Without any notable competition, Thunderbolts kept the #1 spot this weekend. There were three wide releases, yet they all made for a combined $7.6 million this weekend. The only bright spot was Clown in a Cornfield, while Shadow Force and Fight or Flight had some of the worst debuts for films playing at over 2,000 theaters. The weekend's best news, however, was in limited release; A24's Friendship earned the year's best per-theater average.

The Top 10 earned a combined $79.6 million this weekend. That's down 12.7% from last year, when Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes debuted at #1.

Stating atop, Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts earned $32.3 million this weekend. That's off a rough 56.4% from last weekend, which was already a bit muted. That drop is better than Captain America: Brave New World (68.3%) earlier this year, but it feels like the film could've done a bit better than this. After all, it had a much more positive response and competition was almost non-existent this weekend. Not to mention its new title change, which was heavily promoted on social media. But it looks like its "A–" on CinemaScore pretty much signaled that while word of mouth is good, it's not exceptional enough to convince those skeptical.

Through 10 days, the film has earned $127.7 million domestically. While the film is posting better daillies than Brave New World, it's still $14 million behind that film through the same point. That film benefitted from lack of competition and a lot of under-performers. Thunderbolts, on the other hand, is about to face more challenges. This weekend, it's losing PLF screens to Final Destination: Bloodlines, which should dethrone it. And then it's gonna face a brutal Memorial Day Weekend with the arrival of Lilo & Stitch and *Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. What a contrast: a poorly received film with weak competition vs. a well received film with a lot of competition. Right now, it doesn't look like *Thunderbolts** will hit $200 million lifetime, which is quite concerning.

Sinners had its biggest drop this weekend. But when your biggest drop means just 33%, you know you're absolutely killing it. The film earned another $22.1 million this weekend, managing to add even more theaters on its fourth weekend. The film has earned an incredible $215.4 million, passing Captain America: Brave New World as the second biggest film of the year domestically. Depending on how it drops next weekend against Final Destination: Bloodlines, we could be looking at a $270 million domestic total. And it can go higher!

A Minecraft Movie is still on the top 3. It dropped 44%, earning $7.6 million this weekend. The film has earned $408.6 million so far, and it's set to finish with a little below $430 million domestically.

In fourth place, The Accountant 2 recovered from its rough drop. It eased just 29%, adding $6.7 million this weekend. The film has earned $51.5 million so far, and it should make a nice amount of money before facing brutal competition from Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Clown in a Cornfield debuted in fifth place, earning $3.6 million in 2,277 theaters. That's the best debut for Shudder/IFC, and they wisely spent very little on marketing (not even $10 million here). Although with a "C+" on CinemaScore and rough competition from Final Destination: Bloodlines next weekend might prevent it from hitting $10 million.

Lionsgate released Shadow Force in 2,170 theaters, but the film flopped with an abysmal $2.1 million this weekend. Considering the move was very last-minute, it's no surprise that the audience just didn't care for this. They gave it a middling "B" on CinemaScore, and with heavy competition on the coming weeks, it's unlikely it will stay long enough to hit $5 million domestically.

Vertical also released Fight or Flight on 2,153 theaters, but it flopped with just $2 million this weekend. Well, we can't really act surprised; this company hasn't been very successful in launching films on wide release. With a "C+" on CinemaScore, this is going to disappear quickly from theaters.

In eighth place, Sony's Until Dawn dropped 49% this weekend, adding $1.9 million this weekend. The film has earned just $17.9 million, and with Final Destination: Bloodlines coming up, it won't make it much further than $20 million domestically.

20th Century Studios' The Amateur dropped a light 39%, earning $1.1 million. The film has amassed $39 million so far.

Rounding up the Top 10 was Angel Studios' The King of Kings. It continued falling, now dropping 54% and adding $778,391 this weekend. The film's domestic total stands at $59.1 million so far.

Okay, it was a lot of negativity this weekend, so let's go to the other bright spot of the weekend. A24's Friendship, starring Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd, earned $451,904 in 6 theaters. That's an incredible $75,317 per-theater average, which is the best of the year so far.

Of course, a fantastic performance in limited release does not guarantee a successful wide expansion (Kinds of Kindness comes to mind). But who knows? Maybe Tim Robinson's fanbase could be bigger than expected.

OVERSEAS

If Thunderbolts is not lighting the domestic box office on fire, the overseas prospects are also looking quite bad.

On its second weekend, the film added $34 million overseas this weekend, taking its worldwide total to $271.4 million. That's a rough 60% drop from last weekend (even if we exclude the weekday holidays from last week, it's still a 52% drop), which is steeper than expected, and barely above Brave New World's second weekend ($35 million). The best markets are the UK ($15.5M), China ($13.8M), Mexico ($11.2M), France ($7.2M) and Australia ($6.4M). With drops like these and heavy competition on its way, there's a strong chance the film could miss $400 million. Considering the $180 million budget, that's flop territory. Damn, what does this mean for the MCU?

A Minecraft Movie added $12.5 million this weekend, taking its worldwide total to $909 million. The best markets are the UK ($71.2M), Germany ($37M), Australia ($34.2M), Mexico ($32M) and China ($28.4M). The billion milestone is starting to feel unlikely.

Sinners added $6.6 million this weekend. Its worldwide total is now $283 million, and should hit $300 million by Friday. The best markets are the UK ($17.4M), France ($8.1M), Australia ($5.5M), Mexico ($3.9M) and Germany ($3.1M).

3 weeks ahead of its domestic debut, Karate Kid: Legends premiered in 12 markets in Latin America, debuting with $5.7 million. The best market was Mexico with $3 million, although this debut is lower than the 2010 version ($3.5 million). Other markets are Brazil ($860K), Peru ($415K) and Argentina ($320K). It won't hit more markets till the last weekend of May.

FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK

None.

THIS WEEKEND

We've got two wide releases, with one clear winner.

Final Destination: Bloodlines should easily win the top spot. It's the sixth installment in the iconic franchise, and follows a group who realizes Death is coming after them… because they should never have existed in the first place. Notably, it includes Tony Todd's final appearance in the franchise, having filmed all his scenes prior to his death in November 2024. This is one of the most iconic horror franchises of the century, with the past 5 films earning a combined $666 million worldwide (hey, that's cool). It's gonna have a pretty great opening. The question is how high can it go?

Another release is Trey Edward Schults' Hurry Up Tomorrow, which is a companion piece to The Weeknd's album of the same name. It stars The Weeknd, Jenna Ortega, and Barry Keoghan, and follows a fictionalized version of the Weeknd, an insomniac musician on the verge of a mental breakdown who is pulled into an existential odyssey by a mysterious stranger. The Weeknd drew poor reviews for his performance in The Idol, but at least he's working with a great filmmaker like Trey Edward Shults here. Although the film is probably going to be sold for Weeknd fans, and Weeknd fans only. Will the general audience care?

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