The Bad Guys kept its spot at No. 1 at the box office in its second weekend, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 maintained a firm grip on second place after four weeks. While family films continued to see success from April 29-May 1, it was a relatively slow weekend, with little movement in the domestic box office rankings ahead of next week’s release of the Marvel Studios blockbuster Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Martin Campbell's Memory starring Liam Neeson was the lone new release to crack its way into the Top 10.
Let’s take a look at the full Top 10, plus some analysis of how it all shook out below:
| TITLE | WEEKEND GROSS | DOMESTIC GROSS | LW | THTRS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. The Bad Guys | $16,100,000 | $44,444,400 | 1 | 4,042 |
| 2. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | $11,350,940 | $160,926,450 | 2 | 3,801 |
| 3. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore | $8,300,000 | $79,552,588 | 3 | 3,962 |
| 4. The Northman | $6,310,000 | $22,806,350 | 4 | 3,284 |
| 5. Everything Everywhere All At Once | $5,542,515 | $35,492,178 | 6 | 2,213 |
| 6. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent | $3,925,000 | $13,504,358 | 5 | 3,036 |
| 7. The Lost City | $3,900,088 | $90,785,000 | 7 | 2,595 |
| 8. Memory* | $3,100,000 | $3,100,000 | Row 7 - Cell 3 | 2,555 |
| 9. Father Stu | $2,210,000 | $17,553,965 | 8 | 2,476 |
| 10. Morbius | $1,500,000 | $71,457,347 | 9 | 1,726 |
The Bad Guys And Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Make Impressive Weekend Showings
Parents accompanying their children to the theaters this weekend meant good news for Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures. The Bad Guys, which stars Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Awkwafina and Anthony Ramos as the titular protagonists, made an impressive $16.1 million in its second weekend, dropping just 33% from its opening week, according to The Numbers.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2, meanwhile, had a better-than-expected fourth weekend. Not only did the video game movie sequel maintain a firm grasp on the No. 2 spot on the weekend domestic chart, but its $323 million worldwide gross earnings officially put it ahead of the first installment, which earned $304.9 million internationally.
These two movies may prove to have a long life at the box office, as there are no other G or PG-rated movies on the horizon. Both Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (out May 6) and Jurassic World: Dominion (June 10) are rated PG-13, and there are rumblings that Lightyear (June 17) could be Pixar's first PG-13-rated movie.
Word-of-mouth advertising is almost certainly playing a hand in the family-friendly movies' success, as The Bad Guys has a 93% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 garnering 96% positive reactions from the audience.
Fantastic Beasts 3 Continues To Fall, As The Northman And The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent Score Average Week 2 Numbers
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore continues its disappointing but, not unexpected, decline. While it held firm in the No. 3 spot and topped $300 million internationally, per Forbes, it dropped another 41% week over week, garnering only $8.3 million for Warner Bros. for a domestic total of $79.6 million after three weeks. It appears the film is going to struggle to reach $100 million domestically, which is really bad news, as Fantastic Beasts 3 had a $200 million budget to clear. Its predecessor, The Crimes of Grindelwald, in comparison, made $651.3 million worldwide back in 2018.
The Northman stayed at No. 4 in its sophomore week, pulling in another $6.3 million this weekend for a $22.8 million 10-day domestic gross. Nicholas Cage's critically acclaimed The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent dropped a spot to No. 6 but added $3.9 million to its opening weekend sum for a two-weekend domestic total of $13.5 million. The movies' earnings fell 49% and 45%, respectively, which is what you generally expect to see in a Week 2 drop.
Memory On Par With Liam Neeson's Previous Open Road Releases
The lone movie mixing up the charts this week was Martin Campbell's Memory, which debuted at No. 8 in the domestic rankings. While that might be a little lower than Open Road Films hoped for, its $3.1 million is on par with the studio's other Liam Neeson-led movies, 2020's Honest Thief ($4.1 million) and last year's The Marksman ($3.1 million).
Critics were largely unimpressed with Memory, but this might be a case in which audience opinion could result in more earnings in the weeks to come. While 68 critics on Rotten Tomatoes have rated the film 31%, the audience reaction is much higher at 80% (with more than 100 ratings). Word-of-mouth advertising could cause an uptick in moviegoers who were put off by the critical reception — that is unless every single film patron next week is spending their money elsewhere...
Get Ready For Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness
We already know how next week's box office is going to go down, and it's going to be all about the MCU. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to kick off the summer movie season Friday, May 6, and it's already setting box office records. During the first 24 hours of Multiverse of Madness ticket presales, Fandango sold more tickets for the upcoming Marvel movie than any other 2022 movie so far and the most since Spider-Man: No Way Home tickets went on sale back on November 29, 2021.
The Sam Raimi-directed blockbuster is expected bring in around $200 million on opening weekend, four months after Sony Pictures' No Way Home scored the second biggest domestic opening of all-time with $260.1 million. The first Strange movie, released in 2016, brought in $85 million domestically in its opening weekend.
Come back next week to see just how big of an opening Benedict Cumberbatch's MCU blockbuster will have, as well as how the family-friendly films continue to fare. You've still got some time to do your homework, so be sure to check out the movies and shows to watch ahead of the Doctor Strange sequel. You can also check out what else is coming to theaters this summer on our 2022 Movie Release Schedule.
