Baz Luhrmann’s musical biopic, ‘Elvis’ starring Austin Butler, has won the theatrical throne just ahead of Tom Cruise’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick’. Making just over a million more than the war movie sequel, ‘Elvis’ enjoyed what will prove its only weekend at number one. Next weekend the animated film ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ will surely make ‘Elvis’ drop down the charts.
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ dropped 33% while at the same time rising into second place ahead of ‘Jurassic World Dominion’. The dinosaur franchise fell 55% into third after holding the top spot for the last two weekends.
Last weekend’s animated debut, ‘Lightyear’, may have well dropped into a black hole. The gravity of 64% pulled the Pixar film into fifth behind this weekend’s horror film debut ‘The Black Phone’. Directed by Scott Derrickson, the horror fantasy flick ‘The Black Phone’ stars Ethan Hawke.
As stated before, ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ will dominate the Fourth of July weekend starting next Friday. A week later will see Marvel dominance rise again as Chris Hemsworth returns in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’. It may stay mighty at the box office for the remainder of July unless Jordan Peele’s sci-fi horror ‘Nope’ makes audiences get out July 22.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE TOP 5 (June 24 – 26, 2022)
- ‘Elvis’ – $31.2 million – biopic (debut)
- ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ – $29.6 million – war (drop $14.4 million, 33% down)
- ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ – $26.7 million – sci-fi (drop $32 million, 55% down)
- ‘The Black Phone’ – $23.6 million – horror (debut)
- ‘Lightyear’ – $18.2 million – animated (drop $32.8 million, 64% down)
Total for the Weekend Box Office Top 5 comes to $129.3 million. This is a drop of $29.7 million, for a 19% decline from last weekend’s total of $159 million.
Regardless of how ‘Elvis’ continues to do at theaters, look for Austin Butler to be the current frontrunner for the Best Actor Oscar this year. Of course, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ continues to lead with speed towards the Best Picture award.