Warner Bros.’ “Sinners” continued its incredible run at the box office this weekend with a $45 million total that is a mere 6.2% drop from its $48 million opening. It crossed the $100 million domestic mark after just nine days in theaters and is well on pace to become just the fourth horror film ever to gross $200 million before inflation adjustment.
Thanks to resounding critical and audience acclaim, “Sinners” has achieved what Hollywood studios often can only dream of for their original films, finding interest from moviegoers who may not have been aware or interested in Ryan Coogler’s horror tale prior to its release. It is the smallest second weekend drop for any film with a $40 million-plus opening since the historic box office run of “Avatar” in 2009.
That has led to sell out screenings at Imax auditoriums in major cities as well as at theaters like the Vista in Los Angeles that are playing 70mm reels of the film. While “Sinners” will lose that Imax support on Thursday with the release of Marvel Studios’ “Thunderbolts,” it has enough momentum to become the highest grossing original live-action film since Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity” in 2013.
It’s an undisputed victory for Warner Bros., which took a risk on “Sinners” with its $90 million budget that has paid off big for both the studio and theaters. Thanks to “Sinners” and Warner’s video game blockbuster “A Minecraft Movie,” every weekend this April has seen overall totals well above $100 million. Prior to this month, there were only two weekends that cleared that mark.
The box office is also getting help this weekend from Amazon MGM’s “The Accountant 2” and Disney/Lucasfilm’s 20th anniversary rerelease of “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” which are in a tight race for the No. 2 spot.
“Revenge of the Sith” currently has the edge with a reported $25.2 million total this weekend, nearly triple the $8.7 million that last year’s re-release of “Episode I — The Phantom Menace” earned. With this result, “Episode III” has passed $400 million in lifetime domestic grosses and is on the threshold of $900 million worldwide.
“The Accountant 2” has an estimated opening of $24.5 million, nearly identical to the unadjusted $24.7 million start of the first “Accountant” in 2016. Picked up by Amazon MGM last year, the sequel has a hefty reported budget of $80 million but has been well received with an A- on CinemaScore and an 87% overall positive score on PostTrak.
In the past, insiders at Amazon MGM have said that they look for their theatrical releases to make back their production and marketing spends at the box office with the hopes of drawing additional interest on Prime Video. Back in 2017, “The Accountant” was surprisingly named by the Motion Picture Association as the year’s best-selling digital rental title, drawing Amazon’s interest in a sequel through its partnership with Artists Equity, the production company co-founded by the film’s star, Ben Affleck.
“A Minecraft Movie” takes fourth with an excellent $22.7 million, bringing its total to $380 million domestic and $816 million worldwide. In fifth is Sony/Screen Gems’ “Until Dawn,” a horror film based on the hit Playstation series that has earned an $8 million opening. With $10.1 million overseas, the film will easily post a theatrical profit against its reported $15 million budget, but likely won’t have much legs with a 51% critics Rotten Tomatoes score and a C+ from audiences on CinemaScore.