This weekend’s top 10 starts with Superman from Warner Bros./DC and ends with Materialists from A24, a romantic comedy-drama from Celine Song now in week 5. In between is populated by big guns from Universal, Disney, Sony and Paramount from a Jurassic to a Mission: Impossible amid a promised renaissance of Hollywood tentpoles.
Materialists grossed $720k on 589 screens for an estimated three-day cume pushing $35.2 million — great staying power for a film that Deadline’s review called “sublime” starring Dakota Johnson as a high-end New York City matchmaker with Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal as former and new love interests.
Song burst on the scene in 2023 with her lauded, Oscar-nominated debut feature Past Lives, also from A24.
Meanwhile, the distributor’s Sorry, Baby, an acclaimed directorial debut by Eva Victor, continued to expand in week 3 adding 26 theaters for a total of 40. The gross is terrific at $230k with a cume pushing $600k. Victor also stars with Naomie Ackie and Lucas Hedges. It’s been a slow rollout and Sorry, Baby will continue to expand over the next few weeks and play through the summer.
Also new this weekend, IFC Films’ Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story opened at 470 locations to $130k as the distributor continues a focus on moderate releases that have become increasingly rare in the marketplace and with fare that it can shepherd successfully through a family of streaming services led by Shudder. Max and Rudy Van Helsing struggle under the overprotective rule of their father, Abraham, as they begin to uncover the violent truths behind his history with Dracula.
Sony Pictures Classics debuted Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight in limited release to an opening weekend of $35.4k on 4 screens. Written and directed by Embeth Davidtz based on Alexandra Fuller’s memoir of her childhood on a family farm in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) at the end of the Zimbabwean War for independence in 1980.
To A Land Unknown from Watermelon Pictures opened at three locations to $4.8k for a cumulative gross of $14.3k. The Cannes-premiering drama by Mahdi Fleifel expands to the top 25 markets and 30+ theaters next weekend. Sunday is tracking to be the best day of the three as stellar reviews, a grassroots marketing effort and organic push on social help build word of mouth.