Box Office Report: Summer Weekend Sees Low Numbers Amidst New Releases

LOS ANGELES, CA — The summer box office is experiencing a slow weekend, with total ticket sales dropping below $100 million for only the second time this season, hitting an estimated $94 million. This decline follows a similar trend observed back in May when weekend revenues barely exceeded $84 million.

This weekend, Zach Cregger‘s horror film, Weapons, is expected to hold better than initial forecasts suggested, debuting with a strong second-weekend total of approximately $25 million, a modest 43% decline from its previous weekend. Friday’s box office saw Weapons earning $7.4 million, with hopes that the film’s second Saturday will experience a 33% spike to around $10 million.

While Weapons isn’t experiencing the steep drops that other horror entries like Get Out and Sinners faced in their second weekends, it is noteworthy that any horror film maintaining above a 50% hold is an achievement. Currently, Weapons is outperforming this year’s previous horror successes, Final Destination: Bloodlines and 28 Years Later, both of which saw larger declines.

Globally, Weapons has grossed $120.4 million against a production budget of $38 million.

In other box office news, Disney’s Freakier Friday is projecting a second weekend take of around $14 million, reflecting a 51% drop from its debut.

Universal’s Nobody 2, an action sequel featuring Bob Odenkirk, has underperformed with an opening estimate of only $9.4 million after taking in $3.8 million on Friday. Despite a strong CinemaScore of B+ and positive reviews, the film’s performance is disappointing compared to earlier Lionsgate titles. Audiences for Nobody 2 skewed older, with 39% of viewers over the age of 45.

The social media landscape is showing positive sentiment towards Nobody 2, with engagement metrics nearly 59% higher than action-drama genre norms. However, it appears that the sequel has not expanded its audience significantly since its predecessor launched to $6.8 million back in 2021 during COVID-19 cinema re-openings.

As summer draws to a close, the box office landscape remains uncertain, with forecasts indicating further challenges ahead if current trends continue.