Box Office: ‘Karate Kid: Legends’ Opens with Disappointing $19M

UPDATE: It does look as though initial numbers given by Sony were wrong. The latest ‘Karate Kid’ had a horrible Sunday, only $5M in receipts, which means its opening weekend will be more like $19M.

“Karate Kid: Legends” punched its way to a disappointing $21M domestic debut this weekend — a few million shy of Sony’s projected $30M target going into Friday. The PG-13 martial arts sequel landed in third place, behind a pair of more dominant holdovers.

Audience response has been encouraging, with an A- CinemaScore, even as critics remained mixed (currently holding at 59% on Rotten Tomatoes). Still, turnout was mostly limited to longtime fans of the Karate Kid franchise, rather than breaking into a broader demographic. That said, with a relatively modest $45M budget, ‘Legends’ could maybe break even.

The 2010 reboot with Jackie Chan opened to $55M and ultimately brought in $359M globally. This time around, Chan returns alongside original star Ralph Macchio. Yet, the magic in luring back that same audience from 15 years ago has severely fallen short.

Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” remake easily held onto the top spot for a second weekend, pulling in another $63M from — a 57% drop from its massive $146 million opening. That brings its domestic total to $280M and a global haul of $610M.

Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” held on in second place with $27.3M, also dropping 57% from its Memorial Day launch. With $122.6M domestic and $353.8M worldwide, the numbers are decent — but they come with a hefty caveat: this is one of the most expensive films ever made, with a $400 million price tag.

A24’s latest genre entry, “Bring Her Back,” landed in fifth place with a $7M start. Not bad, especially for a $15M production. Critics and audiences alike have embraced the Philippou brothers’ follow-up to “Talk to Me,” which became a breakout hit in 2022. While it didn’t quite match that film’s $10M opening, positive word-of-mouth could help it stick around.

Meanwhile, Wes Anderson’s latest, “The Phoenician Scheme,” opened quietly but impressively in limited release — pulling $570,000 from just six screens, giving it a $95,000 per-theater average. That makes it the best screen average of 2025 so far, topping A24’s Friendship. Focus Features will expand Scheme to 1,500 theaters next weekend.