Disney-Pixar blasted off at the box office for the first time since 2020’s Onward, hoping that brand recognition could drive their Toy Story spin-off to infinity and beyond, but sadly Lightyear was left in the wake of all-conquering dinosaurs and an F-18 pilot who refuses to lose altitude.
Lightyear was expected to soar to around $71M for the weekend, but found itself levelling off at $51M for the domestic frame. It also failed to ignite overseas, where it managed a middling $34.6M from 43 international markets. It’s difficult to know what to put the performance down to, and they aren’t terrible numbers by any stretch, but this is a $200M Pixar tentpole in a franchise where Toy Story 4 opened with $120M back in pre-pandemic era 2019.
Is it because audiences are happy to consume Pixar movies on Disney+ following the streaming debuts of Soul, Luca, and Turning Red, or was it the confusing premise of a Buzz Lightyear movie free of Tim Allen and the toys? Perhaps it was just the fact Lightyear was sandwiched between dinosaurs and 36-years in the making sequel which shows no sign of slowing up?
Jurassic World Dominion has its own franchise legacy to lean upon, so despite a drop of -59.6% for the weekend and a $58.7M sophomore frame, the monster mash still took its 10-day total to an Indominus sized $249.8M at the North American box-office. Combine that with its overseas tally of $372.4M and the Colin Trevorrow starring sequel has amassed a $622M total, which is impressive in the face of tough competition at a time when cinemagoing is improving, but is still in a state of flux.
While we’re on the subject of Jurassic Park and objects in the rear-view mirror being closer than you think, Top Gun: Maverick continued to astound this weekend, with the second highest 4th weekend gross for a movie after James Cameron’s Avatar. With a jaw-dropping decline of just -15.1%, the blockbuster of the year earned another $44M to soar to a domestic total of $466.2M. It is now the biggest grossing domestic film of 2022, and even Universal’s dinosaurs might find it difficult to reach those heights. Overseas Maverick flew by $400M with a further $39.7M. Still circling the globe with $885.2M worldwide, the 1 Billion mark feels like a case of when, not if.
Let us know which films you saw over the weekend, and what you think of these blockbuster performances by heading to our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
As always stats and statistics can be found over at BoxOfficeMojo.
