“Fall Guy” starts summer with a disappointing $28 million

“The Fall Guy,” an action comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, kicked off the summer movie season without much excitement.

The film, which was backed by Universal and directed by David Leitch, fell slightly short of expectations, grossing $28.5 million at 4,002 venues in North America in its debut. Heading into the weekend, The Fall Guy was expected to earn at least $30 million to $40 million. The problem is that the film cost $140 million to make, so it needs strong buzz and attention at the international box office to recoup its budget during its theatrical run. The Fall Guy grossed $25.4 million overseas, bringing its global total to $65.4 million.

David A says: “This is a fair start for a big comedy,” said Gross of the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “Action comedies have strong performances overseas, and with this cast, foreign works should do well. V.I [its] Cost, The Fall Guy movie will take a long time.

There’s hope that “The Fall Guy” will stick around in the coming weeks… and that’s because Leitch’s previous film, the 2022 Brad Pitt-led killer thriller “Bullet Train,” beat similar odds at the box office. The $90 million-budgeted film started slow with a $30 million take in August and reached $130 million domestically and $239 million worldwide.

Also, audiences and critics are looking up to the film, which has an “A-” rating on CinemaScore and an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “The Fall Guy” sees Gosling as a former stuntman trying to track down a missing movie star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) so he can salvage a major studio movie, which his ex-girlfriend (Blunt) is directing.

“We are very proud of this film,” says Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution. “It’s a thrilling, enchanting film and I have no doubt it will have a strong run.”

Notably, this is the first time in over a decade that Marvel hasn’t lit up the summer season, so, naturally, comparisons are tough with the same weekend in 2023 when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 premieres. It kicked things off with $118 million This marks the weakest start to a blockbuster season in nearly 15 years Now, the domestic box office is down more than 20% from 2023 and 40% from 2019, and exhibitors are desperate for upcoming releases like “Deadpool & Wolverine.” and “Despicable Me 4” and “Inside Out 2” to fill seats over the next four months The Deadpool & Wolverine popcorn season was at one time supposed to start on May 3, but was postponed due to the actors and writers’ strike last year.

“For more than a decade and a half, a Marvel movie has been the spark that ignites the summer movie season,” says Paul Dergarabedian, a senior analyst at Comscore. “This year, without such a blockbuster title, blanket comparisons to the same weekend last year are moot.”

Although “The Fall Guy” easily topped the box office, it wasn’t the only newcomer. Sony and Screen Gem’s low-budget horror film “Tarot” opened at No. 4 with $6.5 million from 3,104 locations. It also opened overseas with $3.7 million, bringing its global tally to $10.2 million.

Despite a single-digit domestic debut, it wasn’t a bad start because the film cost only $8 million and marketing expenses were also low. “Tarot,” a supernatural tale about friends who unleash evil from a cursed deck of tarot cards, is getting terrible reviews (it scored a dismal “C-” on CinemaScore and 12% more tragic on Rotten Tomatoes), which you won’t like. . Help word of mouth.

The Fall Guy, based on an 1980s TV series about stunt artists, wasn’t the only box office bounce. In honor of May 4th (also known as “Star Wars Day”), Disney and Lucasfilm re-released 1999’s “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,” which grossed $8.1 million from 2,600 domestic theaters. Its second-place finish is impressive for a 25-year-old film that’s so widely available to watch at home. The Phantom Menace added $6.4 million internationally, bringing its weekend total to $14.5 million worldwide.

As for the movie “Challengers”, which ranked first last weekend with revenues of $15 million, it fell to third place with revenues of $7.65 million in its second showing, a 49% decrease from its opening. After 10 days of release, the film, produced by Amazon MGM Studios and directed by Luca Guadagnino, has grossed $29.4 million. “Challengers” carries a hefty price tag of around $55 million, so it needs to continue to work to justify that budget.

“Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire” rounded out the top five with $4.5 million in its sixth weekend of release. “The Monstrous Tentpole” grossed $188 million domestically and $546 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of the year.

Elsewhere, A24’s “Civil War” added $3.5 million in its fourth showing, bringing its North American total to $62 million. It’s approaching the $100 million mark worldwide and already stands as the second-biggest independent studio film of all time. And that’s a good thing because with its $50 million price tag, “Civil War” is A24’s most expensive film to date.