According to Deadline, Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile claimed the box office crown this weekend with a $12.8 million debut, which bested the second weekend of last week’s champ Jackass Forever ($8.05 million/$37.4 million total) and the Jennifer Lopez/Owen Wilson drama Marry Me ($8 million).
These figures are very underwhelming no matter how you spin it, particularly for Death on the Nile, which cost $90 million to produce and whose predecessor, Murder on the Orient Express, opened with $28.7 million in 2017 en route to $352.8 million worldwide total.
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Marry Me, originally slated to open in February of 2021, is a little easier to stomach since it cost a cool $23 million, though a far cry from Lopez’s last outing, the 2019 Hustlers which accrued $150 million worldwide. Of course, the film also premiered simultaneously on Peacock, which obviously impacted its gross.
Jackass Forever, meanwhile, projects to drop -65% in its second weekend, putting it on par with Jackass 3D, which dipped -58% in its sophomore frame.
Otherwise, the Liam Neeson action thriller Blacklight opened to just $3.6 million from 2,772 locations, similar to the actor’s more recent titles — Honest Thief ($4.1 million) and The Marksman ($3.1 million) — while Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home earned another $7 million to bring its running total to $758.8 million, just $2 million shy of Avatar’s domestic total.
RELATED: Death on the Nile Review: An Enjoyable Whodunit
Next week sees the release of the anticipated video game adaptation Uncharted, starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, projected to score a $25 million+ 3-day opening.
BOX OFFICE DOMESTIC TOP 10
1.) Death on the Nile (Dis/20th) 3,280 theaters, Fri $5.1M/Sat $5.8M/Sun $1.9M/3-day $12.8M/Wk 1
2.) Jackass Forever (Par) 3,653 theaters (+8), Fri $2.87M (-70%)/Sat $3.97M/Sun $1.2M/3-day $8.05M (-65%)/Total: $37.4M/Wk 2
3.) Marry Me (Uni) 3,642, Fri $3M/Sat $3.6M/Sun $1.4M/3-day $8M/Wk 1
4.) Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony) 3,300 (-300) theaters, Fri $1.85M (-11%)/3-day $7M (-26%)/Total $758.8M/Wk 9
5.) Blacklight (Briar) 2,772 theaters Fri $1.22M/Sat $1.63M/Sun $745K/ 3-day $3.6M/Wk 1
6.) Sing 2 (Uni/Ill) 2,831 (-435) theaters, Fri $670K (-18%)/Sat $1.6M/Sun $650K/ 3-day $2.95M (-30%)/Total: $143.3M/Wk 8
7.) Moonfall (LG) 3,446 theaters Fri $812K (-76%)/3-day $2.85M (-71%)/Total: $15.1M/Wk 2
8.) Scream (Par) 2,619 (-651) theaters Fri $820K (-32%)/Sat $1.55M/Sun $465K/3-day $2.835M (-40%), Total: $73.1M/Wk 5
9.) Licorice Pizza (UAR) 1,977 (+1,191) theaters, Fri $298K (+79%)/Sat $463K/ Sun $162K/3-day $923K (+43%), Total $13.99M/Wk 12
10.) The King’s Man (Dis/20th) 900 (-1010) theaters Fri $123K/Sat $224K/Sun $86K/3-day $433K (-65%)/Total $36.7M/Wk 8
