(AP) – Spider-Man spinoff “Kraven the Hunter” got off to a dismal start in North American theaters this weekend.
The studio estimated Sunday that the movie starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson grossed just $11 million, making it one of the worst openings for a Marvel property. Its box office revenue was even less than the movie “Madame Web.”
The other major studio release of the weekend was Warner Bros. The animated film “The Lord of the Rings: Battle of the Rohirrim” grossed $4.6 million. The approximately $30 million film, set 183 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, was rushed into production so New Line would not lose the rights to Tolkien’s novels. It was done. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyen are working on future live-action films in the series.
Meanwhile, “Moana 2” and “Wicked” once again topped the charts.
“Moana” added $26.6 million domestically and $57.2 million internationally in its third weekend, bringing its worldwide total to $717 million. It is currently the fourth highest-grossing film of the year, surpassing Dune Part 2.
In its fourth weekend, “Wicked” earned another $22.5 million to take second place. The Universal musical has grossed more than $359 million domestically and more than $500 million worldwide.
Gladiator II also earned $7.8 million, bringing its domestic box office total to $145.9 million in four weeks.
“Kraven the Hunter” is Sony’s latest failed attempt to mine the Spider-Man universe into a spin-off series without the lucrative webslinger himself. “Kraven” follows “Madame Web” and “Mobius” as additions to the series that were not well-received by both audiences and critics. The only exception to this roller coaster journey is the “Venom” trilogy, which grossed over $1.8 billion worldwide.
The R-rated “Kraven the Hunter” was directed by J.C. Chander, but suffered multiple delays due in part to the Hollywood strike. It was filmed about three years ago and was originally scheduled to be released in theaters in January 2023. The film cost a reported $110 million and was co-financed by TSG. Although it earned $15 million internationally, its longevity potential appears limited. It currently has a 15% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a C grade on CinemaScore from opening weekend audiences.
“Having a spin-off character doesn’t necessarily guarantee that they’ll be able to connect with viewers,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “General viewers seem to want to know exactly what they’re going to get.”
Several award nominees received limited release over the weekend, including Paramount’s “September 5,” about ABC’s coverage of the Munich Olympics hostage crisis. Amazon-MGM and Orion’s “The Nickel Boys,” based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about an abusive correctional school in Florida, opened in two New York theaters. It averaged $30,422 per screen and will expand to Los Angeles before opening nationwide in the coming weeks.
Some big hitters are on the way to the box office endgame of 2024. ‘Mufasa’ and ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ are hits in the coming weeks, with a slew of arthouse and adult releases including ‘Baby Girl’, ‘Nosferatu’ and ‘A Completely Unknown’. It is scheduled to be done.
Box office revenue has shown a dramatic recovery since June, when it was down nearly 28% from the previous year. The deficit is currently 4.8%.
Final national figures will be released on Monday. According to comScore, estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday in U.S. and Canadian theaters are as follows:
1. “Moana 2,” $26.6 million.
2. “Wicked,” $22.5 million.
3. “Kraven the Hunter,” $11 million.
4. “Gladiator II,” $7.8 million.
5. “Red One,” $4.6 million.
6. “The Lord of the Rings: Battle of the Rohirrim,” $4.5 million.
7. “Interstellar” (re-release), $3.3 million.
8. “Pushpa: The Rules – Part 2,” $1.6 million.
9. “The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever,” $1.4 million.
10. “Queer,” $790,954.
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