May the Fourth Be with You, akaStar WarsDay, turns into a weekend-long celebration for fans of that galaxy far, far away. While Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’sThe Fall Guydoes land the top spot at thebox officeto kick off the summer movie season, the big surprise is the 25th anniversary screenings ofStar Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace(1999).George Lucas’ first installment in theStar Warsprequel trilogy outperformed every other movie this weekend except for director David Leitch’s love letter to the stunt profession.
At the end of the day, though, Leitch’s film just didn’t live up to the higher end of its predicted numbers. The long-range forecast was that the Ryan Gosling-led romantic action comedy would land somewhere between $20 million and $40 million, according toBoxoffice Pro.Ultimately,The Fall Guylaid claim to No. 1 with an estimated $28.5 million domestically (perThe Numbers), which landed almost perfectly in the middle of the financial numbers expected.
The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy is an action thriller from Bullet Train and Deadpool 2 director David Leitch. Ryan Gosling stars as a stuntman who is forced to find a missing movie star, investigate a conspiracy, and repair his relationship with the love of his life. The film was written by Drew Pearce and inspired by the 1980s TV series of the same name.
The Fall Guyfared better internationally with $36.9 million, which helped the film amass $65.4 million worldwide. While that’s a sizable number, it’s only a drop in the bucket when compared toThe Fall Guy’s$140 million budget. And it’s important to remember, the production budget doesn’t cover the marketing and advertising costs used to promote Gosling and Blunt’s latest big-screen adventure.
The Phantom Menace Dominates All Other Takers
While it’s notthe bestStar Warsfilm,The Phantom Menacelaunched the epic storyline that would eventually culminate with the rise of Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) inStar Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. Over the weekend, fans celebrated May the Fourth Be with You, and they were treated to special 25th anniversary screenings ofEpisode I. And outside ofThe Fall Guy, The Phantom Menacedominated the rest of the box office field over the weekend.
The Phantom Menacesecured the No. 2 spot with $8.1 million. That brought theStar Warsprequel’s all-time worldwide total to $1.035 billion. Meanwhile,last week’s No. 1 movie, Zendaya’sChallengers,held very well in its second weekend of release, dropping only 49%. Luca Guadagnino’s romantic sports drama lobbed its way into the No. 3 slot with $7.6 million. NewcomerTarotdealt a victory for the horror genre as Sony’s latest scary flick scared up $6.5 million during its debut — landingTarotat No. 4.Godzilla x Kong: The New Empirerounded out the Top 5 with $4.5 million.
Challengers’ Director Dishes About Spider-Verse Reference & Peachy Nod to Call Me by Your Name
Luca Guadagnino sets the record straight on both the Spider-Verse mention and the perceived callback to Call Me by Your Name.
A handful of new, limited releases vied for the weekend’s highest per-theater average, which ultimately went to A24’sI Saw the TV Glow. Director Jane Schoenbrun’s horror film opened in four theaters and made an average of $29,085 per cinema.Wildcatplayed in three cinemas ($19,380 per-theater average) andEvil Does Not Existopened in three venues for a per-theater average of $15,100.
Overseas, the Chris Pratt-led animated filmThe Garfield Movieopened with $22 million in 18 international markets ahead of its U.S. release. The lasagna-loving cat’s big-screen adventure isforecast to make $35 milliondomestically over the Memorial Day weekend when it drops on May 24.
The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apesjoins the summer movie season next week when it drops in theaters on May 10.
