17-day cume. The problem is that this Aretha Franklin biopic, starring Jennifer Hudson, cost $55 million to produce.

Martin Campbell’s The Protégé, starring Maggie Q., Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Keaton, earned a $1.65 million (-43%) second-weekend gross for a $5.724 million ten-day total. Lionsgate will cover its distribution costs, but it won’t get Martin Campbell back on the A-list (unless he directs his third James Bond reboot for Daniel Craig’s replacement). Searchlight’s The Night House grossed $1.218 million (-57%) for a $5.179 million ten-day cume. Old grossed $830,000 (-28%) for a $46.5 million 38-day domestic cume. The M. Night Shyamalan flick has earned $84 million worldwide, or 4.4x its $18 million budget. Alas, no such “what we say we want from Hollywood” miracles exist for Lisa Joy’s Reminiscence, as the Hugh Jackman sci-fi thriller will earn $820 (-61%) in weekend two for a $3.513 million ten-day cume. I might argue Warner Bros. is going broke overestimating the taste of the American moviegoer.