It’s spring break season and the box office is not delivering anything more compelling than what’s available on the major streamers. Instead, screens heavily relied on the top two grossing films in March, Dune: Part Two and Kung Fu Panda 4.
In its third week, Dune: Part Two earned $29.1M, leading the Warner Bros. film to surpass the $200M mark for domestic box office. The first Dune, released in 2021, never reached that notch in domestic grosses, only accumulating $108.3M domestically, but making up for it internationally at $325M. Dune: Part Two is forecasted to cross the $500M mark worldwide far before the end of March.
Kung Fu Panda holds the title as the second highest grossing film in March 2024, so far. The Universal pic premiered in theaters March 8 and within a few days over two weeks had earned $107.7M in domestic box office. About 39% of oversea ticket sales collected $68.8M for a worldwide cume of $176.5M.
RELATED ARTICLE: Affion Crockett’s ‘A Hip Hop Story’: Box Office Bomb Or Overlooked Gem?
Eight new films released in theaters over the weekend, many of them the product of smaller distributors. The Kino Lorber distributed Remembering Gene Wilder made a modest $3K as a single theater release, while Atlas Distribution’s faith-based film, Pastor’s Kid, was shown across 38 theaters, amassing $9.4K. Concert film, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus, from Janus Films earned $11.3K in one theater.
Exhuma, distributed by Well Go USA Entertainment, made an impressive $58.9M splash overseas and earned $65.5K from three theaters, stateside. Republic Pictures’ Snack Snack screened in 437 theaters, earning a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday cume of $168K, $80K, and $52K, respectively.
Lionsgate was the only studio to have a film in its first week with a wide release. Arthur the King, a story about an adventure race competitor (Mark Wahlberg) who adopts a stray dog along one of his most epic races, rolled out to 3,003 theaters on March 15, earning domestic grosses of $7.5M.
Bleecker Street Media did pretty well for its limited release. Anthony Hopkin’s One Life, directed by James Hawes (Snowpiercer, Black Mirror), enters the No. 2 spot in top grosses for films released the weekend of March 15. The biographical film made $1.7M from 983 theaters in domestic box office and $30.96M in international box office, totaling $32.7M worldwide.
Finally, the controversial comedy, The American Society of Magical Negroes, nearly matched its $1.25M in earnings with the number of theaters showing the film — 1,147 domestic theaters. The Kobi Libii written and directed comedy, starring Justice Smith, David Alan Grier, and Aisha Hinds, tackles racially-motivated taboos as a young man by the name of Aren (Smith) is recruited into a secret society of magical Black people who serve to make White people’s lives easier.
The film lands at No. 9 in top-grossing films, new and old, over the weekend of March 15, and No. 3 in top-grossing films newly released over the weekend of March 15.
