Box Office: ‘Mortal Kombat’ Nears $20M Overseas As ‘Nobody’ Nears $35M Global

In box office news that isn’t related to Godzilla Vs. Kong ($80.5 million domestic and $390 million worldwide), Warner Bros.’ next would-be theatrical savior (relatively speaking) continued its slow global roll. Mortal Kombat, an over/under $95 million R-rated adaptation of the popular and long-running video game series, earned another $5.7 million from 6,128 screens in 28 markets. That brings its global cume to $19.2 million, including $9.6 million in Russia. The James Wan-produced and Simon McQuoid-directed action fantasy opens in North America this Friday, and it damn-well better contain both babalities and friendships! Don’t save that gold for the sequel, give the fans what they want in the first movie!

Meanwhile, Sony’s Peter Rabbit: The Runaway earned another $2.4 million for a $14.7 million overseas cume in 611 screens in Australia and New Zealand. It dropped just 14% in Australia and has earned $13.5 million thus far. The James Cordon/Rose Byrne/Domhnall Gleeson sequel will open in the UK on May 21 and domestically on June 18 after hopping all around the release schedule over the last few months. The first (surprisingly good) Peter Rabbit earned $110 million domestic (from a $25 million debut) and $350 million global on a $50 million budget, so the presumably pricier sequel doesn’t have to match its predecessor to be a solid hit.

Universal’s Nobody dropped just 5% yesterday ($1.15 million) for a $2.52 million fourth weekend gross. This despite the film debuting on PVOD this weekend. With $19 million and counting, the buzzy and well-liked Bob Odenkirk action comedy will be Universal’s first live-action flick to pass $20 million since Dolittle and 1917 in January of 2020 (even Cats stalled out at $19.9 million). We’re looking at a $15 million-budgeted R-rated original that has grossed $34.5 million worldwide thus far, not counting whatever it eventually earns in PVOD and post-theatrical streams. Offhand, with good reviews and a likely post-theatrical fanbase, Nobody could be the first “new” theatrical franchise of the Covid era.

Screen Gems’ surprisingly good The Unholy (one of the better religious horror flicks of late) earned $2 million (-16%) in weekend three for a $9.5 million 17-day cume. That’s nothing worth writing home about, but it’s a $10 million flick that will almost certainly gain an Empty Man-level cult audience in its post-theatrical lifespan. Raya and the Last Dragon has grossed $37.6 million domestic while Warner Bros.’ Tom & Jerry has earned $42.5 million domestic and $100 million worldwide. That’s not exactly a jaw-dropper for the $80 million Chloe Grace Moretz/Michael Pena comedy, but it played exactly as it would have if the poorly-reviewed kid comedy “disappointed” in conventional times.

Meanwhile, Lionsgate’s Voyagers earned $790,000 (-43%) in weekend two for a $2.55 million ten-day cume. Lionsgate is only on the hook for distribution, but I still wish (even in pre-Covid times) that folks still went to the movies to see regular movies. Speaking of, Benedict Cumberbatch’s terrific Cold War spy thriller The Courier debuted on PVOD this weekend as it earned $395,000 (-10%) in weekend five for a $5.5 million domestic cume. DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age has earned $57 million domestic and $163.99 million worldwide on a $65 million cume. Couple that with around $100 million in PVOD/VOD revenue and you have yourself a solid hit.

Lionsgate’s Chaos Walking has earned $12.99 million domestic (while being available on PVOD for the last week or so), proving that star power doesn’t mean much. Audiences may love The Force Awakens and Spider-Man: Far from Home, but they couldn’t care less about seeing Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland outside of their marquee franchises. Liam Neeson’s The Marksman and Denzel Washington’s The Little Things have both passed $15 million domestic, for what that’s worth. In terms of Oscar contenders, only Universal’s News of the World ($12.65 million), Focus Features’ Promising Young Woman ($6.32 million) and Warner Bros.’ Judas and the Black Messiah ($5.36 million) have made anything resembling a theatrical impact.