Weekend Box Office: How was your (holiday) weekend?
Tuesday, July 5, 2022 at 9:37PM by Nathaniel R
Fourth of July is historically a huge box office weekend and as such, it's strange that only one other new wide release film, the low profile period rom-com Mr Malcolm's List, tried to compete with the Minions: The Rise of Gru. Naturally then, the animated franchise installment swept the table with a record-breaking gross....
| Holiday Weekend Box Office July 1st-4th 🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = Recommended links if we've written about it |
|
| WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS) | PLATFORM RELEASES |
 MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU |
 THE FORGIVEN |
| 1 🔺 MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU $123 NEW |
1 ★ EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE $674k (cum. $67.1) |
| 2 ★ TOP GUN MAVERICK $32.2 (cum. $570.7) |
2 JUG JUGG JEEYO $308k (cum. $1.0) |
| 3 ★ ELVIS $23.5 (cum. $71.8) |
3 🔺 MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON $304k (cum. $527k) |
| 4 JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION $19.6 (cum. $335.7) | 4 OFFICIAL COMPETITION $175k (cum. $299k) |
|
5 THE BLACK PHONE $14.1 (cum. $49.3) |
5 🔺 THE FORGIVEN $167k NEW |
| 6 LIGHTYEAR $7.6 (cum. $106.4) ★ |
6 PHANTOM OF THE OPEN $80k (cum. $593k) |
| 7 🔺 MR MALCOLM'S LIST $1 NEW |
7 ★ MAD GOD $43k (cum. $176k) |
| 8 ★ LOST HIGHWAY (Re-Release) $34k (cum. $51k) | |
| 9 THE WITCH PART 2 $18k (cum. $134k) | |
| 10 LOST ILLUSIONS $16k (cum. $82k) | |
| 11 NEPTUNE FROST $12k (cum. $148k) | |
| 12 RRR $9k (cum. $11.2) | |
...According to Box Office Mojo that's the biggest domestic debut ever for this time of year. That's crazy. As is its lack of competition. Once again there are only 7 movies in wide release. The last time a Fourth of July holiday fit neatly into a weekend was 2017 and there were 13 movies in wide release then and the #1 film was from this same franchise (Despicable Me 3 in point of fact). So... how long before the studios start giving us a healthy amount of theatrical releases again?
In platform release The Forgiven from Roadside Attractions, which stars Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain, opened to very little publicity. And a very small expansion for Marcel the Shell With Shoes On kept a strong per screen average, the second best of the holiday weekend outside of those minions.
We were having fun in the sun this weekend so we went movie-free for the first weekend in months and months. How about you?
Reader Comments (10)
Earlier this year I definitely would not have guessed that Minions would gross more in its opening weekend than Lightyear would have cumulatively after three weeks, but I suppose I severely underestimated the appeal of a Despicable Me spinoff and severely overestimated the appeal of a Toy Story spinoff.
I finally saw Top Gun: Maverick. It was a lot of fun, even if it was basically to the first movie what The Force Awakens (and really almost every other Star Wars property in recent years) was to A New Hope, the difference being I had no particular love for the OG Top Gun so enjoyed the new one much more.
Edwin -- i suspect a lot of different things were happening with LIGHTYEAR at the box office. There are so many theories and I think most of them (if not all) are true. It's not just one thing. But I vote that these three things were the main culprits and in this order of importance.
3. Toy Story already gilding the lily too much with Toy Story 4 after the very conclusive "finale" of Toy Story 3
2. the "it's not Buzz but it is Buzz" confusing messages
1. over two years of training audiences that Pixar goes straight to streaming (talk about killing your golden goose and then wondering where all the delicious eggs went)
I stayed home and re-watched a few cartoons on Disney+ relating to the Tortoise and the Hare (kind of fucked up considering that the Hare was trying to flirt with schoolgirl bunnies) and the Ants and the Grasshopper (also kind of fucked up considering that all the Grasshopper wanted to do is play his fiddle and entertain the ants) as well as a 90s softcore film by Jim Wynorski in Sins of Desire on Amazon Prime. I also saw Palo Alto, Hereditary, and a short film by Brie Larson that she made as a kid called The "Dew" Project.
I saw Official Competition in the theater. Fun! Nice to see a good comedy with so much prestige behind it.
At home, I finally watched The Northman, which was disappointing. It was beautifully made and acted, but I just could not bring myself to care about the story.
I also watched Mississippi Masala (outstanding), A League of Their Own (also outstanding - oddly, I thought I had seen this, but I don't think I had, I had just seen several of the most famous clips repeatedly), and Round Midnight (very good), so all in all, a good weekend for movies.
I saw The Black Phone in theatres - fun genre movie! I felt the sister's physic powers weren't integrated into the story well and didn't build to much, but she was such a fun character. Put her in a buddy comedy with Julia Butters. Also, I forgot how annoying horror audiences can be.
Otherwise, did a sundance double feature by catching up with Cha Cha Real Smooth and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. Cha Cha was pretty basic and formulaic, but its sweetness won be over + Dakota Johnson is one of the most effortlessly charismatic actresses working. She's so good in this! And then Leo Grande was very strong - Emma Thompson is reliably incredible, Daryl McCormack is a great scene partner, and the whole film moves very nicely.
I did a couple of new release Australian comedies:
- NUDE TUESDAY which was great fun. Damon Herriman delivers another great performance. Great concept too, and I wonder whether "gibberish" as a language is enough to qualify it as either Australia's or New Zealand's official International Film Oscar entry (I know there was a Canadian entry a couple of decades ago with a fabricated language).
- HOW TO PLEASE A WOMAN, which I wanted to be so mucn better, but ultimately the script let it down.
Saw CHA CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH - the camera LOVES Dakota Johnson; what a nice film.
Binged all of THE BEAR on Hulu. So so so good. Especially if you've ever worked in a restaurant, or love Chicago, or a fan of Jeremy Allen White. Fantastic, naturalistic acting. And one of my favorite new shows of the year. Another excellent example of how families are formed, not necessarily by blood.
I saw my first movie in weeks, Mr. Malcolm’s List.
I’ve been watching tennis, clay season, French Open, grass season, Wimbledon. I like the distinct personalities, the intensity, suspense, and unpredictability.
I enjoyed some of the frivolity of Mr. Malcolm’s List and the charming diverse cast. Ashley Park’s delightful comic trill of a laugh made me long for comedies with her as the star.
But a costume piece should have great costumes, and most of the costumes didn’t fit properly as if they were off the rack rather than fitted to a specific actor. And in a romantic fantasy, you should choose cloth that drapes well.
This film also has the grating romantic trope where the heroine is expected to repair the emotional problems of the male lead. I just want to say, sister, his problems are only going to re-manifest over and over again in the years to come and probably worsen.
So I was dis-engaged by the end.
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