Argylle Takes the Lead

Taking the top slot in its debut weekend is the Universal Pictures/Apple’s Original Films co-production Argylle, with an estimated $18 million haul on 3,605 domestic screens, including $1.7 million from Thursday previews. This is on the higher end of early estimates that ranged between a $15 and $20 million start for the $200 million Matthew Vaughn movie. 

Demographics showed a slight male preference (52% of the audience), and with an older-skewing cast (Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Henry Cavill) there was a commensurate audience of 76% over the age of 25. Despite a PG-13 rating, only 5% of ticket buyers fell in the 13-17 age range, with over half (51%) attributed to over 35’s. Exit polling suggests the film failed to connect with audiences over its opening weekend, reporting a lackluster C+ CinemaScore.

Here’s where Argylle fell demographically:

Caucasian: 53%, Hispanic: 19%, African American: 12%, Asian: 10%, Other: 7%

Ages 13-17: 5% | Ages 18-24: 19% | Ages 25-34: 25% | Ages 35-44: 16% | Ages 45-54: 16% | Ages 55+: 19%

Compare this performance to director Vaughn’s two hard R-rated Kingsman movies: 2015’s Kingsman: The Secret Service launched with $36.2 million in a similar February frame, while 2017’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle took in $39 million during its debut weekend that September. Argylle is performing significantly higher than Vaughn’s Kingsman prequel The King’s Man, which opened at a dismal $5.9 million and only brought in $37 million domestically and $121 million worldwide during its entire late 2021 COVID-era run. 

Though Argylle‘s domestic opening is below previous recent big budget Apple releases (Killers of the Flower Moon at $23 million and Napoleon at $20.6 million), the theatrical bow is cross-promotional for Apple’s streaming service. Those other two films debuted on Apple TV+ roughly six-weeks after theatrical launch, so Argylle will likely hit the service in mid-March. 

Both Kingsman spy films earned the boatload of their $400 million+ totalscumes overseas, at 68.9% and 75.6%, respectively. Argylle‘s international opening weekend take was evenly matched to domestic at $17.3 million, with the UK and Ireland the top markets at $2.6 million for a #2 debut, similar to Bullet Train and The Lost City‘s performance. In Australia, France, and Mexico it opened at #1, posting numbers in line with 2017’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard in the $1.5 million range. 

The current global take for Argylle in 78 markets stands at $35.3 million on 13,000+ screens in 9,200+ locations, $3 million of which came from IMAX screens ($1.7 on 403 domestic screens, $1.3 on 345 internationals). This performance is above previous Henry Cavill spy flick The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Guy Ritchie’s action crime movie The Gentlemen.

The Chosen: S4 Episodes 1-3 Rises to Second Place

The biggest surprise on the movie charts this weekend was not even a movie, but Fathom Events’ screening of the first three episodes of The Chosen‘s fourth season, which came in at $6,035,823 for second place. This does not include $1,433,216 in Thursday previews for the faith-based show. This limited engagement event, scheduled to play through February 14, was screened at over 2,300 locations; the largest-ever reported footprint for a Fathom release. 

The Christian-themed series starring Jonathan Roumie as Jesus has been a crowdfunded streaming success since 2017, with over 100 million reported viewers. The Chosen Season 3: Episodes 1 & 2 grossed nearly twice Season 4, taking in $11,865,561 million and the #2 spot in November 2022 on 2,027 screens. Those episodes eventually took in a cume of $14.5 million over three weeks. Theatrical events in 2023 for The Chosen Season 3 Finale ($5.5 million) and Christmas with the Chosen: Holy Night ($4.6 million) also performed well. 

If The Chosen: S4 Episodes 1-3 can hold on to a large enough chunk of its theater count it could easily best recent religious hits like 2023’s Journey to Bethlehem ($7.7 million) and His Only Son ($13.5 million). The Season 4 release is #29 on the all-time worldwide box office for religious-themed films.

This Season 4 trinity is expected to remain in theaters through February 14 for an Ash Wednesday boost. Given this weekend’s performance, more events for the series could be expected as it moves beyond its popular “#BingeJesus” hashtag into the theatrical arena.

The Beekeeper Keeps Pace

Although it dropped one place from #2 (initially reported as #1) last week, MGM’s R-rated action thriller The Beekeeper continues to hold strong with $5,286,617 million on 3277 screens (including a loss of 60 screens from week three). This represents only a 21% drop from its previous frame, with a total cume of $49,428,992 million domestically over four weeks. 

This already puts The Beekeeper well ahead of previous David Ayer action thrillers domestically, including:

• End of Watch (2012, $41 million)

• Street Kings (2008, $26.4 million)

• Sabotage (2014, $10.5 million)

In relation to star Jason Statham’s career, The Beekeeper currently stands as the action star’s 14^th highest domestic performer behind his supporting role in 2006’s The Pink Panther, as well as #17 worldwide for Statham behind 2008’s Transporter 3. Whether this marks the start of a viable franchise for MGM remains to be seen.

Other Notable Performances

Since launching on December 15, the Jeffrey Wright-led dramedy American Fiction has gone from specialty success to outright hit with the kind of steady climb boutique movies like this dream of.

Adding 200 screens from last week to 1,902, the film has jumped from #11 to #8 to find its place in the Top 10 with $2,301,532. Although that was an 11% drop from last week, the slow weekend enabled it to gain footing on the charts.

So far the Amazon/MGM movie boasts a $15,013,037 domestic take on a budget under $10 million. The film’s five Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture and a nod for Wright, have undoubtedly played a part in its Cinderella story at the box office. American Fiction boasts a 94% critics / 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Already available from Digital retailers for over a week, this 10^th spot finish for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom marks what is likely to be the final bow in the Top 10 for a DCEU superhero movie. The film took in a mere $2 million for a domestic total of $120 million and $423 million worldwide.

That’s far below the original 2018 film’s $335 million domestic/$1.1 billion global take, but the Aquaman sequel also recently had the honor of surpassing Jason Momoa’s 2021 co-starring turn in Dune: Part One (Domestic $108M / WW $402M). 

Director James Wan’s fishy sequel has also lapped several recent DC and Marvel tentpoles with its global take:

• Eternals ($401 million)
• Black Adam ($390 million)
• Black Widow ($379 million)
• The Flash ($271 million)
• The Marvels ($199 million)
• The Suicide Squad ($167 million)
• Shazam! Fury of the Gods ($132 million)
• Blue Beetle ($130 million)

With a reported budget of $205 million plus a significantbig marketing spend, it will be a squeak to the finish for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom to hit itsthe break-even point. but it may do so. The film’s global tally isn’t too dismal, the film It may even surpass Marvel’s Shang-Chi ($432 million) and the third Ant-Man movie ($463 million) before all is said and done, especially with its robust international haul. However, the DCEU’s Top 10 days are likely behind it as we wait for James Gunn’s Superman reboot next year.

Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates: