Before we get to the newest releases, let’s take a moment to recognize what Top Gun 2 is doing as it dominates Summer 2022. The movie that flat out refused to go to streaming just cracked $500M domestically and $1B (that’s a capital B) internationally. It’s already the #15 movie domestically ALL TIME! $550M won’t be a problem at all, which would put it #12 on the list, but then there’s a large $$$ gap until #11. The chase to $600M will definitely be fun to watch.
Elvis barely held off TG2 to take the weekend… but $31M was a bit lower than projected. The good news is that as a comparison, Rocketman (2019) scored an 89% on RT with an A- CinemaScore and opened to $25M. Sounds promising for Elvis as it just might have legs with its older-skewing (and highly-approving) audience.
The Black Phone was a slight surprise with a better-than-expected $23M and an Average Theater performance just as good as TG2. With its own good reviews it should be the horror movie of choice for the next month before Nope is unleashed.
Lastly, unless Marcel the Shell With Shoes On makes a move to Moderate or Wide release we likely have our Bonehead Award already clinched thanks to an opening of $169K. Ouch! This very highly-rated animated movie certainly deserved better.
6/28/22 edit: Just read that Marcel goes Wide release on 7/15/22. That’s great news for those who picked it and no longer a lock as the Bonehead Award.
Next Weekend: The kiddos finally get the movie they’ve been wanting to see in Minions: The Rise of Gru. Our average placement is 5.3… but 2 players didn’t select it at all. Interesting strategy.
– SB