On Easter weekend, audiences decided to go watch Sinners. The result? A #1 debut, and the biggest debut for an original film in the post-COVID era. While A Minecraft Movie had to cede the top spot, it's already over $700 million worldwide.

The Top 10 earned a combined $127.9 million this weekend. That's up a massive 109.7% from last year, when Civil War held the top spot from disappointing newcomers like Abigail and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

Debuting atop, Ryan Coogler's Sinners earned a fantastic $48 million in 3,308 theaters. This is the best debut for Coogler's career outside the Black Panther films. In fact, it's the biggest debut for a live-action original film in the post-COVID climate, opening above Nope ($44.3 million).

Simply put, it's a fantastic start. Take into account, getting an original film to open this high is a miracle, given that audiences are pivoting to focusing on franchises. It's a testament to the strength of Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan. So how they did succeed where other original films failed?

For the past decade, Coogler has earned some great good will, thanks to his works in films like Creed and Black Panther. The films have earned fantastic reception, allowing him to finally get an original title like Sinners to get greenlit. It wasn't easy, obviously; a big reason why some studios turned it down was Coogler's request to have the film rights revert to him after 25 years. So Warner Bros. took the bullet and agreed to his terms, a decision that apparently scared a lot of Hollywood executives.

The film's clear selling point was Coogler and Jordan, but the premise was also very important: a 1930s horror film, with Jordan playing twins. 2025 has been very weak for horror; the biggest horror film is The Monkey, which hasn't even topped $70 million worldwide. The audience was starving for a horror film and Sinners arrived at the right time to offer just that. The film's fantastic reviews cannot be ignored either; it's sitting at a marvelous 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and 84/100 on Metacritic. That makes it one of the best films of the year, so even non-horror fans wanted to see if the film would live up to the hype.

According to Warner Bros., the biggest demos were black (49%), Caucasians (27%), Hispanic and Latino (14%), and Asian (6%). They gave it an incredible "A" on CinemaScore. This makes it one of the few horror films to get an "A" on the site (Poltergeist and Aliens are the other two) in its 46-year-old history. Yes, it's insanely hard for a horror film to get this grade.

What does this mean? That the film is gonna have some damn great legs. It's already seen in the weekend; horror films can drop over 40% on Sunday, yet Sinners dropped just 25%. With no horror competition till Final Destination: Bloodlines, Sinners can have a lot of space. For now, we're predicting a $170 million domestic total for the film, which is simply fantastic all around.

A Minecraft Movie dropped 48% this weekend, grossing $40.4 million. That's not a bad drop, but it's still rough just like last week's. The film is not collapsing, but it's not showing great legs either. The film has amassed $343.8 million so far, and it should still hit over $450 million domestically.

Unsurprisingly, The King of Kings benefitted from the Easter weekend. It dipped just 9%, earning $17.5 million this weekend. That's one of the best holds for a film playing at over 3,000 theaters. Through 10 days, the film has earned $45.6 million, although with the holiday over, maybe it will have a steep drop next weekend.

20th Century Studios' The Amateur was hit by the arrival of Sinners. It dropped a rough 53%, earning $7 million this weekend. While the film was aiming an old audience that doesn't go to opening weekend, it looks like the film is struggling to leg out. Through 10 days, the film has earned a weak $27.1 million, and it remains a question mark if it will hit $40 million domestically.

In fifth place, A24's Warfare dipped 42%, adding $4.8 million this weekend. Through 10 days, the film has earned $17.1 million, and it will probably end its run with around $25 million domestically.

Universal/Blumhouse's Drop added $3.2 million this weekend, which is a poor 55% drop after its already low start. Despite positive reviews and word of mouth, the audience doesn't appear to be interested in the film. Through 10 days, it has earned just $13.4 million, and it's now guaranteed to miss $20 million domestically, making it one of Blumhouse's lowest grossing titles.

COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing managed to sneak into the seventh spot, despite playing in just 800 theaters, earning $2.8 million this weekend.

Focus Features' re-release of Pride & Prejudice earned $2.8 million in 1,393 theaters. That takes its lifetime total to $41.3 million.

The Chosen: Last Supper — Part 3 collapsed 75% this weekend, earning just $1.5 million this weekend. Through all 3 installments, the show has made $42.9 million so far.

Rounding up the Top 10 was Disney's Snow White, which is nearing the end of its run. It had another brutal 58% drop, earning just $1.2 million this weekend. The film's domestic total stands at a poor $84.6 million so far.

Bleecker Street released The Wedding Banquet in 1,142 theaters, although the film earned just $922,906. That means that the film is gonna make less than what Ang Lee's original made back in 1993 ($6.9 million).

But the real worst performer of the week was Briarcliff's animated film Sneaks. Despite playing in 1,500 theaters, the film earned an abysmal $530,786 this weekend. That's one of the worst debuts for a film playing in over 1,000 theaters. Expect this to fade quickly.

Ahead of its wide release this week, A24's The Legend of Ochi debuted in 4 theaters, earning $52,514. That's a $13,129 per-theater average, which is quite low (usually buzzy titles like this make $25K or more). Let's just hope it can do better when it hits wide release.

Janus Films also released David Cronenberg's The Shrouds in 3 theaters, where the film earned $49,361. Alos a low $16,454 per-theater average. It will continue expanding in the coming weeks.

OVERSEAS

A Minecraft Movie earned $59 million overseas, taking its worldwide total to $720 million. The best markets are the UK ($59.2M), Germany ($27.8M), Australia ($27.4M), Mexico ($24.8M) and China ($24M). The billion mark is becoming more and more likely, pals.

Sinners earned $15.4 million in 71 markets, taking its worldwide numbers to $63.5 million. The best debuts were in the UK ($3.2M), France ($2M), Mexico ($1.1M), Germany ($898K) and Australia ($842K). An okay start, but it's pretty clear it's gonna lean heavily on the domestic side.

The Amateur added a further $11.6 million this weekend, for a $63.8 million worldwide total. The best markets are the UK ($4.1M), France ($3.3M), Mexico ($3.2M), Japan ($2.3M) and Spain ($2M). At the very least, it should hit $100 million worldwide. That'd be great if it didn't cost $60 million.

FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK

Movie Release Date Studio Domestic Opening Domestic Total Worldwide Total Budget Dog Man Jan/31 Universal $36,001,940 $97,970,355 $140,534,355 $40M DreamWorks' Dog Man has ended its run with $97 million domestically and $140 million worldwide. Definitely a success, given it cost just $40 million. But something weird about the film are its legs. Normally, animated films leg out to a 3x multiplier. But Dog Man finished with just a 2.72x multiplier, making it one of the most front-loaded animated films. While the Super Bowl impacted its second weekend, not hitting the $100 million milestone after its debut is kinda disappointing. But then again, this should be enough if DreamWorks wants a new franchise.

THIS WEEKEND

We've got three wide releases, though it's unlikely any of them can take the top spot.

The closest that could challenge the top spot is Amazon MGM's The Accountant 2, which brings back Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, and J. K. Simmons in their roles. The original film earned $155 million worldwide, and has been a huge success in streaming and home media, so a sequel was pretty much imminent. Although the 9-year gap raises concerns that they might have waited too long.

Another release is Sony's Until Dawn, an adaptation of the video game. Director David F. Sandberg has had success in the horror field, and in fairness, the movie tries to change things up from the game. Nevertheless, the film's premise (a time loop involving different killers) suggests it pretty much abandoned the game's original plot. It remains to be seen if the fans will be willing to buy a ticket.

And as mentioned, A24's The Legend of Ochi is hitting wide release. The limited release numbers were quite underwhelming, but perhaps it could surprise when it hits wide release.

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