Box Office: ‘Jungle Cruise’ Plunges 67% On Friday As ‘Black Widow’ Tops ‘F9’

Neon’s Pig will soon be Nicolas Cage’s biggest-grossing live-action star vehicle in well over six years.

In holdover news, Walt Disney’s Jungle Cruise earned $4.468 million (-67%) on its second Friday, setting the stage for a $14.6 million (-58%) second-weekend gross. That’ll give Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt’s $200 million (!!) adventure comedy a $64.4 million ten-day cume, meaning the $100 million mark is now in doubt. The hope after a small-ish $34 million debut (lower than hoped in pre-Covid times, but frankly on par with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Central Intelligence and Rampage) was that it would get legs on par with Raya and the Last Dragon ($55 million from an $8.5 million launch) or, more realistically, Cruella ($85 million from a $26.5 million Fri-Mon debut). Alas, like Black Widow, it’s playing like a “normal” theatrical release in terms of legs.

Speaking of which, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow passed F9 earlier this week to be the year’s biggest domestic earner. It grossed $1.176 million (-44%) on Friday for a likely $3.6 million (-45%) for a $174 million domestic cume. It may not pass the $204 million domestic cume of Bad Boys for Life (back in January of 2020), but it’s not performing that much worse now than it might have as a B-level MCU flick (think Thor: The Dark World or Ant-Man) opening in normal times. The overseas numbers, including thus far a lack of a China release, is where the real hurt is happening, and that’s as much about Covid as any other variables. If seemingly surefire flicks like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Thor: Love & Thunder pull similar grosses, then you can panic about the fate of the MCU.

M. Night Shyamalan’s Old earned another $1.2 million (-44%) on its third Friday for a likely $3.82 million (-44%) third weekend and $38.2 million 17-day total. It will probably end up with around $45 million domestic by the end, obviously very low for Shyamalan but still almost triple the $18 million budget even without so-far decent overseas numbers. For all the understandable handwringing about underperforming blockbusters, many of the horror films (Old, Forever Purge, Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, A Quiet Place part II) have performed either entirely up to par or good enough to justify their modest budgets. I mean, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions isn’t a smash ($22 million in 24 days), but it’s a $15 million flick that will get discovered in post-theatrical.

Focus Features’ Stillwater earned $770,000 (-59%) on its second Friday for a likely $2.4 million (-54%) weekend-gross and $9.54 million ten-day total. I like the film well enough, but Matt Damon has rarely been a butts-in-seats draw outside franchises (Bourne, Ocean’s, etc.) and super-buzzy commercial flicks like The Martian. David Lowery’s The Green Knight earned $720,000 (-75%) on Friday for a likely $2.31 million (-66%) second-weekend gross. That’s not a surprise, in terms of the film’s cult classic cachet and divisive word-of-mouth from folks who still don’t know what they’re getting from an A24 flick. Still, $11.9 million in ten days isn’t too bad for a true indie gem in these circumstances.

Space Jam: A New Legacy earned $670,000 (-50%) on Friday for a likely $2.13 million (-51%) fourth-weekend gross and $64.2 million 24-day cume. While it obviously took a hit from Covid, it was almost certain to struggle even under better circumstances. Snake Eyes: G.I Joe Origins ($430,000 on Friday, $1.46 million for the weekend and $25.9 million after 17 days) was always a terrible idea. Meanwhile, F9 earned $320,000 (-58%) in its seventh Friday for a likely $1.11 million (-58%) weekend gross for a $171 million cume. It’ll pass Hobbs & Shaw ($174 million) by the end, and it’s going to be the leggiest Fast & Furious sequel (not counting spin-offs) since 2 Fast 2 Furious in 2003.

Meanwhile, Boss Baby: Family Business will have $55 million tomorrow and The Forever Purge will have $43.7 million domestic on a $25 million budget as A Quiet Place part II flirts nears $160 million. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It will have $65 million domestic as its global cume ($195 million on a $39 million budget) is still enough to get The Conjuring Universe to $2 billion worldwide. Roadrunner will have $4.95 million tomorrow, or about what it might have earned in normal times. Nicolas Cage’s Pig will have $2.9 million domestic after 24 days. The film, which debuted on PVOD earlier this week, is both Cage’s best-reviewed movie and will soon be his biggest-grossing live-action star vehicle since Outcast ($5.1 million) in 2015.