Back in 2017, The Mummy was supposed to launch Universal’s monster-centric “Dark Universe”, but instead it opened way below expectations and garnered critical scorn. Technically, while it eventually became a success thanks to over $400 million earned worldwide, very little of that money came from domestic earnings. Some studios would have taken that as cause to forge ahead, but Universal decided to scrap their plans entirely and instead give their movie monsters standalone modern efforts. And now that gamble has paid off handsomely.
Director Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man opened this weekend past by exceeding expectations with a top spot opening of $29 million. You may be confused by how that debut could be celebrated seeing as The Mummy even managed a $34 million opening, but there are two major differences between the two: 1) The Invisible Man only cost $7 million to make as opposed to The Mummy’s $125 million, and – most importantly – it’s actually good. Damn good. Critics and audiences have both embraced Whannell’s very prescient take on the classic franchise, with early awards buzz already starting for Elisabeth Moss’ lead performance. There’s even talk of how Whannell could make a sequel. With another $20.2 million coming from international markets, it’s not surprising as it means that The Invisible Man is already wildly profitable and will only get better as the strong positive hype builds.
With last week’s top two, Sonic the Hedgehog and Call of the Wild, both being pushed down one respective slot by The Invisible Man, we find our next newcomer in fourth place. And it’s quite a surprise. My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising is the latest feature film spinoff for the popular My Hero Academia anime, and while these sorts of films rarely ever make blip, that changed this weekend past. After an early Wednesday opening, it earned $5.1 million in the US to give it a domestic total of $8.5 million. To put that into perspective, the previous My Hero Academia movie earned just over $5 million for its entire theatrical run. This gives anime studio FUNimation its second-biggest ever behind last year’s surprise hit, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, which earned an unexpected $30.7 million.
The last noteworthy entry on the charts is down in seventh place, as Impractical Jokers: The Movie expanded its cinema count after debuting outside the top ten last weekend. The feature film version of the reality TV prank show earned an extra $3.5 million to nearly double its domestic earnings. With very limited appeal though, don’t expect to see this one back on the charts next week.
Also, it has to be mentioned that after a whopping 11 straight weeks in the top 10, Jumanji: The Next Level has finally fallen out of the top rankings. The Dwayne Johnson-led adventure film has earned $313 million domestically and is sitting on an incredibly impressive $790 million global total.
Let’s see what the rest of the US box office chart looks like:
| No. | Movie Name | Weekend gross | Percentage change | US Domestic gross | Worldwide gross | Last Week's Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Invisible Man | $29 million | NE | $29 million | $49.2 million | NE |
| 2 | Sonic the Hedgehog | $16 million | -39% | $128.2 million | $265.4 million | 1st |
| 3 | Call of the Wild | $13.2 million | -46% | $45.8 million | $79.2 million | 2nd |
| 4 | My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising | $5.1 million | NE | $8.5 million | $23.5 million | NE |
| 5 | Bad Boys for Life | $4.3 million | -26% | $197.3 million | $405.3 million | 4th |
| 6 | Birds of Prey | $4.1 million | -40% | $78.7 million | $188.3 million | 3rd |
| 7 | Impractical Jokers: The Movie | $3.5 million | +36% | $6.6 million | $6.6 million | 11th |
| 8 | 1917 | $2.6 million | -36% | $155.8 million | $362.3 million | 7th |
| 9 | Brahms: The Boy II | $2.6 million | -55% | $9.7 million | $16.1 million | 5th |
| 10 | Fantasy Island | $2.3 million | -45% | $24 million | $40.4 million | 6th |
NE = New Entry
Last Updated: March 2, 2020
