Box office: ‘Civil War’ wins 2nd weekend, besting vampire flick ‘Abigail’ and others

Edward Douglas
·5 min read

Things had been going so well at the box office over the past few weeks, so it was disappointing that none of the week’s three new wide releases made much of an impact. Read on for the weekend box office report.

Although Universal’s vampire thriller “Abigail,” directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (aka “Radio Silence”), had the best hopes of breaking out due to its cool horror premise and ensemble cast, Alex Garland‘s future shock thriller “Civil War,” starring Kirsten Dunst and Wagner Moura, was able to hold onto first place with $11.1 million, a drop of 57% from its record-setting opening for A24. The movie has grossed $44.9 million domestically so far, which already puts it in the top 10 all-time grossers for the studio after just 10 days.

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Although horror tends to do quite well with younger moviegoers, “Abigail” and its cast, which includes Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Giancarlo Esposito and young Alisha Weir as Abigail, came into the weekend with great reviews at 82% on RottenTomatoes. Even so, its $1 million in previews was a bad sign that audiences just weren’t aware or interested that the title character was an adorable but murderous little girl vampire. Universal estimates it to open in second place with $10.2 million in 3,384 theaters, roughly $3,000 per location. Audiences gave the movie a not-great “B” CinemaScore, so we’ll have to see if the movie gets enough buzz to hold up next weekend.

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“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” dropped to third place with $9.5 million, down 39% in its fourth weekend, as it brought its North American total to $171.6 million. As of now, it’s the second-highest grossing Godzilla movie after the 2014 movie that launched the Legendary Pictures franchise.

Guy Ritchie returned with his true-story WWII action-comedy “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” starring Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchman, Eiza Gonzaléz, Henry Golding, Hero Fiennes Tiffin and more. The movie received generally decent reviews with 73% on Rotten Tomatoes, as Lionsgate released it into 2,845 theaters. After making $1.5 million in advance previews, including some from before Thursday, “Ministry” made $3.7 million on its opening day and an estimated $9 million for the weekend, for a fourth place opening. Audiences gave the movie an “A-” through CinemaScore, which offers some hope that the movie could continue doing business at least through the end of the month.

Crunchyroll’s Anime feature “Spy x Family Code: White” seemed to continue the downward path of Anime with a weak opening of $4.9 million in 2,009 theaters for fifth place, after receiving generally strong reviews from critics. The animated movie received the best audience ratings from CinemaScore with an “A,” although Anime releases have generally been front-loaded in recent years.

Undaunted by a new animated movie, DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda 4” held on well, taking sixth place with $4.6 million, down a mere 16% from last weekend, as it brought its domestic total to almost $180 million. It’s closing in on DWA’s last hit, 2022’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (which it probably will pass soon), while surpassing all other releases by the animation company, going back to 2013’s “The Croods,” which grossed $187.2 million. This is a good sign that families are returning to theaters after COVID sent a lot of that audience to streaming.

“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” dropped from third to seventh place with $4.4 million, but also off just 24% from last weekend, as it crossed the $100 million mark with $102.9 million. That’s still behind all other installments of the franchise, including 1989’s “Ghostbusters II,” which grossed $112 million, when that amount was a much bigger deal. Worldwide, “Frozen Empire” has grossed $176.1 million with another $6.7 million grossed overseas this weekend.

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“Dune: Part Two” held its place in the top 10 with an eighth place showing of $2.9 million (down 33%) and $276.6 million domestically. It nears $700 million worldwide with another $419.2 million internationally, $4.2 million this weekend. At this point, there’s no reason for Warner Bros. not to greenlight a third movie in the series.

The Zellner Brothers‘ “Sasquatch Sunset,” starring Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough, expanded nationwide into 856 theaters on Friday, allowing it to bring in $453k in its second weekend, or $529 per theater, which isn’t great and not enough to get into the top 10.

Lastly, Neon released Theda Hammel‘s “Stress Positions” into a single theater in New York City on Friday, where it brought in $28,000.

Only 31 players had “Civil War” winning a second weekend in the box office prediction game, and even fewer had “Abigail” taking second place, while roughly the same had “Spy x Family” taking fifth place, so this weekend’s results should be interesting.

Five players went five-for-six in the April 12 game with “RichRo” scoring the most points thanks to his Super Bet that “Civil War” would open with over $25 million.

On Friday, Zendaya stars in the tennis romance drama, “Challengers,” so check back on Wednesday for Gold Derby’s weekend preview.

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