‘Weapons’ Second Weekend $25M Vibrant, ‘Nobody 2’ Crashing

SATURDAY AM: Summer is heading into its August sleep with the overall weekend for all titles falling under $100M for the second time this season with an estimated $94M. The last time this happened was during the second weekend of summer, May 9-11, when all movies grossed just over $84M per Box Office Mojo.

As we said earlier this week, thank God Warner Bros moved Weapons into the late summer, or else we wouldn’t be feeling a pulse. The Zach Cregger pic’s hold for weekend 2 is looking better than yesterday’s forecast, -43%, for a second frame of $25M after a $7.4M Friday. Many are foreseeing Weapons second Saturday to spike +33% over Friday with around $10M.

While Weapons isn’t having the dips of Get Out and Sinners in its second weekend, any time a horror movie is holding better than -50%, that’s remarkable, and this original horror movie is posting a second weekend that’s better than this year’s other big horror pics, Final Destination: Bloodlines (-63%) and 28 Years Later (-68%). Weapons has Imax and PLF screens.

Global for Weapons, which only cost New Line $38M+, stands at $120.4M through yesterday.

Disney’s Freakier Friday looks to come in with a second weekend around $14M, -51%.

Universal’s Bob Odenkirk uber-violent action sequel Nobody 2 despite solid exits of a B+ CinemaScore (the first one received an A-) and 4 stars and a 62% definite recommend on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak, is coming in softer than expected with a $9.4M opening after a $3.8M Friday. The movie was cheap at net $25M before P&A spend, and clearly this is a Lionsgate model meat and potato action movie aimed at older dudes (who showed up at 39% over 45). In fact, Lionsgate’s winter action movies did better with Den of Thieves 2 at $15M and Flight Risk at $11.5M. However, what’s unfortunate here is that the audience (at least from a dollar-wise perspective) for Nobody 2 didn’t expand that much from the original’s opening, which posted $6.8M. With moviegoers skittish about returning to cinemas after Covid when the first title opened in 2021, the following for this IP has only grown so much. No John Wick phenomenon going on here with this 87Eleven production. The original John Wick, similar to the first Austin Powers, boomed on home entertainment fueling bigger theatrical openings and grosses for its part 2. It’s unfortunate for Nobody as these movies are a great homage to Steve McQueen titles like The Hunter and Clint Eastwood movies such as Every Which Way But Loose. Nobody 2 has PLFs which are driving 29% of the weekend with an even play across the country, however, prominent in the West. AMC Burbank 16 is the single leading venue with just over $17K. Diversity demos for the overall 68% male leaning movie was 53% Caucasian, 22% Hispanic and Latino, 11% Black and 8% Asian American.

Clearly, the fans were carrying the torch for Nobody 2 on social with RelishMix noticing overall positive sentiment and very little negative chatter. The social media universe for the sequel at close to 190M was 59% above action-drama genre norms across TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram combined. During Covid, the first movie’s stats were 53% lighter. Interesting to note that the social media reach on Rami Malek’s The Amateur was lower at 89M, but that movie opened higher at $14.8M.

AFTERNOON UPDATE: Currently, New Line’s original horror movie Weapons is seeing a second weekend -49% decline with $22M after a second Friday of $6M at 3,450 sites. The ten-day on the Zach Cregger directed, written and produced movie is bound to hit $86M by Sunday.

Disney’s Freakier Friday is seeing a $4.5M second Friday, with a $14M-$15M second frame at 3,975 and -48% decline for a ten-day of $55M. That total will be -6% behind the end of second weekend cume of the original 2003 movie which ended its run at $110.2M.

Universal’s Nobody 2 is right now standing at a $9.25M opening after a first Friday plus previews of $3.8M at 3,260 sites.

Disney/Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four: First Steps at 3,355 theaters has a fourth Friday of $2.3M, fourth weekend of $8M, -49% for a running cume by Sunday of $246.1M.

Third weekend of Uni/DreamWorks Animation’s Bad Guys 2 is $5.7M, -46%, for a running total of $55.4M at 3,374. That total will be pacing -3% behind Bad Guys through 17 days. Today is $1.6M.

FRIDAY AM: Summer is ratcheting down and the only major studio wide entry this box office frame is Universal’s Bob Odenkirk action movie Nobody 2, which did $1.3 million from previews Thursday at 2,800 theaters that began at 2 p.m. The $25M 87North feature production is eyeing a $10M+ start in a marketplace where New Line’s Weapons is expected to rule with $20M+.

The Zach Cregger-directed Weapons ends its first week with $64M, which is 17% behind Sinners’ first week of $77.5M but 29% ahead of Get Out‘s $49.8M first week. Sinners ended its run at $278.5M and Get Out finaled at $176M. Whether Weapons has a slight dip ala Get Out‘s second frame (-15%) or Sinners (-5%) we’ll know when we get into the thick of Saturday. Sinners saw a spike in its second Saturday over its first by 14%, while Get Out‘s second Saturday dipped 9%. Weapons‘ Thursday was $4.06M, off 9% from Wednesday’s $4.4M.

There weren’t any previews on the first Nobody as major New York City and Los Angeles cinemas had just reopened roughly two weeks prior from Covid; that movie opened to $6.8M and finaled at $27.5M domestic. Previews here on Nobody 2 are right in line with Lionsgate’s Den of Thieves: Pantera, which posted $1.35M in its Thursday before a $5.7M Friday and $15M opening. Russian director Ilya Naishuller directed the first Nobody installment, while Timo Tjahjanto has taken over helming reins on part 2 here. Derek Kolstad and Aaron Rabin wrote the screenplay based on the former’s characters.

Great grades on Nobody 2: 82% certified fresh critics and 92% audience on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s not far from the first installment, which respectively did 84% and 94% with critics and audiences.

The rest of top 5 for the week is as follows: