“Flight Risk,” an action thriller directed by Mel Gibson and starring Mark Wahlberg as a balding, unhinged pilot, landed in first place with $12 million from 3,161 North American theaters in its opening weekend.
It’s the second consecutive Lionsgate release, following “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera,” to debut at No. 1 as the studio takes advantage of January’s otherwise desolate box office landscape. Case in point: Second place went to Disney’s “Mufasa” which opened six weeks ago. The “Lion King” prequel added an additional $8.7 million from 3,420 cinemas, bringing its tally to $221 million in North America and $626.7 million globally.
“Flight Risk” brought in another $4.2 million from 39 international territories over the weekend, boosting its worldwide haul to $16.2 million. The film cost $25 million, so it’ll need to keep flying during its theatrical run. That could be challenging because critics and audiences lambasted the film, which holds a dismal 21% average on Rotten Tomatoes and a lousy “C” grade on CinemaScore. This marks the first directorial effort from Gibson, whose career was derailed by several off-screen controversies, since 2016’s Oscar-nominated “Hacksaw Ridge.” Wahlberg and Gibson recently collaborated on 2022’s “Father Stu,” a faith-based drama directed and self-funded by the “Ted” star.
“Moviegoers are showing up, but they’re not impressed with the movie,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research.
Popular on Variety
Another newcomer, Steven Soderbergh’s ghost thriller “Presence,” stumbled in sixth place with $3.4 million from 1,750 cinemas. The low-budget film, which Neon bought at last year’s Sundance, was better liked by critics (87% on Rotten Tomatoes) than audiences (“C+” grade on CinemaScore). Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan star in “Presence,” told from the perspective of the supernatural entity that’s haunting their new home.
A third new nationwide release, inspirational drama “Brave the Dark,” wasn’t able to crack the top 10. The latest release from “Sound of Freedom” distributor Angel Studios opened at No. 11 with a paltry $2.4 million from 2,230 locations. Moviegoers awarded an “A” grade on CinemaScore for the film, which follows a high school teacher’s efforts to help a troubled student.
“With positive word-of-mouth, inspirational dramas tend to hang around in subsequent weeks,” says Gross. “It’s an uplifting, feel-good story and audiences like it.”
So far, the overall box office is improving on 2024 with ticket sales up 10.9% from the same point a year ago, according to Comscore. After the pandemic and two union strikes wreaked havoc on the box office, Hollywood is looking to 2025 for a rebound in fortunes. The winter doldrums are expected to pick up with Marvel’s “Captain America: Brave New World” on Feb 14, followed by Disney’s “Snow White” on March 21 and “Minecraft” on April 4.
“[It was] another rather quiet weekend overall,” said senior Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “That said, help is on the way with an upcoming slate that boasts ‘Captain America: Brave New World,’ ‘Mission: Impossible,’ ‘Minecraft’ and ‘Jurassic World.’”
Sony’s R-rated buddy comedy “One of Them Days” slid to third place with $8 million from 2,675 locations, marking a scant 32% decline from its opening. The film, starring Keke Palmer and SZA, is benefitting from positive word-of-mouth and has generated $25 million after two weekends of release.
Meanwhile, Universal and Blumhouse’s horror thriller “Wolf Man,” which also opened last weekend, tumbled to No. 7 with $3.4 million from 3,354 cinemas. Ticket sales cratered by 69% from the film’s already soft start, bringing its domestic total to $17.8 million. “Wolf Man” isn’t making up ground overseas, where the $25 million-budgeted movie added $3.5 million from 75 markets for a global tally of $27 million.
Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3″ remained fourth with $5.5 million in its sixth outing. The kid-friendly threequel has grossed $226 million in North America and $446 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing entry in of the series, above 2020’s “Sonic” ($319 million) and the 2022 sequel “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” ($405 million).
Disney’s “Moana 2” rounded out the top five with $4.1 million, boosting its tally to $448 million after nine weeks on the big screen. The animated sequel, which was originally developed as a Disney+ series, has surpassed $1 billion in global ticket sales.