And on the tenth weekend, box office grosses for a weekend in 2024 beat out the same weekend from 2023. Universal and DreamWorks’ KUNG FU PANDA 4 led the way in its debut, with support from openings of Lionsgate’s IMAGINARY and Angel Studios’ CABRINI.
Additional help came from a stellar second weekend for Warner Bros.’ DUNE: PART TWO. The weekend box office for all films combined was $138.1M, compared with $120.4M for the same weekend last year when Paramount’s SCREAM VI opened with $44.4M and MGM’s CREED III earned $27.3M in its second frame.
KUNG FU PANDA 4 finished #1 with $58.3M. This is the fourth chapter in one of the most successful animated franchises of all time. The track record for the first three movies is quite impressive.
- Kung Fu Panda (6/5/2008) – Opening $60.2M, Domestic Total, $215.8M, Worldwide Total $632.1M, Budget $130M
- Kung Fu Panda 2 (5/26/2011) – Opening $47.7M, Domestic Total $165.2M, Worldwide Total $665.7M, Budget $150M
- Kung Fu Panda 3 (1/28/2016) – Opening $41.3M, Domestic Total $143.5M, Worldwide Total $521.2M, Budget $145M
- Kung Fu Panda 4 (3/8/2024) – Opening $58.3M, Totals TBD, Budget, $85M
After the first three movies, KUNG FU PANDA already ranked #10 in worldwide gross for an animated franchise.
- Despicable Me – Worldwide Total $4,648B
- Shrek – Worldwide Total $4,022B
- Toy Story – – Worldwide Total $3,270B
- Ice Age – – Worldwide Total $3,219B
- Frozen – Worldwide Total $2,743B
- The Lion King – Worldwide Total $2,631B
- Madagascar – Worldwide Total $2,270B
- Finding Nemo – Worldwide Total $1,964B
- The Incredibles – Worldwide Total $1,874B
- Kung Fu Panda – Worldwide Total $1,819B
We expect earnings from PANDA 4 will push the series into seventh place, passing THE INCREDIBLES, FINDING NEMO, and MADAGASCAR to slot in just behind THE LION KING. That would be a tremendous accomplishment and the envy of all other studios.
In KUNG FU PANDA 4, Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman return as Po and Shifu, the only two actors who have appeared in all four films. After surviving three earlier death-defying adventures in which they defeated world-class villains, Po is now called upon to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace.
To retire, he must find a new Dragon Warrior to take his place on the battlefield and face off against a powerful sorceress Chameleon. An all-star cast is rounded out by Brian Cranston, Awkwafina, Viola Davis, and James Hong. Reviewers have given the movie a passable 70% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, a series low, while moviegoers are more positive with an 87% audience score. DreamWorks is to be congratulated for holding down produce costs for the film without a discernable sacrifice in quality.
The final cost came in at $85M, which is 40% lower than the $145M spent to make KUNG FU PANDA 3. This lower budget will allow the film to be profitable on significantly lower grosses. Fiscal discipline of this sort should be enforced on most new productions because moviegoing remains lower than it was during pre-pandemic highs and the profitability of studios is essential to the future of theatrical releasing.
DUNE: PART TWO had a very good second weekend, taking second place with $46.0M in new ticket sales and a decline of only 44% from its record-setting opening. After ten days, Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi sequel has earned $157.0M domestic and $284.4M worldwide, making it the top-grossing movie of the year thus far.
This already exceeds the total earned by the first DUNE movie, which played for 20 weeks in 2021-2022 and finished up with $41.0M domestic and $108.1M worldwide. Back then, exhibitors were still struggling to entice moviegoers to return to their theatres while pandemic concerns were still lingering.
DUNE 2’s success is a validation for everyone who supported the movie, considering the many challenges involved in making it and the steep production cost of $190M. One could make an argument that WB should have held off on releasing the original DUNE until a later date in 2022 or early 2023, waiting for theatre attendance to bounce back further from pandemic lows.
This might have allowed more moviegoers to see DUNE in theatres, which could have led to a larger audience primed to see the sequel. DUNE’s theatrical audience was also held down by Warner Bros. choosing to release it simultaneously on HBO Max. It has taken only a few days for DUNE: PART TWO to exceed DUNE’s total box office, demonstrating the interest of audiences to experience DUNE’s sci-fi world on the big screen.
Lionsgate’s IMAGINARY finished in third place in its opening weekend by earning $10.0M. This is only the second horror movie in wide release so far in 2024. It joins Universal’s NIGHT SWIM which opened on January 5th and so far has grossed $32.4M domestic. Last year, studios delivered 20 horror movies for wide release. This year, studios and audiences are taking a much-needed breather from the genre.
IMAGINARY’s storyline revolves around Jessica, a successful children’s author who moves back into her childhood home with her husband Max, and his two children. Her youngest stepdaughter Alice finds a stuffed bear named Chauncey in the basement of the home.
Not surprisingly, Chauncy winds up being not very cuddly at all. The film is directed by Jeff Wadlow who directed the 2018 feature TRUTH OR DARE, which grossed $95.4M. This is another Blumhouse production, the same company behind two big horror hits last year with FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S and M3GAN.
Both films followed the Blumhouse formula of being produced on low budgets and generating high box office grosses. FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S earned a worldwide box office of $296.4M on a budget of only $20M. M3GAN took in $181.2M worldwide on an even tighter budget of $12M.
IMAGINARY also cost only $12M, but results from its first weekend put it on a lower trajectory. It has an alarmingly low 31% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, leading us to believe that it will remain in theatres only for a few weeks. Even with a box office, the tight budget will still allow IMAGINARY to be profitable.
The faith-based drama CABRINI took fourth place with $7.6M. This is the fifth movie that the specialty production company Angel Studios has released in theatres, with their first film arriving only one year ago.
- His Only Son (3/31/23) – Worldwide Total $12.4M, Budget $250K
- Sound of Freedom (7/4/23) – Worldwide Total $184.2M, Budget $14.5M
- After Death (10/27/23) – Worldwide Total $11.5M, Budget $1.2M
- The Shift (12/1/23) – Worldwide Total $12.1M, Budget $6.4M
- Cabrini (3/8/24) – Total TBD, Budget $50M
Angel’s unique business model is to raise money for its projects by crowdfunding from its core audience who are passionate about its morality tales with religious themes. Last year, SOUND OF FREEDOM shocked the industry by becoming the ninth highest-grossing film of 2023.
CABRINI is directed by Alejandro Monteverde, who also directed SOUND OF FREEDOM. The movie tells the story of Francesca Cabrini, the first U.S. citizen to be canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church. The plot follows Cabrini on her journey as an Italian immigrant, arriving in New York City in 1889 where she faces disease, crime, and legions of impoverished children.
Cabrini resolves to convince a resistant mayor to provide housing and healthcare for the most marginalized and vulnerable in society. In the end, even after she is afflicted by poor health, Francesca uses her resourceful mind to create hope unlike anything the world has ever seen. The film is propelled by a strong performance from the Italian actress Cristiana Dell’Anna in the title role, supported by David Morse as Archbishop Corrigan and John Lithgow as her adversary, New York’s Mayor Gould.
A record-setting $50M was spent on its production, exceeding the combined budgets for all four previous Angel Studios releases. Everyone who sees it is raving about the result, with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 90% from critics and 98% from audiences. However, with bigger budgets come higher expectations and after so-so results in its opening weekend, it will take a prolonged run of consistent sales for this movie to reach profitability.
Paramount’s BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE finished in fifth place with $4.1M. After 26 days, it has taken in $89.3M domestic and $152.8M worldwide and has a decent chance of reaching the $100M milestone for domestic box office. Few imagined that this biopic would do this well, becoming one of the few bright spots in what has so far been a disappointing 2024.
Where Are We as of 3/7/2024
After the first eight weeks of 2024, the year-to-date box office stands at 82% compared with the same eight weeks in 2023, and 62% compared with those weeks in 2019.