“Black Adam” is still at the top of the box office food chain. The Warner Bros. movie is trying to stay ahead of the new “One Piece Film: Red” and stay at the top of the domestic charts for the third week.
The DC movie made $4.7 million more on Friday. However, this is 37% less than it was made a week ago. Since it came out in October, “Black Adam” hasn’t had much major competition. So it should keep doing well and make more than $120 million in the United States. Unfortunately, this will be the last time the Dwayne Johnson movie is number one at the box office. Next weekend, Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” will have a vast opening.
“One Piece Film: Red” on Crunchyroll probably won’t get as many viewers as “Black Adam” to take the top spot on domestic charts, but it looks like it will come in second. The movie made about $4.8 million from previews on Friday and Thursday at 2,367 locations. “Red” also benefits from the higher ticket prices that come with playing in premium-format theaters like Imax and Dolby Cinemas across the country.
Estimates from the business world said that “One Piece Film: Red” would open in the upper single-digit millions, but the film’s debut could now go over $10 million. That would be another good showing at the box office for an anime movie this year. After “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” opened with $21 million in August and “Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie” opened with $18 million in March.
Comic influence on Black Adam
Theatrical success remains uncertain for almost any film without a comic book hero. Still, anime has become a reasonably reliable box office draw in North America, with franchises that have reliable enough fans to support solid, if often front-loaded, box office results. The people who went to see “One Piece Film: Red” liked it a lot. A research company called Cinema Score gave it an “A.”
In his review for Variety, chief film critic Peter Debruge says that the anime movie will be hard for people who haven’t seen the other movies in the series to understand, but fans will love it. “One Piece Film: Red” is the 15th movie in one of the world’s longest-running media franchises. Which also includes the original manga series, over 1,000 TV episodes, many video games, and even a trading card game. The feature is already the ninth-highest-grossing release in Japan’s box office history.
“Ticket to Paradise” from Universal looks like it will come in third. The romantic comedy will make $8 million in its third weekend, 18% less than what it made in its second weekend. The Julia Roberts-George Clooney movie was a hit in other countries, making $88 million. Now, that popularity is spreading to the U.S. This weekend; the movie should make more money at home, bringing its total to $46 million.
Subsequent releases
“Smile” is likely to come in fourth place. Even though Halloween has come and gone and the spooky season is over, Paramount’s horror movie is still going strong. This weekend, the movie should bring in another $98.9 million in North America. Putting it within inches of becoming the 15th domestic release in 2022 to make over $100 million.
The second movie from Lionsgate, “Prey for the Devil,” should round out the top five. The movie is expected to make $3.5 million this weekend, bringing its total in the United States to $13.26 million.
