Home Box Office Weekend Box Office: TWISTERS Takes the Market by Storm with $80M Debut

Weekend Box Office: TWISTERS Takes the Market by Storm with $80M Debut

0
Weekend Box Office: TWISTERS Takes the Market by Storm with $80M Debut

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

1. Twisters
Universal | NEW
$80.5M Domestic Opening Weekend
$123.2M Global Cume

Early on, the summer 2024 box office was looking like a disaster of its own. Still, once again, we have another over-performing opener on our hands as Universal/Warner Bros.’ late sequel/reboot Twisters whirled its way to #1 with an estimated $80.5M domestic launch on 4,151 screens for a Per Screen Average of $19,393. That’s above our Forecasting Panel’s estimates and enough to break the record set by Roland Emmerich’s 2004 epic The Day After Tomorrow ($68.44M) to become the biggest-ever opening for a natural disaster film. It’s also the third biggest domestic debut of 2024 ahead of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ($80M). Many are comparing it to Universal’s Oppenheimer, which opened to $82.4M in this same frame last year. However, the overall box office is down almost -50% from this frame last year since Twisters has nothing on the juggernaut that was “Barbenheimer.”

Here’s how the 3-Day looked:

  • Friday – $32.24 million
  • Saturday – $27.52 million
  • Sunday – $20.74 million

That includes $10.7M in Thursday night previews. The film got decent feedback all around, with 78% Certified Fresh critical on Rotten Tomatoes as well as a 92% audience score and an “A-” CinemaScore, with the studio expecting long-term playability. Post Track data has male/female audiences split right down the middle 50/50, with the age 25+ audience (which had been stewing in animated kids movies for weeks) representing 78% of ticket buyers. Here’s how demographics played out…

  • Caucasian – 50%
  • Hispanic – 25%
  • African American – 11%
  • Asian – 9%
  • Native American/Other – 6%

The sequel earned $9M from North American IMAX screens, 11.2% of the domestic total, and a further $2.2M from international markets where Warner Bros. is handling instead of Universal. That’s a $12M global IMAX cume, counting the soft opening last weekend. Regarding overseas, we’re looking at $27.1M this weekend on 23,535 screens over 76 markets for a $42.7M international cume and $123.2M global. Top 5 markets were UK ($5.5M), Mexico ($2.5M), Australia ($2M), France ($1.9M), and China ($1.5M). Premium formats were particularly strong in the UK—where Regal’s parent company, Cineworld, has a notable 4DX footprint—representing 20% of gross to date (4DX at 10%, IMAX at 9%). It is still set to launch in Japan and South Korea (August 14) and Japan (August 1), with the latter country pitting Twisters and Inside Out 2 as they open head-to-head.

This is how Twisters compares to recent movies in the disaster genre, most of which haven’t cut it domestically:

  • San Andreas (2015) – $54.5M opening / $155.1M cume
  • Into the Storm (2014) – $17.3M opening / $42.6M cume
  • Geostorm (2017) – $13.7M opening / $33.7M cume
  • Moonfall (2022) – $9.8M opening / $19M cume
  • The Hurricane Heist (2018) – $3M opening / $6.1M cume

Besides brand recognition (the first Twister was the second-highest-grossing film of 1996), the new movie has proven to be accessible across the country partly by burying climate change discussion in favor of amusement park-style thrills, with director Lee Isaac Chung telling CNN, “I just don’t feel like films are meant to be message-oriented.” That meant whatever your politics are on the subject; audiences were not being given a warning or diatribe on future perils.

Unfortunately, Twisters is not likely to hold like its predecessor, with Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine slashing its way into theaters next weekend, with our early forecast predicting that it may become the first $200 million R-rated opening ever. Luckily, the PG-13 rating for Twisters makes it the best alternative to Deadpool’s gore, F-bombs, and chimichangas.

Other Notable Performances

Universal’s other big title on the market, Despicable Me 4, took in another $23.8M in its third frame, dropping -45% from #1 to #2 with a $259,460,000 million domestic cume. Internationally, it brought in $51.9M in 79 territories and crossed the $500M worldwide with $574.4M. It has now passed the first Despicable Me domestically and internationally ($252.7M/$544.7M).

At #3 is our old reliable Inside Out 2, with the Disney/Pixar phenomenon storing another $12.8M memory at 3,625 locations (-190) for a $596.3M domestic cume and $1.443B WW. Globally, the animated sequel passed Avengers: Age of Ultron ($1.405B) and will likely pass the WW cume of Barbie ($1.446B) tomorrow to claim #14. It is currently the #15 film of all-time domestically and is closing in on surpassing Incredibles 2 ($609M) to take the #1 spot for animated movies.

Horror thriller Longlegs continues to perform well for boutique studio Neon despite backlash from first-frame audiences who gave it a “C+” CinemaScore and 63% audience score on RT. Pulling in an estimated $11.7M to take the #4 spot on 2,850 screens (+340 from last week) for a $4,105 PSA, that’s a 48% drop from the unexpected $22.6M opening. With a $44,650,531 million domestic cume, this title is now the 2nd highest-grossing Neon release ever behind Best Picture winner Parasite ($53.3M) and will likely surpass that before its run is done.

Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates | Weekend 29 – 2024
Total Domestic Estimates: $145,526,112M | (-46.8% vs 2023)

Title Weekend Estimate % Change Locations Location Change PSA Domestic Total Week Distributor
Twisters $80,500,000   4,151   $19,393 $80,500,000 1 Universal
Despicable Me 4 $23,800,000 -45% 4,112 -337 $5,788 $259,460,000 3 Universal
Inside Out 2 $12,800,000 -36% 3,625 -190 $3,531 $596,375,604 6 Walt Disney
Longlegs $11,700,000 -48% 2,850 340 $4,105 $44,650,532 2 Neon
A Quiet Place: Day One $6,100,000 -46% 2,913 -465 $2,094 $127,636,000 4 Paramount Pi…
Fly Me to the Moon $3,335,000 -65% 3,356 n/c $994 $16,355,000 2 Sony Pictures
Bad Boys: Ride or Die $2,675,000 -37% 1,716 -484 $1,559 $189,331,000 7 Sony Pictures
MaXXXine $819,242 -60% 1,038 -1,332 $789 $13,927,112 3 A24
The Bikeriders $700,000 75% 308 -416 $2,273 $21,230,000 5 Focus Features
Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 $685,000 -69% 1,291 -1,296 $531 $28,508,000 4 Warner Bros.
Oddity $555,500   790   $703 $555,500 1 IFC Films
Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot $424,717 -69% 880 -1,257 $483 $11,084,338 3 Angel Studios
The Lion King $283,000 -73% 1,330 n/c $213 $423,705,825 1,571 Walt Disney
Touch $276,000 -38% 326 10 $847 $916,000 2 Focus Features
Thelma $230,000 -43% 305 -136 $754 $8,182,445 5 Magnolia Pic…
Widow Clicquot $190,000   102   $1,863 $190,000 1 Vertical Ent…
Kinds of Kindness $115,000 -60% 150 -580 $767 $4,956,786 5 Searchlight …
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes $106,000 -74% 150 -855 $707 $170,697,913 11 20th Century…
The Garfield Movie $76,000 -59% 82 -133 $927 $91,728,000 9 Sony Pictures
Sing Sing $64,084 -53% 4 n/c $16,021 $234,136 2 A24
Janet Planet $30,487 -34% 32 -9 $953 $675,760 5 A24
Robot Dreams $21,500 -73% 78 -222 $276 $807,359 8 Neon
Crumb Catcher $20,866   55   $379 $20,866 1 Music Box Films
Crossing $16,236   2   $8,118 $16,236 1 MUBI
Great Absence $2,480   1   $2,480 $2,480 1 Picturehouse

Source link

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here