The Ryan Gosling-led action-comedy “The Fall Guy” fell short of expectations with $28.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, leading to a cool start to a summer movie season with much to be determined. Is. Hollywood,
universal pictures Release began that weekend Miracle has regularly dominated with launches exceeding $100 million. (In 2023, that was “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” with a $118 million debut.) But last year’s strikes threw this year’s movie calendar into disarray; “Deadpool & Wolverine”, originally scheduled to be released this weekend, is now being released in July.
So in place of the superhero Kickoff, the summer launch was for a film about stunt performers who anonymously sacrifice their bodies for the action sequences of blockbuster movies. Over the weekend, the film was predicted to open at $30 million to $40 million.
‘The Fall Guy,’ directed by former stuntman and ‘Deadpool 2’ director David Leitch, opened over the weekend to rave reviews and the buzz of its SXSW premiere. But it will need continued interest to meet its $130 million production budget. It added $25.4 million in overseas markets.
Working in its favor in the long run: strong audience scores (“A-” CinemaScore) and good reviews (83% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). Universal’s distribution chief Jim Orr believes things will look good for “The Fall Guy” in the coming weeks.
“We had a very solid start,” Orr said. “We’re expecting a very long, very strong, very successful run at the domestic box office for the next few weeks, if not months, to come.”
But the modest debut of “The Fall Guy” hints at bigger concerns for the film industry. Superhero films are no longer the box-office hit they used to be, forcing studios to look for new alternatives. “The Fall Guy” appears to tick all the boxes, with exceptional action sequences, one of the hottest stars in the business, a director with a track-record of crowd-pleasing, and very good reviews.
But instead, the debut of “The Fall Guy,” based on the 1980s TV series, only emphasized that the movie business may struggle to rekindle the enthusiasm of last year’s “Barbenheimer” summer. . “The Fall Guy” stars one of each: Gosling in his first role since Caine, and Emily Blunt in “Oppenheimer.” Both were Oscar nominated.
“It’s going to be a very interesting, non-traditional summer this year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore.
Partly due to the impact of the work stoppage last year, fewer big films are coming to theatres. Expectations are that the total summer box office will be closer to $3 billion compared to the $4 billion historically generated.
“The summer season is just getting started, so let’s give ‘The Fall Guy’ a chance to build on that momentum over time. It’s a different kind of summer kickoff movie,” Dergarabedian said. “There are always big expectations set for any film that kicks off the summer movie season, but this is not your typical summer movie season.”
In a surprise, No. 2 at the box office went to the Walt Disney Co.’s re-release of “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.” The first episode of George Lucas’s lesser-loved prequel grossed $8.1 million over the weekend, 25 years after “The Phantom Menace” grossed $1 billion.
Last week’s top film, the Zendaya tennis drama “Challengers,” slipped to third place with $7.6 million in its second week. Sales of the Amazon MGM release directed by Luca Guadagnino dropped 49% from its first weekend.
Sony Screen Gems’ supernatural horror film “Tarot” also opened across the country. It opened with $6.5 million, which was a pretty good start for a low-budget release, but another example of horror not doing as well this year as it has in years past.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “The Fall Guy,” $28.5 million.
2. “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,” $8.1 million.
3. “Challengers,” $7.6 million.
4. “Tarot,” $6.5 million.
5. “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire,” $4.5 million.
6. “Civil War,” $3.6 million.
7. “Unsung Hero,” $3 million.
8. “Kung Fu Panda 4,” $2.4 million.
9. “Abigail,” $2.3 million.
10. “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” $1.8 million.