’28 Years Later’ Earns $14 Million Opening Day; ‘Elio’ Facing Pixar’s Lowest Debut Ever
Sony’s 28 Years Later got strong start at the domestic box office with $14 million across Friday and preview screenings.
Disney’s original animated adventure Elio is hitting the lowest debut ever for a Pixar production.
Universal’s “How to Train Your Dragon” is getting a second weekend on top of North American charts.
In second place, “28 Years Later” is moving toward opening of more than $30 million — ahead of projections. It’d be a good start for the hopeful franchise rejuvenator, which cost $60 million.
Sony won the production in a bidding war, which saw studios vying for a package billed as the reunion of director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, teaming for belated follow-up to their zombie thriller “28 Days Later,” released in 2002 (this new entry arrives only 23 years later).
Elemental did bounce back and wind up a modest theatrical success, finishing with $484 million globally and a stellar 5.22x multiplier.
It wouldn’t necessarily be impossible for “Elio” to do something similar, with even better reviews and a fantastic “A” grade on CinemaScore. But unless things turn around, this has to be judged as a rough start for the original animated film, which cost $150 million to produce.
How to Train Your Dragon still gets the top spot in its sophomore outing, earning another $10.8 million on Friday. Projections for the second weekend are now at $35.7 million, which would mark a 58% drop from its opening. Total domestic gross has a shot at hitting $160 million through its first 10 days in theaters, ranking it as the seventh-highest-grossing North American release of the year.
Another live-action remake is in fourth place, with Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” earning another $3 million on Friday. Now in its fifth weekend of release, the PG-rated comedy is looking at about $10 million over the three-day frame to push its domestic total to $387 million. This weekend, the film is passing “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II” ($382 million) to become the 55th-biggest domestic grosser of all-time.
Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” rounds out the top five, putting up another strong hold with a projected 33% drop in its fifth outing. After the weekend, the Tom Cruise action sequel will be at about a $178.9 million domestic total through 31 days of release — an uptick from the 2023 franchise predecessor “Dead Reckoning,” which finished with $171 million.
Just below, A24’s “Materialists” is showing a decent hold in sixth place, projecting a sophomore outing of about $6 million, which would mark a 45% drop from its opening. Domestic total should hit $24 million through 10 days.
Also opening this weekend, Magenta Light Studios has the Rebel Wilson action comedy “Bride Hard” in 1,165 locations. After landing poor reviews and a ho-hum “B-” grade on CinemaScore, the film will struggle to hit $1 million in its debut, opening outside of the top 10.
