Point, aim, destroy.
Weapons emerged as the decisive victor at this weekend’s box office shootout. The enigmatic chiller was against the fearsome Disney twosome of Freakier Friday, which was the beneficiary of a remarkably long publicity rollout, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which was Marvel’s primary attempt at a tentpole flick this summer. Weapons not only grabbed the brass ring with ease, but nearly outgrossed the aforementioned films’ combined earnings at the weekend box office.
Zach Cregger’s highly anticipated follow-up to his 2022 breakout Barbarian grossed $42.5 million domestically and $70 million globally in its premiere weekend, per Comscore. Even after marketing costs are factored into the film’s estimated budget of $38 million, Weapons has both feet firmly planted on a path to gross major profits for Warner Bros., which is celebrating its seventh box office gold this year.
A reunion two decades in the making for Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan and the beloved Marvel comics team’s first headlining feature since 2015 were no match for the missing-child mystery. Freakier Friday grossed $29 million domestically and $44.5 million globally in its premiere, while Fantastic Four fell as expected in week 3, with a $15.5 million domestic take (earning it the No. 3 spot), and $33 million globally (No. 5).
Disney;Marvel
Lindsay Lohan in ‘Freakier Friday’ and Pedro Pascal in ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’
Weapons‘ success validates the thinking behind Warner’s big gamble on Cregger. In 2023, the studio’s New Line Cinema subsidiary shelled out nearly $40 million to win the rights to Cregger’s sophomore feature after the runaway success of his twisty, low-budget debut. Cregger’s directing fee alone was $5 million, and the 44-year-old American filmmaker, who also produced this year’s AI horror Companion, netted another $5 million for co-writing the film.
That’s no small sum for such a newly discovered talent, which makes Weapons‘ coup not just great news for Cregger and Warners, but for the horror genre at large. Weapons follows Sinners and Final Destination Bloodlines to become the year’s third horror title to dominate the box office — if you don’t also count the thriller-comedy Novocaine taking the top spot in March or Jurassic World Rebirth roaring to No. 1 in July. That two of those three horror titles were based on original material bodes well for a genre perpetually seen as an underdog both critically and commercially.
Elsewhere in the domestic and global leaderboards this weekend were the animated family comedy The Bad Guys 2 and the very much not family-friendly comedy reboot The Naked Gun, starring new super-couple Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. The former film took the No. 4 spot domestically with a $10.4 million gross, while the latter finished at No. 5 with $8.3 million. Globally, The Bad Guys 2 fell to No. 8 with a $19.6 million week two take, while several rising international titles buried The Naked Gun.
The Chinese historical drama Dead to Rights, which takes a narrative look at the 1937-1938 Nanjing Massacre, remains a competitive contender, scoring the third slot on the global leaderboard after Weapons and Freakier Friday with a $41.5 million take. After three weeks in just China, Hong Kong, and Macao, Dead to Rights expanded to a mere two additional international markets — Australia and New Zealand — bringing its global gross to $306.6 million. Fantastic Four, by comparison, currently boasts $434.2 million globally after three weeks, but across 53 markets.
Superman and Jurassic World Rebirth both remain in the fight in their fifth and sixth weekends at the box office, respectively. James Gunn’s spandex-clad super flick now touts $331.2 million domestically after a $7.8 million take this week, while Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali helped boost the franchise’s seventh installment to $326.8 million domestically after a $4.7 million take.
There are plenty of contenders to watch for in next week’s new releases, but none that seem likely to disarm Weapons.
Matilda Lutz is bringing the Marvel heroine to life in Red Sonja, being atypically released on a Wednesday rather than the traditional Friday slot, clearing the way for Nobody 2, a sequel to Bob Odenkirk’s 2021 dark action comedy. Finally, Spike Lee will bow Highest 2 Lowest, the Akira Kurosawa remake that he anticipates will be his final collaboration with star Denzel Washington.
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