Box Office: ‘Mickey 17’ Freezes Up With Chilly $7.7 Million Opening Day

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Bong Joon Ho’s film “Mickey 17,” one of Warner Bros.’ expensive lineup of original movies slated for release in 2025 from renowned directors such as Ryan Coogler and Paul Thomas Anderson, hasn’t been receiving the most enthusiastic welcome at the box office. This sci-fi comedy, featuring Robert Pattinson playing a duo of interstellar twins, generated $7.7 million during its opening day and previews from 3,807 cinemas.

The initial launch of “Mickey 17” is projected to generate an opening weekend gross exceeding $18 million. However, achieving this estimate might be challenging given its sluggish beginning, considering the film was produced at a whopping cost of $118 million. Accounting for marketing and distribution expenses, it seems that the Warner Bros. production may find it difficult to turn a profit in theaters unless it manages to accumulate over $275 million in worldwide ticket sales, which could take quite some time.

In premium cinemas like Imax and large-format theatres, “Mickey 17” is expected to take the lead in domestic box office rankings. However, its opening might not be substantial enough to disrupt the ongoing slump in theaters, with “Captain America: Brave New World” maintaining its No.1 position for almost a month, even though it’s experiencing significant week-to-week decreases in ticket sales.

The feedback for “Mickey 17” has been generally favorable, but it hasn’t received the same level of overwhelming acclaim as Bong Joon Ho’s previous film, “Parasite,” which was a groundbreaking 2019 thriller that won multiple Oscars and grossed over $262 million globally, making it the highest-grossing Korean movie ever. After the tremendous success of “Parasite,” Bong collaborated with Warner Bros. on “Mickey 17,” securing production approval as early as January 2022, just three months before the company’s merger with Discovery, Inc.

The general reaction to “Mickey” appears to be more moderate, as indicated by Cinema Score’s “B” rating from ticket buyers. This isn’t a bad review per se, but it doesn’t suggest the overwhelmingly positive response that often predicts a long stay in theaters.

In addition to Pattinson, the cast for “Mickey 17” includes several actors who portray various versions of a disposable astronaut reminiscent of Joe Pera. Joining him are Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Ackie, Toni Colette, and Steven Yeun. This film is produced by Plan B, and it’s an adaptation of the novel “Mickey7” written by Edward Ashton.

In its fourth weekend at the box office, Disney’s “Captain America: Brave New World” is set to drop to second place, having made approximately $2.1 million on Friday, raising its domestic earnings to a total of $170.1 million. Despite being the top-grossing film of 2021 in North America, it falls among the lower-performing titles within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (currently ranked 32nd out of 35 films). With an estimated production budget of $180 million, these earnings may not have been what was anticipated.

In the third spot this week is “Last Breath” from Focus Features, which earned an additional $1.16 million on Friday and is projected to decrease by 49% in its second week for a weekend gross of around $4.1 million. By Sunday, the underwater thriller should surpass a total domestic earnings of approximately $14 million.

Neon’s “The Monkey” is now in fourth place, performing better than expected after a significant drop in its second week at the top of the month. The horror-comedy made roughly $1.1 million on Friday and is predicted to decline by 39% over the weekend, resulting in a total of around $3.9 million. By Sunday, the domestic box office will have reached $31 million for this small-budget Stephen King adaptation, which is an impressive outcome.

The upcoming Sony release of “Paddington in Peru” is not lagging behind, as it earned an additional $900,000 on Friday. It’s projected to bring in approximately $3.8 million during its fourth weekend, a total that could potentially surpass the $37 million domestic sum for this production. This pace is slightly ahead of the 2017 release of “Paddington 2.”

This weekend, Angel Studios will release “Rule Breakers,” a PG-rated drama that follows the journey of four girls as they create Afghanistan’s first robotics team. The film is expected to debut in ninth place at the box office, earning approximately $600,000 on its opening day from 2,044 cinemas. Critics have praised the movie, awarding it an “A” grade, a common high rating for Angel Studios’ inspiring films.

Currently, “In the Lost Lands” starring Dave Bautista and Milla Jovovich is being screened in around 1,370 cinemas by Vertical Entertainment. However, it managed to collect only $380,000 on its opening day, suggesting a tough challenge for it to surpass the $1 million mark during its debut weekend. The film, which carries a whopping $55 million production cost from Constantin Film, was entirely financed through international sales.

Following its Academy Awards win last Sunday, Neon has once again broadened the screening of “Anora” to 1,938 theaters. This weekend, the five-time Oscar-winning drama by Sean Baker is experiencing a significant surge, with estimates suggesting it could earn another $1.7 million or so. This substantial increase far exceeds the usual additional revenue and places it on track to surpass “The Hurt Locker” ($17 million) in domestic box office earnings. With this boost, “Anora” aims to escape being the lowest-grossing modern best picture winner in North America (excluding the COVID-affected “Nomadland” and the Apple-released “CODA”).

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2025-03-08 19:20