Box Office: 'Mortal Kombat II' Nabs $5.2M Thursday, Michael' Tops $200M and 'Devil Wears Prada 2' Tops $100M
The Billie Ellish documentary, co-directed by James Cameron, earned $2.2 million heading into the weekend as 'The Sheep Detectives' nabbed $1 million in early showings.
In terms of Thursday box office (which includes any earlier paid previews), Mortal Kombat II will enter the weekend with $5.2 million in North America. That includes the Wednesday night “IMAX fan screenings” and sits alongside the $4.9-$5.8 million pre-weekend grosses for Halloween Ends, Final Destination: Bloodlines, Scream VI, Weapons and 28 Years Later. New Line would prefer not to leg out like Sony’s 28 Years Later, a strictly for-the-fans-only legacy sequel that ended the weekend with $30 million on its way to a frontloaded $60 million domestic (and $150 million worldwide) total.
The other pictures (alongside Sinners, after its $4.7 million Thursday and Nope after its $6.7 million Thursday) opened with between $40 million (Halloween Ends) and $51.6 million (Final Destination 6). In its favor are uncommonly solid reviews for a video game-based sequel (68% fresh with a 5.9/10 average critic score amid 107 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes) and a devoted fandom that has played any number of Mortal Kombat games over the last 34 years. Also note the “can’t get this anywhere else” value, even for those indifferent about the IP.” value. Let’s do the math.
Frontloading akin to Jordan Peele’s most recent movie or David Gordon Green’s last (and best) Michael Myers melodrama gets WB and New Line’s $80 million action fantasy to $34-$39 million. Even that would constitute a “breakout sequel” compared to Mortal Kombat, which opened with $22 million in April 2021 (with concurrent domestic availability on HBO Max) and ended with $43 million in North America. The other comps suggest a domestic debut between $40 million (if it’s as Thursday-to-weekend frontloaded as Scream VI ) and $53 million (if it’s closer to Sinners in this regard).
