Box Office Report: The Ballerina Vampire Debuts Second To ‘Civil War’

Box Office analysis is provided by Daniel Garris of BoxOfficeReport.com.

Weekend Box Office Report: April 19th, 2024 to April 21st, 2024

Thanks in part to a modest start by Universal's Abigail, A24's Civil War was able to hold onto first place in its second frame this weekend. Civil War declined a sharp, but reasonable 56.4 percent to take in an estimated $11.13 million. Heading into the weekend, Abigail had been favored to take first place for the frame, though it was also expected to have been a close weekend race between Abigail and Civil War. The second weekend hold for Civil War didn't come as a surprise given the overall reaction to the film, which has been good, but not great with critics and audiences alike (Civil War received a respectable B- rating on CinemaScore). Through ten days of domestic release, Civil War has grossed an estimated $44.88 million. That already makes Civil War the fifth highest grossing film ever domestically for A24 and in the coming days the film will surpass last year's Talk to Me, 2017's Lady Bird and 2019's Uncut Gems to move into second place on the all-time list for A24 (behind only 2022's Everything Everywhere All At Once). Civil War continued to play on domestic IMAX screens this weekend, though it split domestic IMAX screens with a number of other films this weekend, including SPY x FAMILY CODE: White and Dune: Part Two. Through Sunday, Civil War has grossed an estimated $6.5 million from domestic IMAX screens.

As mentioned, Universal's Abigail was off to a modest second place start this weekend. The R-rated horror film from the directing team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (known collectively as Radio Silence) started out with $10.30 million. That came in just below expectations, which had tended to range from $11 million to $15 million heading into the weekend. While Abigail has gone over well with critics, the film ultimately didn't have much appeal with more casual horror fans this weekend. 2024 has yet to see a horror breakout thus far, which typically isn't the case this far into the calendar year. In addition to the continued relative struggles of horror films as of late, in the case of Abigail, potential for the film may have been limited by the film's R rating, given that the title character of Abigail is a child (with that in mind, a PG-13 rating likely would have been more box office friendly). In addition to going over well with critics, Abigail also looks to be going over well with audiences, as the film received a B rating on CinemaScore, which is very solid for a horror film. Internationally, Abigail was also off to a modest start this weekend with $5.0 million from 62 international markets. That places the film's global launch at $15.3 million. The top international markets for Abigail this weekend were Mexico with $0.85 million and the United Kingdom with $0.73 million.

Warner Bros. and Legendary's Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire placed in third this weekend with $9.57 million. After experiencing sharp declines each of the previous two weekends, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire stabilized quite nicely this weekend by declining a solid 38.4 percent. With a 24-day domestic gross of $171.73 million, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has now passed the $168.05 million final domestic gross of 2017's Kong: Skull Island to become the second highest grossing MonsterVerse film to date domestically (behind only 2014's Godzilla). Internationally, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire continued to impress this weekend with $22.6 million from 77 international markets. That brings the film's international total to $315.1 million and current global haul to $486.8 million. In China, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire grossed $7.1 million this weekend, which brings the film's total gross in China to a healthy $119.6 million. Additional totals by international market for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire through Sunday include $30.2 million in Mexico, $15.9 million in the United Kingdom, $14.0 million in India, $10.8 million in Australia, $8.7 million in Indonesia, $7.3 million in Brazil, $7.3 million in France, $7.1 million in Taiwan and $6.2 million in Spain.

Lionsgate's The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare started out in fourth place this weekend with $8.91 million. The Guy Ritchie directed action comedy set during World War II, and starring Henry Cavill opened to mixed results this weekend. On one hand the film outpaced its modest consensus expectations heading into the weekend (and opened much closer to Abigail than had been widely expected), but on the other hand The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was off to a lackluster start with the film's price-tag in mind. Furthermore, while The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare opened in the same neighborhood as a number of Ritchie's more recent films including last year's The Covenant ($6.38 million), 2021's Wrath of Man ($8.31 million) and 2020's The Gentlemen ($10.65 million), the film opened well below the $17.47 million start of the Cavill led Argylle this past February. It should be noted that box office potential for The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was limited somewhat this weekend by the film not receiving a theatrical release in Canada. On the average, critical reviews for The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare have been good, but not great. The film looks to be going over better with audiences after receiving a healthy A- rating on CinemaScore.

Sony and Crunchyroll's release of SPY x FAMILY CODE: White opened in fifth place with $4.82 million. SPY x FAMILY CODE: White didn't open in the same neighborhood as most wide releases from Crunchyroll, but that had been expected as a result of the built-in fanbase for the SPY x FAMILY series not being as large in North America as those for other anime properties handled by Crunchyroll. SPY x FAMILY CODE: White did open in the same neighborhood as Crunchyroll release Suzume, which debuted with $5.00 million domestically in April of las year. SPY x FAMILY CODE: White has gone over very well with critics and audiences (the film received a strong A rating on CinemaScore), though anime releases in North America tend to be quite front-loaded towards opening weekend, regardless of reception.

Meanwhile, high-profile holdovers Kung Fu Panda 4, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and Dune: Part Two occupied places sixth through eighth this weekend. All three films held up well this weekend as, Universal and DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda 4 declined a slim 15.2 percent to gross $4.69 million, Sony's Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was down just 22.7 percent to follow with $4.45 million and Warner Bros. and Legendary's Dune: Part Two declined a very solid 32.0 percent to take in $2.95 million. Respective total domestic grosses stand at $276.64 million for Dune: Part Two through 52 days, at $180.07 million for Kung Fu Panda 4 through 45 days and at $102.97 million for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire through 31 days.

Internationally, Kung Fu Panda 4 grossed $16.6 million this weekend from 82 international markets, which brings the film's international total to $301.6 million and current global haul to $481.6 million. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire grossed an estimated $6.7 million from 59 international markets this weekend, bringing the film's international total to $73.2 million and current global total to $176.2 million. Dune: Part Two grossed $4.9 million this weekend from 73 international markets. Respective totals for Dune: Part Two stand at $420.0 million internationally and at an impressive $696.7 million globally.

Read more at BoxOfficeReport.com