NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The stylized action romp starring Brad Pitt, arrived with a $30.1 million opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, as the last big movie of Hollywood's summer recovery landed in theaters.
The 鈥淏ullet Train鈥� debut for Sony Pictures was solid but unspectacular for a movie that cost $90 million to make and was propelled by Pitt's substantial star power. Even if it holds well in coming weeks, movie theaters have no major studio releases on the horizon for the rest of August, and few sure things to look forward to in early fall.
While late summer is always a quiet period in theaters, it will be especially so this year 鈥� and likely to sap some of the momentum stirred by 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick,鈥� 鈥淛urassic World: Dominion," 鈥淢inions: The Rise of Gru鈥� and others. After a comeback season that pushed the box office close to pre-pandemic levels, it's about to get pretty quiet in cinemas.
鈥淚t's definitely going to be quieter, like the calm after the storm,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore. 鈥淏ut that doesn't mean there's not going to be great movies out there and perhaps the good will generated by some of those films might be enough to buoy the box office until we get into the blockbuster corridor with 鈥楤lack Panther: Wakanda Forever鈥� and 鈥楢vatar 2鈥� down the road. We have to expect that we're not going to be able to keep up the pace we had this summer.鈥�
As the last big summer movie to leave the station, 鈥淏ullet Train" hopes to keep riding for the coming weeks. That would be in line with the playbook of some other original, August-released summer movies like 鈥淔ree Guy" and 鈥淐razy Rich Asians." Directed by David Leitch ("Atomic Blonde," 鈥淒eadpool 2鈥�), 鈥淏ullet Train鈥� gathers a number of assassins (co-stars include Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry) together on a speeding train running from Tokyo to Kyoto.
As one of the few original would-be summer blockbusters without big-name intellectual property behind it, the R-rated 鈥淏ullet Train" might have come into the weekend with more momentum . With a low 54% fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, 鈥淏ullet Train鈥� was only slightly better received by audiences, who gave the film a B+ CinemaScore. The film added $32.4 million in overseas box office.
The weekend's other new wide release, 鈥淓aster Sunday,鈥� struggled to catch on. The Universal Pictures comedy, starring comic Jo Koy as an actor attending his family's Easter Sunday celebration, won praise for but drew even worse reviews than 鈥淏ullet Train.鈥� It opened with $5.3 million in ticket sales.
Instead, 鈥淏ullet Train鈥� was trailed by a number of holdovers, including Warner Bros.' 鈥淒C League of Pets." The animated release grossed $11.2 million in its second week of release.
Jordan Peele's 鈥淣ope," the Universal sci-fi horror release, continued to perform well, earning $8.5 million in its third weekend. With $98 million in tickets sold, 鈥淣ope鈥� will soon surpass $100 million at the domestic box office.
Taika Waititi's 鈥淭hor: Love and Thunder," for the Walt Disney Co., came in fourth with $7.6 million in its fifth weekend. It's now up to $316.1 million, making it the highest grossing Thor movie domestically. With $699 million globally, 鈥淟ove and Thunder鈥� is less likely to catch the $854 million worldwide haul of 2017's 鈥淭hor: Ragnarok."
In limited release, A24's 鈥淏odies Bodies Bodies鈥� launched on six screens in New York and Los Angeles with $226,525 in ticket sales, good for a per-screen average of $37,754. The horror comedy about rich 20-somethings at a remote house party, with a cast including Amandla Sternberg, Maria Bakalova and Pete Davidson, expands nationwide on Friday.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday.
1. "Bullet Train," $30.1 million.
2. 鈥淒C League of Super Pets,鈥� $11.2 million.
3. 鈥淣ope,鈥� $8.5 million.
4. 鈥淭hor: Love and Thunder,鈥� $7.6 million.
5. 鈥淢inions: The Rise of Gru,鈥� $7.1 million.
6. 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick,鈥� $7 million.
7. 鈥淲here the Crawdads Sing,鈥� $5.7 million.
8. 鈥淓aster Sunday,鈥� $5.3 million.
9. 鈥淓lvis,鈥� $4 million.
10. 鈥淭he Black Phone," $1.5 million.
___
Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
