As rival studios steered clear ofThor: Love and Thunder, Disney’s latest Marvel film didn’t face much trouble in retaining its hold on the top spot at the box office. Although its Friday-to-Friday drop might concern executives.Love and Thunderfell by a massive 80% on its second Friday, as it added $13.8 million to its domestic tally. The film is expected to make $46.5 million over its sophomore weekend.
That’s a significant fall from its healthy $144 million debut last week, and can be attributed to any number of factors, including but not limited tomediocre reviews, ho-hum fan response, and the knowledge that the film will be available on the Disney+ streaming app 45 days after its theatrical release. A 68% drop, which is what is being projected, would putLove and Thunderon the list of the biggest second weekend falls for any Marvel Cinematic Universe title. By comparison,Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessfell by 67% in its sophomore weekend earlier this year, andBlack Widowdropped 68% in 2021. But the latter film was given a controversial day-and-date release on Disney+ (for a premium access fee) that surely impacted its box office performance.Spider-Man: No Way Homealso fell by 68%, but it made over $100 million more thanLove and Thunderin its opening weekend.
Sony’sWhere the Crawdads Singis outperforming industry expectations in its debut weekend, as it claimed the number three spot. The murder mystery book adaptation is expected to pull between $15 and $16 million in its first weekend, which is around $5 million higher than what was expected of it going into the weekend. Budgeted at a modest $24 million, the film starsNormal PeoplebreakoutDaisy Edgar-Jones.
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But in a rare miss for Paramount this year — the studio has delivered five box office hits in 2022 — the animated filmPaws of Fury: The Legend of Hankis looking at a $6.2 million debut weekend, finishing outside the top five. The moderately budgeted kid-friendly action film is competing directly against holdover hitMinions: The Rise of Gru, which claimed the number two spot with an estimated $25.3 million, taking its running domestic total to over $261 million.
Top Gun: Maverick’s dream run at the box office continues as it looks at another $11.7 million this weekend, taking its running domestic total to an astounding $609 million. It’s already Paramount’s highest-grossing film ever, havingzoomed pastTitanicthis week, and is currently the year’s biggest film domestically and internationally, with over $1.1 billion in the bank. Warner Bros’Elvisis expected to round out the top five. DirectorBaz Luhrmann’s biopic of The King of Rock and Roll passed $100 million at the domestic box office this week, and added $2.3 million on Friday.
ExpectLove and Thunderto surrender its box office crown next weekend, when directorJordan Peele’s third original horror film,Nope, lands in theaters. His previous features —Get OutandUs— made a combined total of over half-a-billion dollars worldwide. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Check out the trailer forLove and Thunderbelow:
