Dungeons & Dragons Dethrones John Wick

March is over. None of its sequels lasted more than a week at No. 1 due to competition, and the franchise’s latest effort will likely suffer the same fate next week as a new video game adaptation takes over. However, Mars produced three $100+ million grosses, two of which are over $150 million and one that is still going for $200 million. Will a fourth join them? The new Dungeons & Dragons movie certainly has its supporters from fans and critics alike, but its opening numbers likely won’t impress those making the dough for it.

King of the Harvest: D&D: Honor Among Thieves dethrones John Wick

So what are we to make of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ $38.5 million weekend? Numbers crunchers were excited Friday morning when some reported a $5.6 million profit in Thursday previews. These would have been the best Thursday numbers of the year. Alas, those reports buried only $1.5 million of that from earlier projections. Thus, potential estimates for a big weekend were knocked down. Still, those are better numbers than Shazam! Fury of the Gods, right? Well, yes and no.

Yes, $38.5 million is a higher number than the $30 million that the DC dud limped out of the gate with (and certainly higher than the $33.9 million that 2000’s effort at the franchise did – and that’s globally) . On the other hand, an extra $8.5 million isn’t much to write home about when your movie costs anywhere from $26-41 million more than what’s already poised to be one of the biggest bombs of 2023. All your credit fans now spread by word of mouth, especially overseas where this film really needs to be preserved.

The numbers this weekend put Honor Among Thieves behind the company of three late March releases — Ready Player One ($41.7 million opening), GI Joe: Retaliation ($40.5 million) and 2017’s Power Rangers ($40.3 million). The latter looms large when measuring the franchise’s failures, as it barely doubled its opening weekend to an $85.3 million gross. Spielberg’s film and the GI Joe sequel earned $137.6 million and $122.5 million, respectively. They also had strong international hauls of $445.2 million and $253.2 million. However, with their budgets of $175 million and $130 million, they were still generally considered disappointments. Somewhere in there are the numbers that the $151 million budget D&D needs to turn a theatrical profit; so far, it has earned just $71.5 million worldwide.

Top 10 and beyond: John Wick: Chapter 4 and Scream VI set looks at franchise highlights

John Wick: Chapter 4 fell 61.8% in its second weekend to $28.2 million; this is slightly more than Chapter 3’s $24.5 million over the second frame. Currently, the fourth chapter is at $122.8 million and about $21 million more than its predecessor’s pace. Chapter 3 ultimately finished with $171 million, putting the new film on a very tight path to $200 million. If it wants to keep moving ahead of the pace of the last film, it will need to earn at least around $15 million next week. Chapter 4 now owns the 12th-best 10-day total for a film released in March, but is also behind Jordan Peele’s “Us,” which had a second outing of $33.2 million and $127.8 million dollars after 10 days to finish with $175 million. We got further away in the third weekend, so if the word of mouth is there, Wick could push further, but right now it looks like it’ll land somewhere between $180-195 million. Meanwhile, it’s over $245 million worldwide.

Creed III earned another $5 million in its fifth weekend, bringing its total to $148.5 million (and over $255 million worldwide). The film is still coming off the pace of Kong: Skull Island, but it could claw its way to just over $160 million. Scream VI is just shy of the $100 million mark, which it will cross this week and eventually reach between $105-110 million to make it the highest-grossing film in the franchise. With $143 million worldwide, it still needs another $30 million to top the global gross of the 1996 original.

In third place this week is a release from faith-based Angel Studios called His Only Son, about the story of Abraham being called to sacrifice his son, Isaac. $5.5 million went to the collection plate a week before Easter. This beat Zachary Levi to Shazam! Fury of the Gods in third weekend alone; earned $4.6 million, bringing its total to $53.4 million. Another DC Zach — Snyder, that is — debuted in 2004 with his Dawn of the Dead remake, which had a $4.5 million third weekend. It had $51.7 million in the bank after 17 days and finished with $59 million, suggesting Fury of the Gods will hit just over $60 million and join the $100+ million losers club. That and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , up $1.2 million in its seventh week, are the year’s two biggest money losers, though they could be joined by Dungeons & Dragons if its international sales don’t pick up.

Rounding out the top 10, Jesus Revolution ended its sixth weekend taking in over $50 million, Sony’s 65 sci-fi disappointment managed to cross the $30 million mark, and Focus’ Sundance winner A Thousand and One won $1.8 million in 926 theaters. Then, outside the top 10, Zach Braff’s A Good Person with Florence Pugh expanded to 687 theaters from just 157 a week ago and earned $510,210. It earned $1.7 million in 10 days of release. Braff’s crowd-funded Sundance effort Wish I Was Here earned $3.59 million in 56 days of release in 2014.

On the Vine: Super Mario Bros. Movie Hopes to Destroy the Box Office

The movie that set Twitter alight with its voiceover is set to light up the upcoming box office when The Super Mario Bros. Movie becomes the first family-oriented film to hit theaters since Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. Universal is currently doing God’s work for families, especially during the upcoming holiday season. Meanwhile, adults will get their chance to go out and see Ben Affleck’s Air , which is up to 98% on the Tomatometer; Amazon hopes to have their biggest release to date. Speaking of flying, Dennis Quaid and Heather Graham take to the skies and hope to land safely when their pilot dies in UA Releasing’s On a Wing and a Prayer. The film comes from the director of Soul Surfer and Bratz: The Movie.

Complete List of Box Office Results: March 31 – April 2, 2023

91% Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

$37.2 million ($37.2 million total)

95% John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

$28.2 million ($122.9 million total)

83% His Only Son (2023)

$5.5 million ($5.5 million total)

77% Scream VI (2023)

$5.3 million ($98.3 million total)

89% Creed III (2023)

$5 million ($148.6 million total)

51% Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)

$4.6 million ($53.5 million total)

96% One Thousand and One (2023)

$1.8 million ($1.8 million total)

35% 65 (2023)

$1.58 million ($30.6 million total)

47% Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

$1.2 million ($212 million total)

62% Jesus Revolution (2023)

$1 million ($50.9 million total)

Erik Childress can be heard weekly reviewing tickets on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast.

[box office figures via Box Office Mojo]

Thumbnail image by ©Paramount Pictures

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