‘Mickey 17’ Leads Box Office With $19 Million But $118 Million Budget Spells Trouble

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Mickey 17,” a comical dystopian sci-fi film featuring multiple Robert Pattinsons, was the top-grossing domestic movie, earning $19.1 million across 3,807 cinemas. However, the production cost of this Warner Bros. picture amounted to a significant $118 million – an exorbitant expense for an innovative, unconventional space adventure. This high-stakes investment could potentially take several lifetimes to recoup profits from box office sales.

Opinions about the R-rated movie “Mickey 17” were divided among critics and viewers. The film received a ‘B’ rating on CinemaScore and an impressive 79% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but these figures don’t paint a promising picture for its longevity in theaters. This is concerning because “Mickey 17” reportedly required an additional $80 million to promote, and it needs to generate between $275 million and $300 million worldwide just to turn a profit during its theatrical release, as stated by industry insiders familiar with comparable projects.

Worldwide, the movie titled “Mickey 17” earned a total of $53.3 million, with $34.2 million coming from foreign territories, including $25.4 million across 66 different countries. Recently, it made its debut in South Korea and added an additional $34.2 million to its overseas earnings.

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In a global box office tally, “Mickey 17” has grossed a total of $53.3 million, with $34.2 million coming from international territories, such as $25.4 million from 66 different regions. The movie just opened in South Korea and contributed an additional $34.2 million to its foreign earnings.

In my perspective as an enthusiastic follower, I’m eagerly anticipating “Mickey 17,” the sequel by director Bong Joon Ho, following his groundbreaking success with “Parasite.” This intriguing pitch-black comedy, based on Edward Ashton’s novel “Mickey7,” stars Robert Pattinson as a character who undergoes multiple iterations. He portrays an expendable worker, capable of being reproduced, sent on a perilous human expedition to colonize the unforgiving ice planet named Niflheim. Unfortunately, his demise is repeated time and again. The narrative takes a dramatic turn when one of the Mickeys is presumed deceased, triggering a struggle as a replica attempts to assume his position. The talented cast includes Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo, among others.

As a devoted cinephile, I’m excited to share that “Mickey 17” marks a daring new chapter for Warner Bros., a slate focusing more on costly, director-led originals instead of relying on well-known franchises. Coming up next, we have “Alto Knights,” a gripping $45 million gangster drama featuring Robert De Niro playing dual roles as a mob boss (releasing March 21). Following closely is the $150 million live-action adaptation of “A Minecraft Movie” starring Jack Black (hitting theaters April 1). And on April 18, anticipate “Sinners,” a chilling $90 million vampire horror film directed by Ryan Coogler and featuring Michael B. Jordan. Lastly, get ready for James Gunn’s reboot of “Superman” aiming to revitalize the struggling DC Universe, set to premiere on July 11.

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The underdog movie “Rule Breakers” from Angel Studios didn’t take off as expected during its debut, earning just $1 million across 2,044 theaters. Given that it’s being screened on over 2,000 screens, this isn’t a promising start. However, with favorable reviews and an “A” rating from CinemaScore, there’s still optimism for this inspiring film about Afghanistan’s first competitive robotics team.

After spending three weeks at the top spot, Disney and Marvel’s “Captain America: Brave New World” dropped to second place last weekend. This superhero adventure, featuring Anthony Mackie as Captain America, brought in an additional $8.5 million from 3,480 theaters during its fourth week. The film is expected to finish the weekend with a domestic total of $177 million and a worldwide gross of $370.8 million. Despite this strong performance, the movie cost over $180 million to produce and an additional $100 million for global marketing, making it a significant financial investment for Marvel. Upcoming tentpole releases from Marvel include “Thunderbolts” on May 2nd and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” on July 25th.

In third place, the survival thriller ‘Last Breath,’ starring Woody Harrelson, earned $4.2 million across 3,090 cinemas, marking a 47% drop since its opening weekend. Over two weeks in theaters, this film has amassed a total of $14.5 million in North America. From Focus Features, the production budget for ‘Last Breath’ is said to be less than $24 million.

In its third release, Neon’s grisly thriller “The Monkey” earned the fourth position with a box office total of $3.9 million from 2,955 cinemas. To date, this $10 million production has amassed a domestic gross of $31 million.

In its fourth weekend, Sony’s movie “Paddington in Peru” earned $3.8 million in 3,085 theaters, raising its domestic total to a modest $36.9 million. The story of the well-mannered, marmalade-loving teddy bear has been much more successful internationally, raking in $138.8 million and a grand total of $175.8 million worldwide. However, this third installment is falling short compared to the first two films in the series, 2014’s “Paddington” ($326 million globally) and 2017’s “Paddington 2” ($290 million globally).

At the same time, winners of the Oscars such as “Anora” and “The Brutalist” attempted to convert their tiny gold statues into cinema ticket sales. However, despite winning three awards, A24’s “The Brutalist” didn’t see a significant increase in box office earnings, bringing in only $153,072 from 214 screens and amassing a total of $16.1 million.

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While the Oscar-winning films “Anora” and “The Brutalist” endeavored to turn their small golden statuettes into box office successes, A24’s “The Brutalist,” which collected three awards, failed to boost ticket sales substantially. It earned a mere $153,072 from 214 screens and has accumulated a total of $16.1 million so far.

The award-winning film “Anora” made one of its largest weekend earnings yet, totaling $1.8 million from 1,938 screens. Despite this, Sean Baker’s comedy about a Brooklyn sex worker marrying a Russian oligarch’s son remains among the lowest-grossing Best Picture recipients in recent times, having earned just $18 million domestically and $40 million globally. This is comparable to Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker,” which made $17 million domestically and $49 million worldwide back in 2008. It’s important to note that this comparison doesn’t account for films like “Nomadland” and “CODA,” both of which had limited theater showings due to COVID-19 and Apple’s distribution, respectively.

More to come…

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2025-03-09 18:47