Box Office Report: Hunter or Hunted?

Disney continues to rule all. As we head ever closer to Christmas, the family film market is only getting bigger, and animated movies are a safe bet. Well, some of them are, but more on that later.

Moana 2 held onto the top spot for the third week running, with this past weekend adding $26.6 million to its total. Its current domestic gross is a mighty $337.5 million. It has grossed over $717 million worldwide, meaning it’s now made more money than Dune: Part Two. It’s got a big to go before catching up with the $969.5 million those damn minions have earned with Despicable Me 4.

Sony Pictures keeps trying to make its Spider-Man-adjacent villains movies pay off and people are just not interested unless it’s Tom Hardy romancing a parasite (and even that wore thin this year with Venom: The Last Dance.) Step forward the latest sacrificial lamb trying to make Fetch happen, Kraven the Hunter. Reviews were tepid and Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s abs can only do so much for the movie-going public. That left the film debuting at number three with a paltry $11 million from 3,211 cinemas. The budget was reportedly about $110 million. Ouch.

Things weren’t much better for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, an anime prequel to the beloved fantasy franchise. While its budget was low enough — around $30 million — that it won’t need to break records to break even, it didn’t feel like an essential film for many, including die-hard Tolkien lovers. So, it debuted behind Gladiator II at number five with $4.6 million from 2,602 locations.

Daft Punk’s Discovery is my all-time favourite album, so the prospect of seeing the accompanying anime film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem on the big screen was too good to resist. It was a big deal for many fans, enough for the movie to warn $2,328,339 from 641 cinemas. It’s just a shame the AI-driven remaster looked so crap. Seriously, what a waste.

In limited release news: the historical drama September 5, hot off its Golden Globe nomination for Best Drama, earned $89,000 from seven theatres; the drama Nickel Boys, a critical darling with its own slew of award nominations, grossed $60,844 from only two locations; and The Last Showgirl, starring Pamela Anderson, took in $50,300 from just one place. Well done, Pam.

This coming week sees the release of erotic drama Babygirl and Keanu Reeves’ greatest hour in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

You can check out the rest of the weekend box office numbers here.