Box Office: ‘The Batman’ Strikes Again With Third Weekend on Top, ‘Jujutsu Kaisen 0’ Lands at No. 2 - Variety
It was another easy pathway to the top slot at the domestic box office for “The Batman.” Now in its third weekend, the Warner Bros. release continues to hold remarkably well, grossing $10.6 million on Friday from 4,302 locations, which marks a 43% drop from its sophomore outing. The film is projected to expand its domestic cume by about $39 million through the weekend.
“The Batman” should surpass a total domestic gross of $300 million by Monday, becoming only the second pandemic era release to do so after “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Its stellar opening of $134 million and lean week-to-week drops have made the Robert Pattinson-led film the highest-grossing movie of 2022 thus far, and the second-highest grossing film since the COVID-19 pandemic began — again, topped only by “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
The dark take on the superhero has earned very positive reviews, with Variety‘s chief film critic Peter Debruge naming it a critic’s pick and writing that the “grounded, frequently brutal and nearly three-hour film noir registers among the best of the genre, even if — or more aptly, because — what makes the film so great is its willingness to dismantle and interrogate the very concept of superheroes.” What’s more, the film drew a Cinema Score rating of “A-,” indicating strong overall reception from general ticket buyers.
Besides Pattinson as a grumpy volcel Bruce Wayne, the film also stars Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as a logged-on version of the Riddler, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth and Colin Farrell as the freakin’ Penguin. Directed by Matt Reeves, the production proved to be a prolonged one due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a production budget ballooning past $200 million. Still, it looks like “The Batman” should have no problem turning a profit.
Although “The Batman” is sitting comfortably at the top of the domestic box office, it faced its stiffest competition yet this weekend with Crunchyroll’s release of the manga adaptation “Jujutsu Kaisen 0.”
With studios largely vacating the calendar month of March to give “Batman” space to bulldoze the box office, “Jujutsu Kaisen 0” stands to benefit from the spare oxygen. The anime film, released by Crunchyroll in association with Funimation, took in $8.68 million on Friday from 2,340 locations and is headed towards a projected weekend total of $19 million. That’s not too far off from the $21.2 million that “Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train” earned in its opening last spring. “Jujutsu Kaisen 0” is further proof of the dedicated audience that anime has accrued in North America over the past few years.
Directed by Sunghoo Park, “Jujutsu Kaisen 0” serves as a prequel to the highly popular “Jujutsu Kaisen” series, created by Gege Akutami. The film hit theaters in Japan in December 2021, grossing a hefty $107 million and becoming the highest-earning release of the calendar year. The anime series “Jujutsu Kaisen” will debut its second season in 2023.
Also opening this weekend, A24’s horror film “X” did somewhat underwhelming business, opening to $1.75 million on Friday from 2,865 locations. The film is projected to earn between $3 million to $5 million through the weekend. Those are alright numbers for a low-budget, independent genre entry, though some would hope that the film would connect more upon release, especially since horror productions usually have front-loaded box office runs.
The Ti West-directed slasher follows a group of young people as they are terrorized by a sinister force while shooting a pornographic film at a Texas farm. The film stars Mia Goth, Jenny Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow and Scott Mescudi (a.k.a. Kid Cudi). “X” has earned supremely positive reviews, scoring a 95% critical aggregate approval on Rotten Tomatoes.
Sony’s “Uncharted” should take bronze in its fifth weekend at the box office. The video game adaptation is projected to earn $8.33 million during the weekend, which would mark a mere 11% drop from its previous outing. “Uncharted” has held remarkably well since its release in mid-February, especially for a VFX-driven spectacle adapted from a property with a dedicated fanbase. The Tom Holland vehicle should expand its domestic gross to $126.2 million through Sunday, continuing its run as the second highest-earning 2022 release.
Speaking of Tom Holland, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has finally exited the domestic box office’s top five after reigning there for 13 weeks, a quarter of a calendar year. The Marvel money monster is projected to land at No. 6, earning $3.6 million through the weekend. That would mark a mere 11% drop from its previous outing, an especially light fall considering “No Way Home” hit digital marketplaces earlier this week. “No Way Home” should expand its domestic gross to $797.8 million through Sunday — a finish above $800 million is now directly in its crosshairs.
Finally, United Artists Releasing’s “Dog” continues to stick around the top five at the box office. The Channing Tatum vehicle should earn $4.33 million through the weekend, dropping a slim 18% from its previous outing. The road dramedy should expand its domestic gross to $54 million through the weekend — an especially encouraging performance for a star-driven original film carrying a production budget of $15 million.
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