Universal’s The Fall Guy stumbled out of the gates, earning $28.5 million in its opening frame, far below the $35M many anticipated, per Deadline. That’s about on par with most comedies of this ilk (see Sandra Bullock’s The Lost City), but David Leitch’s action comedy cost anywhere between $130M-$150M to produce and needed to get off to a strong start, particularly considering the upcoming competition.
Still, Fall Guy earned an A CinemaScore and strong reviews, so the hope is that it eventually reaches $100M domestically. Also, that’s Gosling’s third-highest opening behind Barbie ($162M) and Blade Runner 2049 ($32.7M), and Blunt’s ninth-best just behind Edge of Tomorrow ($28.7M).
Worldwide, the Ryan Gosling/Emily Blunt pic earned $65.4M.
Elsewhere, the 25th-anniversary re-release of George Lucas’ Star Wars: The Phantom Menace added a nice chunk of change to its already robust gross, earning $8.1M domestically and $14.5M globally. That ranks on the higher end of re-releases, just below the $10.5M domestic earned by James Cameron’s Avatar in 2022.
Also opening this week was the horror flick Tarot, which only managed $6.5M from 3,104 theaters. Last week’s champ, Challengers, collected $7.6M (-49%) in its sophomore frame to raise its domestic cume to $29.5M.
This week sees the release of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Box Office Results: Domestic Top 10.
1.) Fall Guy (Uni) 4,002 theaters, Fri $10.4M, Sat $10.2M Sun $7.7M 3-day $28.5M/Wk 1
2.) Star Wars The Phantom Menace (20th) 2,700 theaters, Fri $2.4M, Sat $4.6M Sun $1M 3-day $8.1M, Total lifetime $482.6M/Wk 1 re-release
3.) Challengers (AMZ MGM) 3,477 theaters, Fri $2.5M (-60%), Sat $2.9M Sun $2.1M 3-day $7.6M (-49%)/Total $29.5M/ Wk 2
4.) Tarot (Sony) 3,104 theaters, Fri $2.5M Sat $2.3M Sun $1.6M 3-day $6.5M/Wk 1
5.) Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Leg/WB) 2,884 theaters (-428), Fri $1M (-41%) Sat $2M Sun $1.37M 3-day $4.5M (-38%)/Total $188M/ Wk 6
6.) Civil War (A24) 2,689 (-829) theaters, Fri $977K (-49%) Sat $1.5M Sun $1M 3-day $3.55M (-48%), Total $62M/Wk 4
7.) Unsung Hero (LG) 2,832 theaters,Fri $867K (-77%) Sat $1.2M Sun $893K, 3-day $3M (-61%), Total $13.1M/Wk 2
8.) Kung Fu Panda 4 (Uni) 2,380 (-387) theaters, Fri $520K (-38%) Sat $1.1M Sun $740K 3-day $2.4M (-38%), Total $188.3M/Wk 9
9.) Abigail (Uni) 2,638 (-755) theatres, Fri $690K, Sat $1M Sun $600K 3-day$2.3M (-56%)/Total $22.7M/Wk 3
10.) Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Sony) 2,025 (-602) theaters, Fri $405K (-49%) Sat $865K Sun $530K 3-day $1.8M (-45%), Total $109.9M/Wk 7
