Universal’s action movie “The Fall Guy,” starring Ryan Gosling, topped the North American box office this weekend with a $28.5 million debut. However, the film’s opening came in slightly under expectations of $30-35 million.
The lackluster start for “The Fall Guy” contributed to an overall disappointing weekend at the box office compared to last year. Total earnings were down 53% from summer 2023’s opening weekend when “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” launched with $118.4 million.
In a surprise second-place finish, Disney’s 25th-anniversary re-release of “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” took in $8.1 million. The reissue has helped build nostalgia for the 1999 prequel amid younger fans and the Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
The erotic drama “Challengers” from Amazon/MGM held well in its second weekend, grossing $7.6 million (a 49% drop) for a $29.4 million total so far.
Sony’s low-budget horror film “Tarot” opened to a decent $6.5 million thanks to the studio’s digital-only marketing approach with no TV ads or billboards.
Internationally, the animated “Garfield” featuring Chris Pratt’s voice work kicked off with $22 million ahead of its May 24th domestic release.
While “The Fall Guy” received an A- CinemaScore rating, the summer box office is off to a sluggish start overall. The top films will need strong word-of-mouth in the coming weeks to make up for the slow opening weekend versus last year.