“Black Widow” ceded its No. 1 spot to an unlikely foe in its second week in theaters: The Tune Squad.
LeBron James, Bugs Bunny and the rest of the stars of defied expectations and won the box office this weekend. According to studio estimates Sunday, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” grossed $31.7 million in North America, while “Black Widow” took in $26.3 million.
Not many expected to pull off this win. The poorly reviewed film was pegged for an opening in the $20 million range. But a sizable number of families and millennials who grew up left the house and went to a theater to see it, even though it’s currently streaming on HBO Max free for subscribers. Not only that, audiences also gave the film a promising A- CinemaScore, suggesting word of mouth could be strong.
“Space Jam: A New Legacy” is the largest pandemic opening for Warner Bros., which is significant in theaters and on HBO Max.
It’s also the largest domestic opening for a family film since the beginning of the pandemic. Warner Bros. said 32% of the audience was under 18, which is larger than usual. Most of the major family films that have come out during the pandemic — from to — have opened well under $20 million. But audiences of all ages turned out for the new “Space Jam.”
“It shows that families have waited for a movie that everyone can go to and that’s this movie,” said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.’ head of domestic distribution. “It’s just a fun movie for the family.”
Last weekend, of the pandemic. Disney also surprised many in the industry by revealing its first weekend profits from the movie's streaming rentals. Rental grosses were not provided this week, however.
This weekend also saw the launch of a sequel to Sony is projecting that the film will gross $8.8 million over the weekend, which is actually better than the first film's debut and in line with studio expectations.
“F9” took fourth place with $7.6 million. has made $591.2 million globally to date. The fifth and sixth place spots also went to Universal films: “The Boss Baby: Family Business” with $4.7 million and with $4.1 million.
which recently became available on Paramount+, is into its It added another $2.3 million, bringing its domestic total to $155 million.
The documentary this weekend, grossing around $1.9 million from 925 theaters, making it the of the year.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” $31.7 million.
2. “Black Widow,” $26.3 million.
3. “Escape Room: Tournaments of Champions,” $8.8 million.
4. “F9,” $7.6 million.
5. “The Boss Baby: The Family Business,” $4.7 million.
6. “The Forever Purge,” $4.2 million.
7. “A Quiet Place Part II,” $2.3 million.
8. “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain,” $1.9 million.
9. “Cruella,” $1.1 million.
10. “Pig,” $945,000.
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Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press