Vaccines continue to be administered, masks are being lifted or relaxed, and the box office in North America is starting to get as close to its maximum potential as possible, given that nearly 40% of theaters in the US and Canada remain closed. And this is on the eve of the summer blockbuster season, which officially kicks off at the end of this month. As expected, the Chris Rock horror film Spiral: From the Book of Saw took first place with $8.73 million from 2,811 theaters. Of these, a million dollars was received from large-format IMAX theaters. The “Saw Six” sequel had the biggest debut for a horror film since last year’s The Invisible Man, which grossed $28.21 million in February 2020, a month before the pandemic hit the box office.
Last weekend’s winner, United Artists’ Wrath of Man, dropped 55% in its second weekend to take second place with $3.74 million. The Guy Ritchie-Jason Statham actioner has grossed $14.6 million after ten days at the box office. The third place was taken by Those Who Wish Me Dead (Those Who Wish Me Dead) studio Warner Bros. This new Angelina Jolie thriller is now simulcast on the HBO Max platform. Jolie’s star power clearly couldn’t overcome a lackluster live-action marketing campaign, which led to a lackluster debut of $2.8 million from a very wide opening of 3,188 screens.
Demon Slayer moved to No. 4 in its fourth weekend with $1.85 million and has earned $42.03 million to date. Ryan and the Last Dragon rounds out the top five with $1.72 million. The Disney studio film “fell” by only 10% compared to last weekend. The film’s total now stands at $46.12 million after 11 weeks in North American theaters. The sixth and seventh places went to two films from the Warner Bros. studio, Godzilla vs. Kong and Mortal Kombat, which earned $1.46 million and $1.32 million in their seventh and third weekends, respectively. The total in the US and Canada is $95.01 million for Godzilla and $39.91 million for Mortal Kombat.
Abroad, the picture is as follows: Saw: The Spiral collected $3.3 million in 16 countries, including Mexico, Russia + CIS, Australia and South Korea, where the film took first place. Those Who Wish Me Dead collected $2.8 million in 33 countries, bringing the film’s worldwide total to $4.3 million. Australia was the leader in collecting the film, where the thriller took first place with $981,000. Overseas, The Wrath of Man has grown to $41.4 million after a decent $18.5 million debut in China. Globally, the picture has now earned $56 million.