This year’s Memorial Day Weekend has turned out to be the most disappointing one yet for Hollywood, according to newly released box office numbers that show how Furiosa and The Garfield Movie, new films that follow the Mad Max: Fury Road character and Jim Davis’ cartoon cat, respectively, both made less than $32 million domestically. Furiosa, which was described as being “up in smoke” by some reporters shortly after its premiere on Friday, May 24, is said to have cost Warner Bros. $168 million, not including P&A (e.g., marketing and other expenses).
This year’s Memorial Day numbers include:
- Furiosa (WB) 3,804 theaters, Fri $10.35M, Sat $8.3M Sun $7.6M Mon $5.7M 3-day $26.3M 4-day $32M/Wk 1
- The Garfield Movie (Alcon/Sony) 4,035 theaters, Fri $8.4M Sat $8.2M Sun $7.4M Mon $7M 3-day $24M 4-day $31.1M /Wk 1
- If (Par) 4,068 theaters (+27) Fri $4.3M (-59%) Sat $6.1M Sat $5.7M Mon $4.8M 3-day $16.1M (-52%), 4-day $21M, Total $63.5M/Wk 2
- Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (20th/Dis) 3,550 (-525) theaters, Fri $3.4M (-50%) Sat $5.1M Sun $4.9M Mon $3.8M 3-day $13.4M (-47%), 4-day $17.2M, Total $126.6M/Wk 3
- Fall Guy (Uni) 2,955 (-890) theaters, Fri $1.6M (-32%), Sat $2.29M Sun $2M Mon $1.66M 3-day $5.99M (-28%),4-day $7.65M Total $73.9M/Wk 4
Some trailers:
One report noted:
Female-led action movies, outside of franchise pics Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman, have always been challenged as a sub-genre at the box office, and Furiosa‘s 3-day ($26.3M) and 4-day are in the realm of such movies as the 2018 Alicia Vikander Tomb Raider ($23.6M 3-day), and even 2019’s Alita ($28.5M 3-day, $37.2M 4-day). Hope for a better summer resides in the first day presales for Disney/Marvel Studios’ Deadpool and Wolverine which are the best for an R-rated movie at $8M+; that Shawn Levy directed threequel opening on July 26.
Discussion (19 replies)
Join Discussion →Garfield is up to 91 mil, and for a family flick that ONLY ?♂️ cost $60m to make, that's not terrible.
Furiosa is up to 65 mil, but it cost 168 FREAKING MILLION DOLLARS to make that turd.
[URL unfurl="true"]https://variety.com/2024/film/box-office/box-office-furiosa-just-barely-beats-garfield-disastrous-memorial-day-weekend-1236017039/[/URL]
Meh the domestic and international take will see large returns I'm sure. Not even a little worried for the mad Max franchise.
Fury road didn't do better either, $45 million opening weekend. With inflation that is about the same.
I think this media hype is more about expectations since Memorial Day, at least in the U.S., is often considered the unofficial start of summer and Hollywood tends to have high hopes of kicking it off with a major blockbuster. I also think that reports of domestic ticket sales underscores things a bit since I've been tracking such things for a while now and things that tank here have a habit of doing much better elsewhere. It's not a constant but seems to happen more often than not.
I read mixed reviews for Furiosa, including detailed spoilers for the ending, and while I wasn't impressed with any of the trailers, some of the reviews make it seem like the movie might have some potential. The only thing that bugs me are all the goofy Hemsworth clips. Nothing against the guy but after Love or Thunder I'm sick of comedy where it should be drama, imho.
You can't have a blockbuster without promotion. You couldn't open a tap without having Oppenheimer and Barbie flowing out if it last year. Not a peep of Furiosa. I don't think I've seen a single ad or promotional article prior to release.
They had some ads where I live but they were somewhat minimal and honestly didn't make the movie look that appealing. My gut feeling is that it's better than what the ads I saw made it look like but I really don't know and it'll definitely be something I wait to see on streaming. I have a friend who's hardcore for this stuff and I'll be checking in to hear his thoughts on it but it's pretty rare for him to slam things he likes even when most everyone else does.
I want to see fall guy more than furiosa. And I would have preferred a continuing story with mad Max in furiosa more than a prequel.
I'm curious about Fall Guy and ironically it seems to have had more PR/ads than Furiosa.
I agree though, I'm far more interested in seeing more Max than a prequel as well. I thought Hardy did well in the role and could continue for at least one more movie. Maybe Miller will do it, especially now that Venom 3 is done and slated for release in the fall.
Yeah, this, exactly.
As for this prequel's promotion, I have to agree, I barely saw any advertisements or anything for it, while like @MadMummy76 said, Oppenheimer and Barbie sh1t was EVERYWHERE. What little I have seen of Furiosa, like maybe a couple trailers, made the movie seem uninteresting and unappealing. I'll probably check it out at some point because it won't cost me anything thanks to the community library, and I'm sure I've seen plenty of worse movies. But I'm in no hurry to see it. It will be a movie I randomly bust out one day when I am bored and don't feel like doing much else. Or maybe save it for one of those times when an illness effectively shuts me down.
We all know those kinds of people. I have a friend who has a friend who is like that about Star Wars. Lawdy did he love the most recent trilogy. That dude was flipping out after he saw Ep9. He thought it was one of the best movies he had ever seen in his life. It made me wonder if this guy was a real, actual person. I didn't quite trust my eyes or my ears. Was this an alien robot? Does he have mental deficiencies? Does he have a condition or an illness? Cuz no sane, healthy, rational person would see Ep9 and think it was one of mankind's greatest achievements. That's the vibe I was getting from this guy after he saw Ep9. I saw Ep9 for free and still felt ripped off.
I am very surprised there is another Garfield movie. I did not see that coming. Never seen any of 'em.
I'm more interested in Fall Guy too, but not interested enough to go to a cinema. I can wait 1-2 months for home release and the quality you get at home has come a long way since VHS and 21" TVs. I don't think there is a singular benefit to watching a movie in a theater these days if you have a decent home setup.
For me, the HDTVs we had since the late 2000s were already enough for me to be like "f*ck theaters". And it wasn't hard or expensive to come up with a sound solution that rivaled theaters at the time too. The HDTVs we have now absolutely DESTROY theater projector+screens setups. Not to mention the video quality of blu-rays. So no thanks, the superior movie-watching experience is at home.
*Laserdisc has entered the chat*. Bro I've been feeling way that since 1991
Laserdick ™ was not really a thing here in Eastern Europe. Even DVDs were prohibitively expensive when those started to appear. In 1998 a DVD movie was about the equivalent of 2-3 days worth of a decent salary. (or a week's minimum wage)
I got my first HDTV in 2012, but have been a HD enthusiast since the early 2000s, the only source for HD content back then was experimental HD channels on SAT TV. Even in 2012 if I wanted HD content the only way to get it was through the high seas.
I remember having debates with some people in the mid 2000s, with the typical claim: "DVD resolution is enough, why do you need more?"
We still hear it today, just the target has changed. 1080 is enough, then 4K is enough, then 8K is ridiculous and no one needs it.