A trio of new releases made their way into theaters this weekend, but the film which may have had the least hype around it turned out to rule the box office.
Universal and DreamWorks’ animated feature The Bad Guys took the top spot with a $23.9 million debut. The film was not only a hit with audiences, receiving an “A” CinemaScore, but was also positively reviewed by critics, amassing an 86% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Featuring an A-list voice cast that includes Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, and Zazie Beetz, The Bad Guys is further proof of the success animated films have seen over the last few years.
THE BAD GUYS IS FURTH PROOF ANIMATED FEATURES CONTINUE MAKING MONEY
In 2020, both Onward from Disney-Pixar and DreamWorks’ The Croods: A New Age were among the ten highest-grossing films of the year. Granted, the pandemic greatly hampered the box office two years ago, but each of those features were able to gross north of $55 million by the end of their run. Box office totals continued to grow for animated films last year, as Sing 2 racked up more than $162 million, and Encanto grossed just over $96 million. More and more families are getting back out to the movie theater, which likely greatly contributes to The Bad Guys’ success and bodes well for upcoming animated titles like Bob’s Burgers and Lightyear.
Speaking of family-friendly films like The Bad Guys, which also incorporate animation, the weekend’s second-place finisher was Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in its third week of release. After adding $15.6 million to its gross, Sonic has sped past Uncharted to become the second-highest-grossing movie of 2022. Sonic the Hedgehog 2‘s $146.2 million total has also just barely put the film past its predecessor, as the first Sonic film amassed a little more than $146 million in its 2020 theatrical run.
FANTASTIC BEASTS CONTINUES TO DISAPPOINT
In third place this week, and sporting the biggest drop of any returning film from the week prior, was Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. The third installment of the Fantastic Beasts franchise dropped 67% from its debut weekend, adding $14 million to a domestic total that now stands at $67.1 million. The film has jumped up to #7 on the top ten highest-grossing films of 2022 list and is pretty close to passing Morbius ($69.2M) in sixth place, but domestic numbers continue to disappoint for the $200 million production.
Finishing in fourth and fifth place, respectively, were the other two new wide releases this weekend: The Northman ($12.2 million) from acclaimed director Robert Eggers, and the Nicolas Cage meta-comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent ($7.1 million). Each film played in fewer theaters than the top three grossers of the weekend and appealed to more niche audiences, so they had an uphill battle at the box office to begin with. However, a decent amount of people still turned out to see the two original features, which is better than getting lost in the algorithm of one of the many streaming services out there.
It’s been a very busy April so far at the box office, but expect a bit of a lull next weekend as the only new wide release is the Liam Neeson-led action-thriller Memory from Open Road Films. The Bad Guys may very well swipe a second week at the top spot. After that, May kicks off in a massive way with the highly anticipated premiere of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. It’s the first of three MCU releases this year, and the first film which could realistically challenge The Batman as the highest grosser of 2022. As of Monday, The Batman has totaled more than $367 million domestically since its release on March 4.
The First 6 Minutes of The Bad Guys
Did you have a chance to check out The Bad Guys? What have you thought of the stacked April schedule we’ve had at the movie theater? Let us know in the comments, and make sure to follow us on social media for more!
Source: The Numbers
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