Worst Memorial Day in 30 years

Anya Taylor-Joy in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Memorial Day box office is no picnic this year

Based on Friday’s numbers, George Miller Furiosa: The Mad Max Saga or Garfield movie It may only open to $31 million to $33 million from 4,035 theaters over the four-day holiday, the worst Memorial Day No. 1 opening since then. Kasper It debuted to $22.5 million nearly 30 years ago in 1995 (and this is not adjusted for inflation). This statistic excludes 2020, when theaters were closed during the pandemic.

The two films are in a closer race than expected, but most competing studios expect Warner Bros. to come out on top. Furiosa Before Sony and Alcon Garfield film. Neither film was well received by audiences, with both receiving a B+ CinemaScore. Furiosa It grossed $10.2 million on Friday from 3,804 theaters, compared to $8.4 million for Garfield From 4,035 sites. This is a small gap considering the latter is a family film.

With no leftovers to contribute significantly to the Memorial Day outing, grosses may only reach $125 million, the lowest showing in two decades. This excludes 2020 and 2021, when the pandemic was still raging, although Paramount A quiet place The sequel was able to open to $57.1 million during holiday 2021.

Furiosaa prequel that sees Anya Taylor-Joy playing a younger version of Charlize Theron’s character in the final film, was expected to open to $40 million to $45 million for the four-day holiday, but instead the latest summer event picture performed Weak in its release (the exception is Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes). Mad Max: Fury Road It opened with a three-day gross of $45.4 million.

Elsewhere, Angel Studios continues to try to emulate the incredible success it had last summer Freedom’s voice, but so far has not come close to doing so. This weekend, the film Faith Next Door opens Visionwhich could gross just $4 million from 2,100 theaters over a four-day run for a seventh-place finish.

Once again in the top five, if It holds strong for third place in its sophomore outing with an estimated $20.7 four-day gross from 4,068 locations. The family photo’s estimated $16 million three-day gross was down 53 percent, which is a good rate considering it competes with Garfield For families. That’s good news for Paramount, director John Krasinski, and star Ryan Reynolds after a soft opening.

Kingdom of the Planet of the ApesThe 20th Century and Disney film, which opens in 3,550 theaters, is expected to finish fourth with an estimated total of $15.5 million to $16 million.

Although it is now available to rent on premium VOD, ScapegoatThe $5.7 million total represents a decrease of just 32 percent. Over the four days, the Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt starrer is expected to round out the top five with $7.3 million from 2,955 locations.

May has been a rough start to the summer season with the box office still reeling from the postponement of big titles due to last year’s labor strikes. Marvel Studios usually kicks off the summer during the first weekend in May with a superhero, and this year it’s Deadpool & Wolverine. However, Marvel and Disney were forced to postpone the film – which had to halt production due to the SAG-AFTRA strike – by almost three months until July 26.

May 25, 9:45 am: An earlier version of this story said it had been 40 years since Memorial Day’s No. 1 film had a very low key opening. THR Sorry for the mistake.