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‘Wonder Woman’ Entombs ‘The Mummy’ For New Cruise Low

Welp, not only where the total receipts for this weekend at the box office abysmal – but audiences also could smell that Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy was a rolling dumpster fire waiting to ignite.

Wonder Woman remained atop the box office with $57.2 million, down just 45 percent in ticket sales from its opening weekend. Warner Brothers has to be beaming knowing that, unlike their other DCCU installments, Wonder Woman has some sturdy footing to reel in audiences. Both Zack Snyder films in the DCCU plummeted respectively in their second weekends in theaters, at 69.1 percent (Batman vs. Superman) and 64.6 percent (Man of Steel). To date the Patty Jenkins-directed movie has earned $205 million at the domestic box office and $435 million worldwide. Now, take note Warner Brothers – your movies can be fun with some light humor mixed in. To paraphrase the words of the great Heath Ledger, there’s no need to be so serious.

Universal’s Dark Universe looks to be on shaky ground right out of the gate. The reboot-but-not-a-remake The Mummy brought in just $32.2 million in the States. That’s right – a Tom Cruise movie that didn’t ignite the domestic box office. This marks the lowest opening for any Tom Cruise blockbuster since – wait for it – 1986, when Ridley Scott’s Legend was a flat out embarrassment at the box office. Granted, Cruise has greater star power overseas; The Mummy did manage to gross $141.8 million in foreign markets this weekend. The $125 million production budget has already been recovered, and the Alex Kurtzman-helmed actioneer will certainly be a money earner for Universal. Still, with a slate of blockbusters releasing across the next three weeks, Cruise’s movie could get lost quickly and spiral out of the top five before the Independence Day holiday weekend.

Oh, and Stephen Sommers has got to be happy. His two Mummy movies had opening weekends higher than the 2017 redo. Hey, someone’s got to have a victory and who would have thought Stephen Sommers could be a braggart about his fun-but-fluffy Universal films.

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie managed to hold onto third place with $12.3 million, dropping Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales to fourth place with $10.7 million in its third weekend. That’s a bit of a surprise, but perhaps Depp’s draw to crowds is fading. Pirates has earned $135 million domestically but scored $392.9 million around the world for a $528.7 million haul to date. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 held onto fifth place with $6.2 million. The monumental hit has earned $828.2 million worldwide and ranks second in Marvel Studios’ first-sequel listings. Of course, we recently learned that James Gunn is now highly involved with the Marvel Cosmic Universe going forward so, at this point, Gunn’s just along for the rest of Volume 2‘s ride.

The two other new releases managed to hold their weight, but not with much of an impact. It Comes At Night, opened in 2,588 theaters to just $6 million. A24 didn’t announce the budget on their little horror thriller either but I would expect this little movie (which is getting mixed reviews from crowds) to do tepid results, with finding its niche on home video. Megan Leavey managed to snag $3.7 million this weekend, which won’t open any eyes and did have a somewhat mid-sized release. To add insult to injury, BST’s true-life drama actually beat Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant. The latest in the Alien franchise has only earned $181.5 million worldwide to date and looks to be a bust for 20th Century Fox.

Studio heads have got to be hoping that the tide will change soon. Next weekend Pixar will aim to topple Wonder Woman with the conclusion of its Cars trilogy with, err, Cars 3. The film made waves with its first trailer for how thematically dark the material seemed to be, the imagery of Lightning McQueen crashing at a race deemed to be too scary for many young audiences. Nonetheless the film carries a G rating and, according to Disney Animation/Pixar chief Jon Lasseter, is more in line with the 2006 original. I may be 32 years old but count me in to see how the story of Lightning McQueen comes to a head. Also releasing is Rough Night, the comedic tale of a bachelorette party gone south (hmm sound familiar?) from the creator of Broad City, and 47 Meters Down, which looks a lot like The Shallows but instead centers on Mandy Moore and Claire Holt trapped in shark cage 47 meters under the ocean surface.

Yeah…Cars 3 has this in the books. Besides, this weekend is the calm before the storm. On June 21st audiences will finally get to see Michael Bay’s Transformers: The Last Knight. Now, I’m a sucker for that franchise and fresh blood was needed to shake up the status quo for those characters. (Ehren Kruger, who wrote the last three installments, was jettisoned in favor of Iron Man scribes Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, as well as Black Hawk Down scripter Ken Nolan.) Until next week my Fan Fest friends stay frosty, take a dip in a pool or lay on the beach, or just indulge in a good Netflix binge. Have yourselves a fantastic week!

1.) Wonder Woman – $57.1 million

2.) The Mummy – $32.2 million

3.) Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie – $12.3 million

4.) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales – $10.7 million

5.) Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 – $6.2 million

6.) It Comes At Night – $6 million

7.) Baywatch – $4.6 million

8.) Megan Leavey – $3.7 million

9.) Alien: Covenant – $1.8 million

10.) Everything, Everything – $1.6 million

 

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