Box Office Hits Rare Milestone as 4 Films Top $20 Million in Non-Holiday Weekend

For the first time in five years, four different films grossed over $20 million at the box office during a non-holiday weekend. Warner Bros.’ ”Elvis” edged out Paramount’s ”Top Gun: Maverick” for the top spot with $31.2 million, while Universal’s “Jurassic World: Dominion” ($26.6 million for the weekend) and “The Black Phone” ($23.6 million) also hit the mark.

The last time four films achieved that was in July 2017, Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” opened to $50.5 million while “Girls Trip,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “War for the Planet of the Apes” earned over $20 million in weekend holdovers.

For much of the past year, the COVID-era box office has been defined by a status quo where one, maybe two films make up the overwhelming majority of tickets sold on any given weekend. That appears to be changing.

Even the No. 5 film on the charts, Disney/Pixar’s “Lightyear,” showed restored box office health despite all signs pointing to it being a theatrical flop. With $18.2 million grossed in its second weekend, “Lightyear” posted the highest total for any film in the No. 5 slot since theaters reopened.

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Combined, these five films are attracting a wide range of moviegoers, whether it is Gen Zers for “The Black Phone,” Boomers for “Elvis,” families for “Lightyear,” or pretty much everyone for “Jurassic World: Dominion” and “Top Gun: Maverick.” Such diversity will allow movie theaters to rely on a higher baseline of audience turnout than they saw in 2021, increasing the revenue they can fall back on while waiting for a major film like Disney/Marvel’s upcoming “Thor: Love & Thunder” to jolt the charts with a $100 million-plus opening.

Beyond “Thor,” theaters should also get support from Universal’s ”Minions: The Rise of Gru,” a family film out this week that’s expected to do better than “Lightyear” with a $70 million-plus projected launch, and the Jordan Peele horror film “Nope,” which will try to match the $71 million opening of the filmmaker’s last film, “Us.”

As these films arrive and the films currently in theaters continue their runs, the ticket sales from these well-received titles should trickle down the charts and elevate box office numbers from last year’s totals even during a comparatively weaker August and September.

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