Weekend Box Office: Barbie still #1 while Meg 2 pulls off the upset in 2nd

The first weekend of August is in the books and to the surprise of no one Barbie remains atop the charts with an estimated $53 million, bringing its domestic total to an impressive $459.3 million and its worldwide total hovering around the one billion dollar mark. It won’t be long before Barbie has a higher worldwide total than the highest grossing Transformers movie (2011’s Dark of the Moon with $1.12 Billion.) The film is a juggernaut, and it is the rare massive hit that doesn’t already have a sequel in development.

Sadly it appears this weekend was the end of Barbenheimer as the films have been split up on the box office charts by the new release Meg 2: The Trench with an estimated $30 million, about $15 million shy of what the original opened with, but still a solid opening in this crowded marketplace. I can only expect this one to absolutely crater in the next few weeks as word of mouth spreads that this sequel is just no good. The first movie had a sense of fun that this movie severely lacked. It is all the more disappointing because even mediocre Jason Statham movies, I tend to still enjoy because Statham is always awesome, but this one was just horrible! Add to that the fact that the film had Ben Wheatley directing it, who made the really great and fun Free Fire and it just adds to the disappointment that was Meg 2: The Trench. 

Third place belongs to the masterpiece that is Oppenheimer with a reported $28.7 million take in its third week of release. That brings its domestic total to a solid $228.5 million with its worldwide take around the $600 million mark. This one will still have another few weeks dominating IMAX screens as that run got extended as screenings around the country (and world) are still selling out. I have said it before and will say it again: this movie is one that should be experienced on the big screen. You get a two hour movie that is one of the best character studies I have ever seen, leading up to one of the most important moments in American history. Then, the final hour turns into one of the greatest court room dramas ever made with performances by Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and especially Robert Downey Jr that are absolutely mesmerizing. 

Fourth place belongs to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem with a reported weekend take of $28 million and a domestic total of $43 million since opening on Wednesday. It seems families did come out and embrace this new take on the classic heroes in a half shell as its 5-day take came in higher than tracking had it earlier in the week. Having seen the movie, I can say it was a pretty solid new take on the characters and had some genuine laughs. Still, I can’t say I liked it better than the darker original movie from 1990 and the much more light hearted ninja rapping sequel. This one could have finished higher on the charts for the weekend, but they chose to play the long game by opening on Wednesday. The stronger than expected finish bodes well for this ones longevity through the fall.

Rounding out the top five is Disney’s Haunted Mansion with what is looking like a 63% drop and a second weekend take of $8.9 million. To put that into perspective The Haunted Mansion from 2003 pulled in $9.3 million in its second weekend and that one cost $60 million less than the 2023 version and was deemed a box office failure. There are a lot of factors to why this movie tanked so badly, from Barbenheimer to releasing a movie about ghosts three months before Halloween to the fact that people have come to expect the latest Disney film to be on their streaming platform soon enough and they can just wait it out. But the ultimate reason this movie tanked: it is just a very mundane movie. A good movie will find its audience. Even Disney should know this as their recent Pixar movie, Elemental came out to horrible numbers, second worst opening in Pixar history after only 1995’s Toy Story, but that movie is actually enjoyable and throughout the weeks the movie gained momentum and has earned a respectable total, but Haunted Mansion is just a very run of the mill time at the theaters with the only saving grace being that it has Danny DeVito and Owen Wilson who save it from being a complete waste.

Coming in sixth place is Sound of Freedom with an estimated $7 million. I still don’t fully understand what “Pay it Forward” pricing is and how it relates to actual attendance at the movie, but however it works, it is in fact working as the independent film that was shot all the way back in 2018 and has countless headlines about it since its release has pulled in more money than Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning Part One which pulled in $6.4 million this weekend with a domestic total of $151 million against Sound of Freedom’s $163.4 million. That is a genuine shame as Dead Reckoning Part One is a really solid movie, hopefully Part Two which is scheduled to release on June 28, 2024, will perform better. 

Rounding out the top ten is the well reviewed A24 horror film Talk To Me with $6.2 million and a $22.1 million total, which sounds low, but the film only cost $4.5 million to make and already has a prequel film in the can. Ninth place belongs to the Indian language release Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prm Kahaani with an estimated $1.5 million which is a good showing for the film as these Indian Language releases tend to chart in their first weeks and quickly fall off, this one actually gained a spot on the charts in its second week. Tenth place belongs to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny with an estimated $1.5 million and a $170.6 million domestic total. Again, normally that number would be pretty solid, but the budget was around $300 million and even with international totals added, this one will be a money loser for Disney.

Did you make it out to theaters this week? If so, let us know what you saw (and how you liked it) in the comments section and don’t forget to take our weekly poll where we ask: What is your favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie?