“Thor: Love and Thunder” is poised to rule the box office again in its second weekend, fending off more modest debuts “Where Mad Men Sing” and “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank.”
While Marvel’s Thor foursome has an easy path to being the top release of the weekend, the superhero movie has seen a significant drop since its premiere. “Love and Thunder” added $13.8 million in its second Friday, down roughly 80% from its opening day. That’s slightly stronger than Marvel’s most recent releases Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (down 81% in its second Friday) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (down 84%), but it’s more steep side for the studio, especially compared to its predecessor Thor: Ragnarok, which fell 60% in its second Friday.
According to some industry projections, “Love and Thunder” will earn $45 million from 4,375 locations in its second weekend, below initial projections for a sophomore north of $55 million. The film should push its domestic gross past $230 million over the weekend, which already marks it as the sixth highest-grossing domestic release of 2022 so far. Even considering the slight underperformance, those numbers are nothing to sneeze at.
Directed by “Ragnarok” helmer Taika Waititi, the fourth solo installment of Thor’s Marvel journey stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Jamie Alexander and Russell Crowe.
Sony’s “Where the Crawdads Sing,” the feature adaptation of the popular murder mystery novel, is expected to pull in $15 million to $16 million from 3,650 locations in its opening weekend. This is a serious debut for a female drama with a modest production budget of $24 million. What’s more, “Crawdads” is beating its initial industry estimates, which had the adaptation predicting a $10 million opening weekend. The film looks set to open at number three in the domestic charts.
Produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, Where the Crawdads Sing follows Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones), an outcast living in the swamps of North Carolina who finds herself at the center of a murder investigation.
Critics were largely dismissive of the film, which earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 38% from top critics. However, Variety’s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman praised Crawdads, saying it was “at once a mystery, a romance, a back-to-nature reverie, full of gnarled trees and hanging moss, and a parable about the strength and independence of women in a world , crushed by the male will.” Audiences were also receptive, with the film receiving an “A-” grade from research firm Cinema Score, indicating solid approval among general moviegoers.
Paramount’s Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank doesn’t do much. The animated release debuted outside the top five with a projected $6.2 million opening from 3,475 locations. The film faces stiff competition for family audiences from Universal’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” and Marvel’s “Thor,” both of which remain hot multiplex releases.
The family film Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank is adapted from Mel Brooks’ landmark 1974 comedy Flaming Saddles, swapping cowboys for samurai and racial tension for dog-on-cat antics. The story follows a beagle, voiced by Michael Cera, who becomes the sword-wielding protector of a city of cats. The film also features the voices of Samuel L. Jackson, Ricky Gervais, Michelle Yeoh and Brooks.
Paws of Fury’s original release date was as late as April 2017. Needless to say, it’s been a long road for the film, which was conceived as a Sony production before it moved to Open Road. Paws of Fury is now being published by Paramount. It’s easy to imagine that many parties involved are relieved to have the troubled production in the rearview mirror. And with an “A-” rating from CinemaScore, it looks like they at least put some smiles on people’s faces along the way.
Universal’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” looks set to repeat in second place. The animated spinoff looks set to add $25.3 million in its third weekend, falling just 45% from its second outing. Rise of Gru is currently the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2022. It should push its domestic gross past $260 million over the weekend.
Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” once again earns an impressive place at the box office. The Tom Cruise sequel looks set to slip a meager 24% in its eighth weekend, adding $11.7 million to its domestic haul. With its $609 million in domestic ticket sales, “Maverick” is now closing in on the top 10 of all time at the North American box office. The film could potentially surpass Disney’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($620 million in revenue) and Marvel’s The Avengers ($623 million in revenue) in the near future.
“Elvis” should finish in the top five at the box office. The Warner Bros. release. added $2.3 million on Friday, down just 32% from a week ago. The Baz Luhrmann-directed biopic surpassed $100 million domestically this week — an impressive result for a drama aimed squarely at an older audience.
“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” also hits theaters this weekend in semi-wide release. The feature adaptation of Paul Gallico’s 1958 novel looks set to earn a modest $1.74 million from 980 theaters in its opening, which roughly translates to $1,776 domestically. The Lesley Manville vehicle looks set to land in tenth place in the domestic charts.
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