'Bullet Train' Repeats No. 1, 'Top Gun' Returns to No. 2 as Box Office Nearly Halts

Is everyone on vacation?

This would be a plausible explanation behind the big box office downturn; overall ticket sales hit $66.4 million, according to Comscore, the lowest collective result in months. Although three new films were released on a large scale, none managed to break into the top five of the national charts and only two - A24's satirical slasher "Bodies Bodies Bodies" and the dizzying low-budget thriller " Fall" from Lionsgate - managed to infiltrate the top 10.

That's even more disastrous than Sony's action-thriller "Bullet Train," which took No. 1 for the second weekend in a row with $13.1 million from 4,357 North American sites , the only film to earn at least $10 million in ticket sales. After two weeks on the big screen, the Brad Pitt-directed "Bullet Train" has grossed $54.4 million at the domestic box office. This weekend marks the first time since February 11-13 – when 'Death on the Nile' opened to $12.3 million and Jennifer Lopez's rom-com 'Marry Me' stumbled with even less – that only one movie reached at least $10 million between Friday and Sunday.

And the glacial drip, drip, drip in ticket sales will only get worse as the box office heads into an almost desolate time with hardly any new offerings from major studios in the pipeline. 'horizon. As movie theater owners brace for the downward trend, they bow to the altar of Harry Styles in hopes the pop idol will inspire audiences to return to theaters in droves to director Olivia Wilde's mind-blowing flick, "Don't Worry Darling," which doesn't open until September 23. Until then, exhibitors will have to make do with smaller thrillers and dramas like Idris Elba's "Beast," which hits theaters Aug. 19; “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” a fantasy romance with Tilda Swinton and Elba (again) on August 26; and the Viola Davis-directed historical epic "The Woman King" on September 16.

David A. Gross, who runs film consultancy Franchise Entertainment Research, says there's still reason to be optimistic despite the scarcity of blockbusters.

"The benefit of the tight schedule is that movies are opening on and taking up more screens than before, and they're playing longer at bigger national multiples," he says. “There is more room in the market and every film benefits from it. But there's no doubt," he adds, "the total box office would be bigger with more studio releases."

In eighth place, "Bodies Bodies Bodies" got the best start among newcomers and exceeded expectations with $3.2 million from 1,290 locations. After debuting last weekend in limited release, the film has grossed $3.5 million so far and plans to expand to over 2,000 theaters next weekend. But otherwise, audiences didn't want much to do with "Fall" and Diane Keaton's body-swapping comedy "Mack & Rita," the other movie that debuted over the weekend. p>

“Fall” just landed in 10th place with $2.5 million from 1,548 theaters. The film, centering on two best friends who climb 2,000 feet to the top of an abandoned radio tower and find themselves stranded with no way out, was relatively low risk for Lionsgate as it cost just $3 million to produce and less. $4 million to promote. . It won't take a lot of change to make a profit; home entertainment will be useful in this mission.

Meanwhile, the sci-fi classic "E.T." by Steven Spielberg - which debuted 40 years ago - made more money over the weekend than Keaton's "Mack and Rita." The Gravitas Ventures release premiered at #13 with $1.03 million from 1,930 screens. Universal's reissue of "E.T." raked in $1.07 million from just 389 Imax screens.

As expected, “Mack and Rita” featured mostly older women, with 74% of ticket buyers identifying as female and 69% being over 30. They disliked the film, which earned a "D+" CinemaScore. Reviews were just as harsh, resulting in a gloomy score of 26% on Rotten Tomatoes.

With the dismal turnout for most other films, Paramount's ever-powerful blockbuster "Top Gun: Maverick" surged to No. 2 in its 12th weekend of release. The action sequel continues to do unprecedented business, adding $7.1 million across 3,181 sites over the weekend and bringing its domestic total to $673.8 million. This means "Maverick" is about $5 million away from dethroning Marvel's "Avengers: Infinity War" as the sixth highest-grossing film in domestic box office history.

Elsewhere on the domestic box office charts, remaining titles "DC League of Super-Pets," Jordan Peele's UFO thriller "Nope," and Disney's "Thor: Love and Thunder" occupied slots three to five.