‘Thunderbolts’ and ‘Sinners’ Reclaim Top Spots at the Box Office

Marvel’s “Thunderbolts” and Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” dominated the North American box office charts again this weekend.

Currently in their second and fourth weekends, the two films faced some new contenders, including a horror movie, a Kerry Washington-led action flick, a Josh Hartnett airline thriller, and a musical influenced by Shakespeare. However, none of these new releases made a notable impact.

“Thunderbolts” secured the top spot, earning $33.1 million in theaters across the U.S. and Canada, based on studio estimates from Sunday. Additionally, it garnered $34 million internationally, pushing its global earnings to $272.2 million. After just two weekends, this Walt Disney Co. release has already become the fourth highest-grossing film of the year, both globally and domestically.

The film is performing better than the previous Marvel release, “Captain America: Brave New World,” which experienced a significant drop in its second weekend. A major difference was the reviews; although these don’t always determine the success of superhero movies, positive word of mouth has benefited “Thunderbolts.” The studio is also preparing for another major release later in the summer with “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.”

“Sinners,” meanwhile, crossed the $200 million mark in North American ticket sales this weekend, which is especially notable for an original R-rated movie. It added $21.1 million domestically, and $6.6 million internationally, bringing its global total to $283.3 million. Next weekend, it’s also returning to 70mm IMAX screens “by popular demand,” IMAX said.

Warner Bros.’ other juggernaut, “A Minecraft Movie,” has made $409 million domestically and $909.6 million globally in its six weekends in theaters.

Several new movies also opened in wide release this weekend, but none seemed to break through the noise. “Shadow Force,” a Lionsgate action pic with Washington and Omar Sy from “The Grey” filmmaker Joe Carnahan, made $2 million from 2,170 screens. Vertical’s “Flight or Fight,” starring Hartnett as a mercenary on a plane full of assassins, also debuted with an estimated $2 million from 2,153 screens.

In limited release, the Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd movie “Friendship” launched on six screens in New York and Los Angeles and scored the best per-screen average of the year ($75,317) with many sellouts reported. A24 plans to expand the release nationwide over Memorial Day.

Overall, it was a relatively quiet weekend, but thanks to “A Minecraft Movie,” “Sinners” and “Thunderbolts,” the year-to-date box office is up around 16% from last year, according to Comscore data. Compared with 2019, however, it’s down over 32%.

Next week, “Final Destination: Bloodlines” should give the marketplace another jolt before two giants debut over the holiday weekend: “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.”