We were treated to a major franchise blockbuster at the start of March, and now, as the month comes to an end, we get two more. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is the first of these films. The newest Ghost movie from Columbia Pictures made $45 million in its first weekend, earning a ‘meh’ response similar to the movie itself.
With barely $1.1M in its sixth week of release, Bob Marley: One Love is probably done for the year in the top ten. This past weekend, A24’s Love Lies Bleeding, which brought in $1.6 million in its third week, managed to stay over $1 million, though it fell to eighth place on the box office rankings.
Arthur the King and Imaginary, the two Lionsgate movies currently playing in theaters, brought in $4.3M and $2.8M, respectively, ranking them fifth and seventh. For Arthur the King, this is a sizable drop-off in just the second week. Given this pattern, Lionsgate’s newest movie starring Mark Wahlberg is probably going to turn out to be a major financial mistake.
With a budget of only about $2 million, the new horror film Late Night With the Devil made a healthy $2.8 million for IFC Films. It is expected to turn a profit later this week. Another low-budget horror movie that always manages to recoup its costs. After receiving positive reviews from SXSW, Sidney Sweeney’s latest horror movie, Immaculate, was released to theaters nationwide last weekend. While $5.4 million is a career low for Sweeney, the low-budget horror movie is expected to do well financially in the coming weeks.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire ($45M), Dune: Part Two ($17.6M), and Kung Fu Panda 4 ($16.8M) round out the top three. In their third weekend matchup, Dune prevailed over Kung Fu Panda, although by very narrow margins. At this stage, Kung Fu Panda is only making money for Universal and is still proving its worth to viewers. Dune had a strong week at the box office, but many had predicted much greater totals. Warner Bros. is also up against itself because Godzilla X Kong opens next week. Currently sitting at $574 million worldwide, the movie’s totals appear to be declining to about $700 million, which is still a fantastic triumph for the franchise but a disappointing sum to many.
This weekend features three live-action blockbusters and one animated blockbuster vying for viewers’ attention, so it will be interesting to see how Frozen Empire and Dune fare. Ghostbusters, with a $100 million production expense in addition to marketing, has a long way to go before turning a profit. Godzilla opens this week, and other big movies like Civil War are opening soon, so the future of the movie doesn’t seem promising.
All numbers provided by BoxOfficemojo.com as of Monday, March 25, 2024.
