Haunted Mansion Fails to Scare ‘Barbie’ & ‘Oppenheimer’ at Box Office: $9.9M Opening

After the two powerful blockbusters, Disney’s brand-new “Haunted Mansion” must settle for third place. On its first day, the remake brought in $9.9 million from 3,740 theaters, which included $3.1 million from Thursday previews.

The kid-friendly funhouse film anticipated an opening between $25 million and $30 million; however, several competitors believe the opening will fall short of that estimate.

“Haunted Mansion” has a $150 million production budget, yet it’s already shaping up to be another letdown for Disney’s summer lineup. Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which debuted in May and earned $358 million in North America, got things off to a solid start. But when “The Little Mermaid” failed to make much of an impact abroad, the studio released “Elemental” and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” two expensive flops.

There’s no denying that many family viewers have continued to watch “Barbie.” The movie “Haunted Mansion” only received a dismal 27% approval rating from leading reviewers on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. The Disney remake could need more feeling than that, even though audiences are friendlier with a “B+” score from research company Cinema Score.

The same-named attraction at Disneyland inspired Justin Simien’s movie “Haunted Mansion.” Simien previously gained attention for his work on “Dear White People” and the horror parody “Bad Hair.”

In 2003, the attraction gave rise to a movie starring Eddie Murphy that made $180 million worldwide on a $90 million production budget. LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Dan Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jared Leto are notable cast members of this new film.

Haunted Mansion Official Trailer

A24 is also releasing its most recent horror play, “Talk to Me,” in 2,340 venues this weekend. After a buzzy Sundance Film Festival premiere, the independent label purchased the Australian ghost story. The movie is anticipated to debut in sixth place with a respectable $10.1 million in revenue, thanks to some favorable reviews.

With a commanding $29 million on Friday, “Barbie” will maintain its dominance in its second weekend of release. That is a 59% decline from its enormous $70.5 opening day, the biggest of the year. The Warner Bros. film gained 94 more places for its second appearance, bringing the total to 4,337.

It’s astonishing that “Barbie,” which had an opening weekend gross of more than $150 million, is forecasting a decrease of less than 50%. Most blockbusters with that early effect see a steeper decline in their second outings. Everything points to the incredible two-pronged attack that drove the Greta Gerwig-directed film: omnipresent build-up promotion and the idea of excellence that delivered.

This weekend, the hot-pink fantasy will surpass $350 million domestically, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing North American film of the year after only ten days. With only “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($574 million) still ahead of it on the 2023 charts, it will certainly surpass “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” ($377 million) and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” ($358 million) in the upcoming week.

Keeping its second spot, Universal’s “Oppenheimer” is forecast to earn $46 million from 3,647 screens. That would result in an astonishing 44% decline from its opening and be sufficient to make it the fifth-biggest sophomore performance for an R-rated film.

If the Christopher Nolan film hadn’t performed well all week, it would likely have secured an even stronger hold. The movie “Oppenheimer” made history on Thursday by becoming the first R-rated film to sell more than $10 million in tickets seven days in a row.

The movie’s Imax performance has a significant impact on that. Consumers are driven to set aside time throughout the week to secure a ticket for one of those premium large formats because they feel a Nolan film requires a big screen.

After ten days of distribution, “Oppenheimer” should increase its domestic total to $173 million by Sunday, making it the eighth-highest-grossing North American release of the year. It has already surpassed all other non-IP productions for the year.

With competitors predicting a further decline (-31%) this weekend and $13 million in revenue for three days, “Sound of Freedom” appears to be in fourth place. After Disney acquired Fox, Angel Studios bought the movie from 20th Century Studios, a great investment.

According to Rolling Stone, “Sound of Freedom” is a “QAnon-tinged thriller” that appeals to “the conscience of a conspiracy-addled boomer.” However, controversy has likely increased interest in the movie since conservative and Christian media organizations support it.

This weekend’s domestic box office is expected to approach $150 million, so a finish above $200 million and a spot among the top 10 best earners of the year appear plausible. Angel Studios has implemented a unique “Pay It Forward” mechanism that enables donors to contribute funds to the distribution banner for the studio to buy tickets for its film and distribute them gratis.

The firm promotes the project to increase public awareness of child trafficking. No matter how many admissions are used, the exhibitors still get money from them.

“Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One” rounds out the top five and is enjoying a slower decline in its third weekend, down 44% from its sophomore showing. The Tom Cruise action sequel saw a steeper decline than anticipated last week, dropping by 64.6%. It is not a promising scenario for a series often with successful box-office performances.

Through Sunday, the Paramount release will have made $139 million, which is still less than its predecessor “Fallout” made over the same period ($161 million). “Dead Reckoning,” which had a production budget of less than $300 million, was given a difficult situation at the box office, competing for audiences with “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer,” and even “Sound of Freedom.” Source