What an amazing success “Project Hail Mary” has become. The film earned $7M on Friday and will have a $24M fourth weekend — that’s a very low 31% drop from the previous weekend.
The film will hit $255M+ domestic by Sunday evening. At this point, $300M is very likely. It’s currently at $450M worldwide, which means $600M is not out of the question. The film is reported to have a $200M budget.
Word of mouth has traveled fast on “Project Hail Mary,” spreading like wildfire, and that’s primarily why it’s doing so well. I called it “populist entertainment,” and that is truly what it is. Of course, Amazon/MGM want a ‘Hail Mary’ sequel (terrible idea), even though the film has a satisfying, complete ending that doesn’t warrant a continuation at all.
Meanwhile, some great news for A24: “The Drama” has legs. It grossed almost $3M on Friday and might, just might, hit $10M in its second weekend. That would be just a 33% drop from its opening. The budget was only $25M. The film’s global tally might hit $50M by Sunday.
That’s what you call exceeding expectations, especially since reviews for the film weren’t all-out raves — they were mostly good, but nothing that would indicate these kinds of legs. The plot twist and the sheer cringe nature of “The Drama” — watching this film with a packed audience is fun — seem to be what’s driving the buzz.
Meanwhile, topping the box office again will be “Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which I watched a few days ago with my five-year-old son. It was a damn-near unwatchable experience for me, but hey, at least he liked it. It grossed $17M on Friday and is expected to have a $67M weekend, which will take its domestic tally to $307M+ by Sunday.
Next week’s big wide release will be “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy,” which is currently tracking at around the $12M mark. There’s also A24’s “Mother Mary,” which might be a bomb for the studio — reviews depending for both of these films, since the embargo has yet to lift.