Weekend Box Office: Deadpool & Wolverine leads a slow holiday weekend; The Crow doesn’t make the top 10

The blockbuster summer of 2024, which started slowly but rallied (big time) with movies like Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Twisters, came to a quiet end this weekend. As we predicted in our weekly predictions report, Deadpool & Wolverine easily won the weekend, with it grossing $15.1 million for the three-day weekend (tomorrow is a holiday). That puts its domestic total at a gargantuan $604 million, which is unheard of for an R-rated movie. The second highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time is The Passion of the Christ, which made $370 million, although adjusted for inflation, that would be like $616 million. However, within a week or two, Deadpool & Wolverine should be able to close that gap, which is, overall, an absolutely amazing showing for the summer’s most popular movie with the JoBlo audience (check out our summer poll here).

Another R-rated movie, Alien: Romulus, also had a solid weekend, with it grossing $9.3 million, which is only a 43% drop since last weekend. Its domestic total now stands at $88.7 million, but it will easily pass the $100 million mark. Overseas, it’s been a blockbuster, with the international cume likely to cross $300 million by next weekend, meaning a sequel seems to be a no-brainer.

Meanwhile, the popular Blake Lively vehicle, It Ends With Us, which is an adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel, continued to rake in big business, adding another $7.42 million to its coffers. It’s made $133 million (so far), making it one of the summer’s biggest word-of-mouth hits. 

Reagan, a biopic about the famed U.S. President, overcame terrible reviews to become something of a sleeper hit this weekend, grossing $7.4 million despite a lower-key release from indie label Showbiz Direct. Following hot on its heels is Twisters, which has really cemented Glen Powell’s stardom this summer, adding $7.1 million to its huge $258 million domestic total. Oddly, the movie has struggled to find an international audience, with it only grossing slightly north of $100 million overseas (thus far), putting sequel talk into jeopardy given the big budget. 

Last weekend’s Blink Twice, which stars Channing Tatum and was directed by Zoe Kravitz, showed signs of life at the box office, dipping only 36% for a $4.6 million weekend. While it will only end its run slightly north of $20 million, this Amazon/MGM release should be a major hit once it hits streaming in a month or two. The faith-based release, The Forge, also had a decent hold, dipping about 32% for a $4.6 million weekend. It’s possible Reagan might have gobbled up some of its audience. 

Illumination’s Despicable Me 4 added another $4 million to its $355 million domestic total, with it on track to end its run as the third highest-grossing film in the franchise to date. However, the weekend also had a MAJOR flop, with the poorly reviewed AfrAId (which our own critic slammed) only grossing a tepid $3.7 million despite being open on over 3000 screens. It’s a relatively rare box office misfire for Blumhouse, whose movies can usually overcome bad reviews to deliver respectable grosses. Not this time, it seems. It came close to losing the weekend to the summer’s biggest box office champ, Inside Out 2, which made another $2.7 million, for a staggering $650 million domestic total.

Notably, this weekend also spelled doom for Lionsgate’s The Crow, a much-maligned reboot, which opened to pretty grim business last weekend. It dropped over 60% this weekend for a $1.8 million weekend well outside the top 10. Its domestic total is only $8.6 million so far, and it likely will only clear $10 million domestically by the end of its run. Ouch. Certainly, The Crow and Lionsgate’s other big August release, Borderlands, will go down as the year’s two biggest box office disasters. 

Next weekend, we will see the long-awaited (like 36 years) release of Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. A lot of folks think it might crank $100 million for the weekend. What do you think? Let us know in the comments!