In a tight race at the box office, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga slightly edged out The Garfield Movie in North American earnings. Both Warner Bros. and Sony, the studios behind these movies, initially claimed the top spot with each movie making around $25 million over the weekend and projected to hit $31 million by the end of Memorial Day.
However, final numbers on Monday showed that Furiosa pulled in $26.2 million over the weekend and reached $32 million over the four-day period. Garfield followed closely with $24 million for the weekend and $31.1 million in total for the four days.
Despite who ended up on top, this year’s Memorial Day weekend was the weakest in almost 30 years, apart from 2020 when theaters were shut due to COVID. The drop was significant compared to last year’s Memorial Day weekend when Disney’s The Little Mermaid remake debuted with $118 million. Currently, this summer’s box office is lagging 22% behind last year and 41% behind 2019, as reported by Comscore.
Furiosa, the fifth installment of George Miller’s Mad Max series, had a disappointing performance. Although the film, starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth, was anticipated to make $40 million to $45 million, it only managed $32 million.
Box Office: ‘Furiosa’ Just Barely Beats ‘The Garfield Movie’ in Disastrous Memorial Day Weekend — the Worst in Decades #FuriosaAMadMaxSaga #Furiosa #Garfield #TheGarfieldMovie #Memorihttps://t.co/uKh9bgTSAf via @variety
— ArtikeldienstOnline (@artikeldienst) May 27, 2024
Considering the movie cost $168 million to make, it’s struggling compared to the franchise’s previous movie, Mad Max: Fury Road, which opened at $45 million and grossed $380 million worldwide. Despite positive reviews, Furiosa didn’t perform as well, likely because prequels often don’t do as well as sequels, particularly when the original stars are not involved.
Garfield, on the other hand, had a modest start. The movie, which features Chris Pratt as the voice of Garfield, cost $60 million and is projected to have a lower-than-expected opening of $30 million to $35 million. Yet, it’s already made $66.3 million internationally and $91.1 million worldwide, showing potential for a successful theater run. Source
