This past weekend, another one of Warner Bros.’ simultaneous HBO Max/theatrical releases came out—the Angelina Jolie-starring thriller Those Who Wish me Dead—which means it’s time to check back in with the box office charts see whether or not it has followed the path laid by (nearly) every other one of the simultaneous releases by easily claiming the top spot. Unfortunately for Jolie (and Warner), and as spoiled by the headline of this, it did not. Instead, the throne went to different movie with a big star that also has the added benefit of a loose connection to an existing film franchise: Spiral: From The Book Of Saw.
In fact, Those Who Wish Me Dead actually did somewhat poorly, though it’s hard for any movie to make money these days and it’s really not fair of us to be so judgmental. It landed in third place, making just $2.8 million (in stark contrast to Mortal Kombat’s opening, which was $20 million higher a few weeks ago). Spiral, as noted above, came in first and made $8.7 million (not huge, but on par with COVID-era releases), while Guy Ritchie’s Wrath Of Man took second with $3.7 in its second week. It’s sitting at $14.6 million total, which isn’t too bad.
Fourth place went to international smash-hit Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, which threw $1.7 million on top of the hundreds of millions of dollars it has made in other countries, followed by Raya And The Last Dragon, which has hung on for 11 weeks and has $46 million to show for it. That’s pretty good, but Godzilla Vs. Kong (which landed in sixth place with a paltry $1.5 million) is sitting at nearly $100 million, and it might actually make that number if it hands on for as long as Raya has. That’s significantly higher than pretty much anything else on the charts, and it’s a movie that was available on HBO Max at launch—which could be taken as proof that WB’s scheme is working, if not for outliers like Those Who Wish Me Dead.
For a more detailed breakdown of this past weekend’s box office numbers, head over to Box Office Mojo.