Box Office Round-Up ~ 7/18/22

Despite a handful of new releases this weekend, Thor: Love and Thunder reigned supreme once more at the top of the box office, with a sophomore gross of $46 million. That said, the fourth Thor movie saw a 68% drop from its opening weekend, which may prove worrisome for Marvel Studios.

While both Thor and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have seen overall solid box office numbers, they’re falling short of many of their MCU predecessors. With the exception of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Marvel Studios has yet to reach the theatrical grosses of its pre-pandemic releases. All eyes are now on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, slated for this November.

Minions: The Rise of Gru took second place with $26 million, clearing $260 million overall in its third weekend in theaters. Third place saw this weekend’s biggest new release, Where the Crawdads Sing, based on the best-selling novel by Delia Jones and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones (Fresh, Normal People). Produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, the murder-mystery drama beat expectations with $17 million total for the weekend, extremely solid numbers for a counter-programming release.

Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis rounded out the top five with $12 million and $7.6 million respectively. Just outside the top five was animated action comedy Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, which opened to a disappointing $6 million. The kung-fu infused family friendly remake of Blazing Saddles (yes, you read that right) failed to draw audiences away from the aforementioned Minions, despite a star-studded voice cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Ricky Gervais, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, Mel Brooks.

1. Thor: Love and Thunder ($46 MM)
Director: Taika Waititi (CAA)
Writers: Taika Waititi (CAA), Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (CAA)
Cast: Chris Hemsworth (CAA)
        Natalie Portman (CAA)
        Christian Bale (WME)

2. Minions: The Rise of Gru ($26 MM)
Director: Kyle Balda (UTA), Brad Ableson (CAA), Jonathan del Val
Writers: Matthew Fogel (UTA), Brian Lynch (WME)
Cast: Steve Carell (WME)
        Pierre Coffin
        Alan Arkin (ICM)

3. Where the Crawdads Sing ($17 MM)
Director: Olivia Newman (WME)
Writers: Lucy Alibar (CAA)
Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones (UTA)
Taylor John Smith (CAA)
Harris Dickinson (Gersh)

4. Top Gun: Maverick ($12 MM)
Director: Joseph Kosinski (CAA)
Writers: Peter Craig (CAA), Justin Marks (CAA), Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer (Range Media Partners), Christopher McQuarrie (CAA)
Cast: Tom Cruise (CAA)
        Miles Teller (CAA)
        Jennifer Connelly (CAA)

5. Elvis ($7.6 MM)
Director: Baz Luhrmann (WME)
Writers: Baz Luhrmann (WME), Sam Bromell (MGMT Entertainment), Craig Pearce (Mosaic), Jeremy Doner (CAA)
Cast: Austin Butler (WME) 
      Tom Hanks (CAA)
        Olivia DeJonge (CAA)

Source: Box Office Mojo, The Numbers