Movie

George Miller's post-apocalyptic film tanks with an estimated $25.5 million for the three-day frame, and the Chris Pratt-starring animated movie could take over the lead when the four-day numbers come in.

• May 27, 2024

AceShowbiz - Not even Anya Taylor-Joy's fierce Furiosa could make people leave the comfort of their couches. The Memorial Day box office has shown no sign that the industry is back gaining traction again despite the arrival of the highly-anticipated "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga".

On the Memorial Day weekend, George Miller's post-apocalyptic film debuts at No. 1 with an estimated $25.6 million over the three-day weekend. The movie barely holds off "The Garfield Movie", which opened to an estimated $24.8 million, from taking the first place.

The positions could switch when the four-day numbers come in. According to studio's estimates, the animated movie featuring the voice of Chris Pratt could lead the four-day weekend with an estimated $31.9 million in ticket sales.

"Furiosa" is also still on track for $31M-$33M four-day opening, which would be the worst Memorial Day weekend in 29 years, since "Casper" earned $22.5 million (not adjusted for inflation) in its first four days in 1995.

"This was a rather slow Memorial weekend," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. He reasoned, "A few things didn't happen that created this situation: We didn't have a tailwind heading into the summer. We kicked off the summer minus a Marvel movie. In a way, we've been playing catch up all year long."

Internationally, "Furiosa" made $33.3 million for a current global total of $58.9 million. With a reported $168 million production budget, not accounting for marketing and promotion, "Furiosa" has a long road to profitability.

"Furiosa" received mostly positive reviews from critics, holding an 89% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but moviegoers apparently didn't enjoy it that much. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

"Garfield", on the other hand, had a modest budget of $60 million. With $66.3 million international opening and a current worldwide total of $98.1 million, it has a solid launch despite panned reviews from critics. Moviegoers gave the movie an average grade of "B+".

Last week's champion and newcomer "IF" falls to No. 3 with an estimated $16.1 million after dropping 52.2% in its second weekend. "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" also drops two spots to No. 4 with approximately $13.3 million. "The Fall Guy" rounds out the top five with an estimated $5.9 million.

Top 10 of North American Box Office (May 24-26, 2024):

1. "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" - $25.5 million
2. "The Garfield Movie" - $24.8 million
3. "IF" - $16.1 million
4. "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" - $13.3 million
5. "The Fall Guy" - $5.9 million
6. "The Strangers: Chapter 1" - $5.6 million
7. "Sight" - $2.7 million
8. "Challengers" - $1.4 million
9. "Back to Black" - $1.1 million
10. "Babes" - $1.06 million