Box Office Report for the Week of March 2

As Oscar Sunday is (finally) upon us, this weekend was relatively quiet at the movies, with the only significant title released being the feature film adaptation of the 2019 documentary Last Breath. Starring Finn Cole, Woody Harrelson, and Simu Liu, the survival thriller opened in second place, with a $7.8 million domestic tally on a $23.8 million budget. It’s not that terrible of a start if one considers how low the weekend is, but it’s still not a great one, either.

Once again, the highest-grossing film of the weekend is Captain America: Brave New World, which adds $15 million to its global cume of $341 million. It’s less of an embarrassment than The Marvels, but time will tell if it will be able to break even, which it could fall slightly short of. Still, the MCU is continuing to go strong this year on the television side, with Daredevil: Born Again premiering on Disney+ this week. It’s a hotly-anticipated title that many fans have been clamoring for ever since Marvel Studios took over the television department, and to see it come to fruition could pay off in a big way if they stick the landing. The MCU may not be dead yet, after all!

On a brighter note, Ne Zha 2 is continuing to dominate the global box office, and while the tally at the domestic box office this weekend ($1.7 million) seems uneventful, the film became the first animated production to make $2 billion worldwide (and the seventh overall movie to do so), surpassing the records established by Inside Out 2, Frozen 2, and the 2019 remake of The Lion King. As a result, IMAX re-released the movie this weekend to fill up their cinemas in the wake of Captain America not having the legs some cinemas thought it would have and with Ne Zha 2 gaining further momentum as an unstoppable juggernaut and worldwide phenomenon.

It’ll be hard for any Hollywood movie (this year, at the very least) to top the records Ne Zha 2 is currently establishing, both in animation and live-action. Still, the year is still young, and there are plenty more tentpole titles that will bow out in cinemas to attract moviegoers, with the next one being Bong Joon Ho‘s Mickey 17. Industry projections for this one aren’t looking too great, but if there’s anyone who can defy all expectations and deliver a commercial hit, it’s definitely Robert Pattinson, whose star power has experienced even greater success after reinventing himself with films such as Good Time, The Lighthouse, and The Batman.

In the meantime, though, have a great Oscar sunday!

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. Captain America: Brave New World (Disney): $15.0M (-46.7%) – 3,800 theatres
2. Last Breath (Universal): $7.8M – 3,018 theatres
3. The Monkey (NEON): $6.3M (-55%) – 3,227 theatres
4. Paddington in Peru (Sony): $4.5M (-31%) – 3,705 theatres
5. Dog Man (Universal): $4.2M (-28.3%) – 3,055 theatres
6. Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney): $1.9M (-25%) – 1,705 theatres
7. Ne Zha 2 (CMC Films): $1.7M (-44%) – 600 theatres
8. Heart Eyes (Sony): $1.3M (-51%) – 2,406 theatres
9. The Unbreakable Boy (Lionsgate): $1.2M (-49.7%) – 1,717 theatres
10. One of Them Days (Sony): $925.000 (-33%) – 825 theatres

Source: Comscore