Weekend Box Office: The Woman King is King w/ $19M Debut

The Woman King

Sony Pictures’ historical action drama The Woman King, starring Viola Davis, debuted with $19.0M in first place.

That’s on the higher end of pre-release projections, which forecast it around $16M-$18M. It also snaps an ignominious three-weekend streak in which the top film earned around $10M or less. 

[Read Boxoffice PRO’s interview with The Woman King director Gina Prince-Bythewood here.]

Compared to other comparable female-led action films starring Academy Award winners, that $19M opening was:

• +4% above 2017’s Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron ($18.2M)
• +12% above 2018’s Red Sparrow with Jennifer Lawrence ($16.8M)
• +71% above 2018’s Annihilation with Natalie Portman ($11.0M)
• +89% above 2017’s Kidnap with Halle Berry ($10.0M)

Compared to some other comparable female-led action or historical drama titles of recent years, it also started:

• +10% above July’s Where the Crawdads Sing (17,253,227)
• +41% above 2018’s Peppermint (13,423,255)
• +53% above 2018’s Widows (12,361,307)
• +62% above 2019’s Harriet (11,676,720)

Earning an A+ CinemaScore bodes well for King’s likely box office hold in the coming weeks. Its overseas rollout begins in October.

Barbarian

Last weekend’s leader, 20th Century Studios and New Regency horror-thriller Barbarian, debuted in first place with $10.5M, slightly above pre-release projections which had it closer to $8M.

In its sophomore frame, it fell -40% to $6.3M and second place.

Compared to the other biggest horror titles of 2022, Barbarian’s sophomore drop was steeper than:

• August’s Bodies Bodies Bodies (-24%)
• August’s The Invitation (-28%)

However, it was milder than:

• June’s The Black Phone (-48%)
• May’s Firestarter (-48%, after being released day-and-date simultaneously in cinemas and on Peacock)
• March’s X (-49%)
• January’s Scream (-59%)
• May’s Men (-64%)

Overseas, Barbarian has opened in very few markets so far, only earning $1.0M total overseas. Its global total stands at $21.9M.

Pearl

A24’s horror Pearl started in third place with $3.1M, about in line with pre-release projections, if perhaps on the slightly lower side.

Compared to distributor A24’s three other main horror releases from 2022, that’s:

• -27% below March’s X ($4.2M)
• -5% below May’s Men ($3.2M)
• Less than -1% below August’s Bodies Bodies Bodies ($3.12M)

See How They Run

Searchlight Pictures’ historical comedy-mystery See How They Run was off to a running start, starting in fourth place with $3.1M. That’s slightly higher than most pre-release projections, which had it closer to $2M.

Versus the peak weekends for other comparable comedy releases over the past few years from Searchlight Pictures and its predecessor Fox Searchlight, that $3.1M opening was:

• +19% above 2021’s The French Dispatch ($2.6M wide debut in 788 theaters)
• +19% above 2018’s The Favourite ($2.6M)
• -21% below 2019’s Jojo Rabbit ($3.9M)
• -33% below February 2020’s Downhill ($4.6M)

The estimated opening weekend audience for See was 54% female and 81% ages 25+.

The film began rolling out overseas last weekend and has now earned $4.5M overseas, most of it in the U.K. ($3.2M). Its global total stands at $7.6M.

Top Gun: Maverick

Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick declined only -27% to $2.3M and sixth place in its 17th weekend. That’s the #39-biggest seventeenth weekend of all time.

After earning “only” the #41 opening weekend of all time ($126.7M), it has remained near the top of all time for every frame since, and usually top-10. The past two frames in particular, at #29 and now #39, it’s started to fall a little back back to earth:

• #8 second weekend of all time ($90.0M)

• #10 third weekend ($51.8M)

• #3 fourth weekend ($44.6M)

• #4 fifth weekend ($29.6M)

• #4 sixth weekend ($25.5M)

• #7 seventh weekend ($15.5M)

• #8 eighth weekend ($12.3M)

• #6 ninth weekend ($10.2M)

• #10 tenth weekend ($8.4M)

• #17 eleventh weekend ($7.0M)

• #9 twelfth weekend ($7.0M again)

• #13 thirteenth weekend ($5.8M)

• #13 fourteenth weekend ($4.7M)

• #7 fifteenth weekend ($6.0M)

• #29 sixteenth weekend ($3.1M)

• #39 seventeenth weekend ($2.3M)

One of the few films to ever record a higher seventeenth weekend? 1986’s original Top Gun, which ranks #20 all time on that measure with $3.2M.

Overseas, Maverick stands at $754.2M, for $1.46B globally – the top film of 2022 both globally and domestically. The top five overseas market totals to date include:

1. U.K. ($102.0M)

2. Japan ($93.6M)

3. South Korea ($67.2M)

4. Australia ($64.3M)

5. France ($58.2M)

Moonage Daydream

Neon’s IMAX documentary Moonage Daydream about David Bowie opened in tenth place with $1.2M in only 170 theaters, less than 10% the count of this weekend’s other widest films.

That gross is about equal to the opening of 2018’s documentary Whitney about Whitney Houston (also $1.2M). It’s also the second-best opening of the past year for a film playing in <200 theaters, behind only The French Dispatch ($1.3M in 52 theaters).

Daydream’s $7,206 per-screen average was also the highest of any film in release this weekend. It will expand to 600+ theaters domestically next weekend.

Overseas, the film debuted in 28 markets with $1.4M, for a $2.6M global opening.

Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva

Last frame, Hindi-language action-adventure Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva started in second place with $4.5M, on the slightly higher end of pre-release projections which were around $3.5M.

This weekend, it falls -76% to $1.1M and eleventh place.

Compared to the other highest-grossing Indian films of recent years, that sophomore drop is steeper than:

• 2016’s Dangal (-35%)
• 2014’s P.K. (-52%)
• 2015’s Baahubali: The Beginning (-56%)
• 2017’s Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (-67%)

However, it’s milder than for March’s RRR (-83%).

In India itself, Shiva dropped -66% in its sophomore frame, a milder decline in that country than for other post-pandemic blockbuster titles including Thor: Love and Thunder, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Eternals.

Shiva has now earned $31.6M overseas and $6.8M domestically, for a $38.4M global total.

Elsewhere at the box office

• Lionsgate’s comedy sequel Clerks III released starting midweek this past Tuesday, as a specialty title in conjunction with Fathom Events. This weekend it earned $576K in 1,006 theaters, for a $2.1M domestic total so far. 2006’s Clerks II earned a $10.0M opening.
• Last frame, Fathom Events’ faith-based Lifemark debuted in seventh place with $2.1M. This weekend, it falls -68% to $680K. Compared to some other pandemic-era faith-based films, that fall is substantially steeper than: 2021’s American Underdog (-33%), May’s Family Camp (-37%), April’s Father Stu (-38%), or January’s Redeeming Love (-50%)
• .Ahead of its October 21 domestic release, Universal’s romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise expanded in 39 additional markets on its second overseas weekend, for 46 total markets. It earned $12.0M this frame, for a $14.7M overseas total to date.

Interviews

Boxoffice PRO has interviewed several directors behind current films:

• Read Boxoffice PRO’s interview with The Woman King director Gina Prince-Bythewood here.
• Read Boxoffice PRO’s interview with Bullet Train director David Leitch here.
• Read Boxoffice PRO’s interview with Beast director Baltasar Kormákur here.
• Read Boxoffice PRO’s interview with The Invitation director Jessica M. Thompson here.
• Read Boxoffice PRO’s interview with Where the Crawdads Sing director Olivia Newman here.

Weekend comparisons

Total box office this weekend came in around $48.2M, which is:

• +14% above last weekend’s total ($42.2M), when Barbarian led with $10.5M.
• -21% below the equivalent weekend in 2021 ($61.3M), when Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings led for a second consecutive frame with $34.7M.
• -56% below the equivalent weekend in the last pre-pandemic year 2019 ($110.7M), when It: Chapter Two led for a second consecutive frame with $39.6M.

YTD comparisons

Year-to-date box office stands around $5.46B. That’s:

• 2.35x this same point in the pandemic recovery year of 2021 ($2.31B), down from 2.40x after last weekend.
• -32.9% behind this same point in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year ($8.14B), down from -32.4% last weekend. The peak was around -29.5%, set in mid-July.

Top distributors

1. Universal ($1.26B)
2. Paramount ($1.17B)
3. Disney ($880.6M)
4. Sony Pictures ($722.8M)
5. Warner Bros. ($714.6M)