Box Office Report for the Weekend of May 9th

Wrath of Man, the latest film from director Guy Ritchie and star Jason Statham, may have split critics (ours was a big fan), but it’s clear that audiences are loving it. With an A- CinemaScore and a 91% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this story of a mysterious man (Statham) with a ruthless set of skills enacting a revenge plot was the clear winner at this weekend’s box office. 

Grossing $8.1 million, the film had no trouble muscling its way past a group of older titles that rounded out the top five. 

The films that followed were simply a repeat of what we saw last week, with Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, Mortal Kombat, Godzilla vs. Kong, and Raya and the Last Dragon all staying in the same order to complete the top five.

The other new wide release of the weekend, the Billy Crystal starring, written, and directed Here Today, pulled in just $900,000 in 1,200 theaters, earning it a #7 slot.

Wrath of Man was originally scheduled for a release on April 23rd, but pushed back to the May 7th slot once Black Widow was pushed back off that date. It seems like that was a wise choice, as it avoided the Mortal Kombat and Demon Slayer showdown and earned a nice total for the weekend with plenty of attention on it. 

Ritchie’s film has grossed $17.6 million overseas currently, for a worldwide total of $24.9 million, with releases in China (May 10) and the UK (July 23) still to come, which should certainly boost its totals. 

Wrath of Man could face some stiff competition next week, with a few major titles getting opening as the summer season starts to kick off. It will almost certainly be unseated by Spiral: From the Book of Saw, the latest in the popular Saw franchise, with Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson heading the reboot. Awards Radar editor Joey Magidson has already seen the film and was effusive in his praise, a good sign of things to come for this often critically-derided franchise. Look out for his full review soon. 

Also coming next weekend is the Warner Bros. release of Those Who Wish Me Dead, starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Taylor Sheridan, which will debut simultaneously on HBO Max. After Godzilla vs. Kong managed to do incredibly well in theaters while also streaming on the service it’ll be interesting to see how Sheridan’s new film performs. 

Other titles getting wide releases next weekend are Finding You (a young-adult coming-of-age film from Brian Baugh) and Profile (a long-shelved Searching-esque “movie on a screen” from Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov that originally premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2018). 

See below for this weekend’s full Top 10 at the box office (numbers reported by Box Office Mojo): 

01. Wrath of Man – $8,100,000 (-) – 2,875 theaters 

02. Demon Slayer: Mugen Train.- $3,053,500 (-52.4%) – 2,088 theaters 

03. Mortal Kombat – $2,375,000 (-61.9%) – 2,973 theaters 

04. Godzilla vs. Kong – $1,930,000 (-31.6%) – 2,705 theaters 

05. Raya and the Last Dragon – $1,865,000 (+35%) – 2,135 theaters 

06. Separation – $1,075,000 (-40.3%) – 1,911 theaters 

07. Here Today – $900,000 (-) – 1,100 theaters 

08. Nobody – $760,000 (-40.9%) – 1,931 theaters 

09. The Unholy – $730,000 (-31.5%) – 1,390 theaters 

10. Tom and Jerry – $426,000 (-19.6%) – 1,831 theaters