Box Office Report: Upset Alert!

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

Weekend Box Office Report: September 20th, 2024 to September 23rd, 2024

There was a major upset at the domestic box office this weekend, as Warner Bros.'s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (in its third weekend), was able to outpace the debut of Paramount's Transformers One to remain in first place at the domestic box office. While Beetlejuice Beetlejuice performed in line with consensus expectations heading into the weekend, Transformers One opened significantly below expectations (more on that later). Beetlejuice Beetlejuice grossed $25.94 million this weekend, which represented a 49.5 percent decline from last weekend. This weekend's decline, while sizable, was also respectable given the audience overlap between Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Transformers One, and that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice lost its IMAX screens to Transformers One. With the film's loss of IMAX screens out of the way, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is likely to stabilize at least somewhat over the upcoming weekend. Through Sunday, the 17-day domestic gross for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice stands at a strong $226.79 million.

Internationally, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice grossed an estimated $17.2 million this weekend from 76 international markets. That brings the film's international total to $103.0 million and current global haul to $329.8 million. Totals through Sunday for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice by international market include $23.8 million in the United Kingdom, $15.1 million in Mexico, $7.6 million in France, $6.7 million in Spain, $6.3 million in Australia. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice remained on IMAX screens in some international markets this weekend. Respective estimated IMAX totals for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice through Sunday stand at $4.1 million internationally and $15.0 million domestically, for a global IMAX total of $19.1 million.

Paramount's Transformers One had to settle for second place this weekend with a debut of $24.61 million. While the computer animated Transformers film directed by Josh Cooley wasn’t expected to perform as strong as a typical live-action Transformers film, expectations for Transformers One heading into the weekend had tended to range from $30 million to $40 million. On a positive note, Transformers One was significantly less expensive than a typical live-action Transformers film (as well as less expensive than most high-profile computer animated films). The opening weekend performance of Transformers One was especially underwhelming given the large amount of showtimes the film received at many locations this weekend. Transformers One also played on IMAX screens this weekend, with the film grossing an estimated $2.0 million from domestic IMAX screens.

More than anything, instead of playing like a family film, Transformers One seemed to play like a typical Transformers film this weekend, except with significantly less fans than usual being interested. With an estimated preview gross of $3.36 million (which included Thursday previews that began at 5PM, as well as earlier Saturday and Wednesday early access shows), Transformers One had an opening weekend to preview gross ratio of 7.33 to 1. That was similar to the 6.94 to 1 ratio for last year's Transformers: Rise of the Beast (which wasn't animated, opened in the summer and had much larger grosses) and actually was slightly lower than the 7.60 to 1 ratio for 2018's Bumblebee. While Transformers One did outpace the $21.65 million start of Bumblebee, that film's debut was deflated from opening the weekend before Christmas. Transformers One grossed $9.56 million on Friday (which included the mentioned preview gross), declined 4.3 percent on Saturday to take in $9.15 million and decreased by 35.5 percent on Sunday to gross $5.90 million. Transformers One has gone over well with critics and also has gone over well with audiences (making this weekend's underperformance even more puzzling), as the film received a strong A rating on CinemaScore. While those are encouraging signs for the film's long-term holding power, at the same time Transformers One will have to deal with new competition from Universal and DreamWorks Animation's computer animated The Wild Robot starting this coming weekend.

Internationally, Transformers One started out with just an estimated $14.0 million this weekend from 50 international markets. To be fair, Transformers One has a number of larger international markets still left to open in, including China this coming Friday (September 27). Estimated debuts for Transformers One this weekend by international market included $2.2 million in Mexico, $1.5 million in Australia and $0.8 million in Japan. Transformers One grossed an estimated $1.0 million from international IMAX screens this weekend, for a global IMAX total of $3.0 million through Sunday.

Universal and Blumhouse's Speak No Evil placed in third this weekend with $5.80 million this weekend. The R-rated thriller was down 49.1 percent from last weekend, which was a respectable second weekend hold, especially with two new horror films (Never Let Go and The Substance) entering the marketplace this weekend. And while it had been largely expected, Speak No Evil staying above Never Let Go and The Substance on this weekend’s box office chart was also a noteworthy accomplishment. The ten-day domestic total for the modestly priced Speak No Evil stands at a solid $21.35 million. Internationally, Speak No Evil grossed $7.6 million this weekend from 77 international markets. That brings the film's international total to $21.2 million and global total to $42.5 million. This weekend saw Speak No Evil debut with $0.92 million in France and $0.61 million in Germany. Additional totals through Sunday for Speak No Evil by international market include $3.8 million in the United Kingdom, $2.3 million in Mexico, $1.7 million in Spain, $1.1 million in Italy and $0.97 million in Australia.

Meanwhile, Lionsgate's Never Let Go and MUBI's The Substance started out with respective fourth place and sixth place debuts of $4.45 million and $3.21 million. Both R-rated horror films opened in line with expectations, albeit on the low end of consensus expectations in both cases. The Substance was directed by Coralie Fargeat and stars Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid. Never Let Go was directed by Alexandre Aja and stars Halle Berry, Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins. The Substance has gone over better with critics than Never Let Go has, and also looks to be going over better with audiences, as The Substance received a B rating on CinemaScore, while Never Let Go received a C+ CinemaScore rating. This weekend's performance for The Substance was a noteworthy one, as the film represented the first wide release ever for distributor MUBI. On the other hand, Never Let Go represents the fourth wide release from Lionsgate to disappoint at the box office over the past two months.

Disney's Deadpool & Wolverine placed in fifth this weekend with $3.82 million. Deadpool & Wolverine declined just 26.9 percent this weekend and did so while playing in 625 fewer locations this weekend than last weekend. With a 59-day total domestic gross of $627.20 million, Deadpool & Wolverine has passed 2012's Marvel's The Avengers to move into thirteenth place on the all-time unadjusted domestic list. At this rate, Deadpool & Wolverine has a very strong chance of eventually surpassing the $636.24 million final domestic gross of last year's Barbie to move into twelfth place all-time domestically. Internationally, Deadpool & Wolverine grossed an estimated $3.4 million this weekend from 52 international markets. Respective totals for the film stand at $689.4 million internationally and at a massive $1.317 billion globally.

In international box office news, Universal and DreamWorks Animation's The Wild Robot started its international run with $6.5 million from 8 select international markets. This weekend's start was led by debuts of $3.7 million in China and $2.0 million in Australia. In addition to opening domestically this coming Friday, The Wild Robot will open in Mexico this coming Thursday (September 26). The Wild Robot will open in most of its international markets throughout the month of October.

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