With ‘Twisters,’ Disaster Means a Box-Office Winner

For once, disaster is a box-office positive. “Twisters” (Universal) beat all projections to score an $80.5 million #1 weekend. Timed for needed escapism, and with the cataclysmic genre that excels on premium screens, it proved a worthy successor to its original.

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The 1996 “Twister” (a Warner Bros. release, with that studio handling foreign this time) opened to $41 million in early May. (That was back when pre-Memorial Day didn’t mean the start of summer.) At today’s prices, that would represent around $100 million today. It ended up with a six-time multiple of $495 (about $600 million at today’s prices).

Because “Twisters” competed for attention in the research, tracking far underestimated the interest in the film. Projections of $40 million-$50 million seemed wrong on multiple levels, but even our prediction of at least $60 million fell far short of the mark.

Even more impressive is its weekend trajectory. After $8 million in previews, $70 million seemed plausible for the weekend. The guess rose to $75 million by Saturday. But when the second full day came in ahead of the Friday-only gross by $3 million (hard to do, with sellouts at some premium theaters both days), the estimate jumped again. That number includes a 25 percent drop for Sunday, but there’s a real chance the total could rise.

This summer had several big hits, led by “Inside Out 4” (Disney). It’s still #4 for the weekend, just under $600 million total domestic and it still has a chance to beat out 2023 top grosser “Barbie” ($636 million). But “Twisters” is the first pure popcorn appeal movie for a general audience that wants fun action-adventure type — the sort of release that often soars in this season. It also has Glen Powell on the cusp of superstardom, at exactly the right time and in the right vehicle to elevate him.

Domestic results for “Twisters” are far better than foreign, which has seen $43 million after two weekends. (China was disastrous, with $1.5 million in over 9,000 theaters.) With a $155 million budget before marketing, “Twisters” will need to continue its strong performance for the rest of the summer in the U.S./Canada.

Universal is an even bigger winner. With “Despicable Me 2” at #2 adding $24 million, the studio provided nearly 70 percent of the weekend gross. In its third week, the “Minions” animated franchise is nearing $260 million.

Last week’s two wide openings met different fates. Neon’s sleeper horror film “Longlegs” had a second- week hold that was much better than average, dropping only 48 percent. Apple’s “Fly Me to the Moon” (Sony) had an awful 68 percent fall (from $9.4 million, not the dubious $10 million they reported last Sunday). These results show the increased unreliability of Cinemascore to determine audience reactions. “Longlegs” had a C+ score (suggests disaster), while “Moon” was an A- (the same as “Twisters.”)

Also new in the Top 10 is “Bad Newz” (Moviegoer), an Indian comedy at #8 with nearly $1.1 million in 407 theaters. Meantime, “Kalki 2898 AD” (Prathyangira) has passed $18 million in domestic grosses.

This weekend’s total of around $147 million is off by more than 50 percent from 2023… but that was the weekend of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” Next week will be a big improvement when “Deadpool and Wolverine” open to an expected $150 million (or much more), particularly with the strength of “Twisters” and other holdovers. Year to date is down 17 percent from 2023.

Not a lot of specialized action. The second week of “Sing Sing” (A24), remaining at four New York/Los Angeles theaters, fell just over half to $64,000. Its opening benefited from extensive advance and weekend screenings with Q&A enhancements, but in terms of wider audience interest this remains to be determined. It expands in August.

Best new platform openings were the Turkish “Crossing” (MUBI), $16,236 in two theaters, and “Great Absence” (Picturehouse) $9,440 in one. “Widow Clicquot” (Vertical) from France grossed $190,000 in 102.

Bookkeeping note — unlike other sites, we list “Horizon” (WB) as #10. “The Bikeriders” (Focus) is listed in that position elsewhere, but its reported $700,000 gross includes double-counted grosses for drive-ins where it is second-billed with “Twisters.” This is a normal industry practice, but — as in this case — it can sometimes be misleading.

The Top 10

1. Twisters (Universal) NEW – Cinemascore: A-; Metacritic: 65; Est. budget: $155 million

$80,500,000 in 4,151 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $19,393; Cumulative: $80,500,000

2. Despicable Me 4 (Universal) Week 3; Last weekend #1

$23,800,000 (-45%) in 4,112 (-337) theaters; PTA: $5,788; Cumulative: $259,460,000

3. Inside Out 2 (Disney) Week 5; Last weekend #3

$12,800,000 (-%) in 3,625 (-190) theaters; PTA: $3,531; Cumulative: $596,400,000

4. Longlegs (Neon) Week 2; Last weekend #2

$11,700,000 (-48%) in 2,850 (+340) theaters; PTA: $4,105; Cumulative: $44,651,000

5. A Quiet Place: Day One (Paramount) Week 4; Last weekend #4

$6,100,000 (-46%) in 2,913 (-465) theaters; PTA: $2,094; Cumulative: $127,636,000

6. Fly Me to the Moon (Sony) Week 2; Last weekend #5

$3,335,000 (-65%) in 3,356 (-68%) theaters; PTA: $994; Cumulative: $16,355,000

7. Bad Boys: Ride or Die (Sony) Week 7; Last weekend #6

$2,675,000 (-37%) in 1,716 (-484) theaters; PTA: $1,559; Cumulative: $189,331,000

8. Bad Newz (Moviegoer) NEW – Est. budget: $10 million

$1,071,000 in 477 theaters; PTA: $2,245; Cumulative: $1,071,000

9. MaXXXine (A24) Week 3; Last weekend #8

$819,242 (-60%) in 1,038 (-1,332) theaters; PTA: $1,038; Cumulative: $13,927,000

10. Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 (Warner Bros.) Week 4; Last week #7; also on PVOD

$685,000 (-69%) in 1,291 (-1,296) theaters; PTA: $531; Cumulative: $28,508,000

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Other specialized/independent titles

Films (limited, expansions of limited) are listed by week in release, starting with those opened this week; after the first three weeks, only films with grosses over $5,000 are listed. Metacritic scores and initial film festivals recorded when available.

Great Absence (Picturehouse) NEW – Metacritic: 80; Festivals include: Toronto 2023

$9,440 in 1 theater; PTA: $9,440

Crossing (MUBI) – NEW – Metacritic: 82; Festivals include: Berlin, Tribeca 2024

$16,236 in 2 theaters; PTA: $8,118

Widow Clicquot (Vertical) NEW – Metacritic: 66; Festivals include: Toronto 2023

$190,000 in 102 theaters; PTA: $1,863

Crumb Catcher (Music Box) NEW – Metacritic: 52; Festivals include: Fantastic Fest 2023

$20,866 in 55 theaters; PTA: $379

Oddity (IFC) NEW – Metacritic: 78; Festivals include: South by Southwest 2024

$555,500 in 790 theaters; PTA: $703

Sing Sing (A24) Week 2

$64,084 in 4 (no change) theaters; PTA: $16,021; Cumulative: $234,136

Touch (Focus) Week 2

$275,000 in 326 (+10) theaters; PTA: $847; Cumulative: $915,000

Kill (Roadside Attractions) Week 3

$35,025 in 46 (-254) theaters; Cumulative: $1,156,000

Kalki 2898 AD (Prathyangira) Week 5

$(est.) 270,000 in 200 (-100) theaters; Cumulative: $(est.) 18,080,000

Daddio (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 4 45

$25,111 in 140 (+95) theaters; Cumulative: $883,267

Thelma (Magnolia) Week 5; also on PVOD

$230,000 in 270 (-171) theaters; Cumulative: $8,182,000

The Bikeriders (Focus) Week 5; also on PVOD

$700,000 in 308 (-416) theaters; Cumulative: $21,200,000

Kinds of Kindness (Searchlight) Week 5

$115,000 in 150 (-580) theaters; Cumulative: $4,956,000

Janet Planet (A24) Week 5

$30,487 in 32 (-9) theaters; Cumulative: $675,760

Robot Dreams (Neon) Week 8

$21,500 in 78 (-222); Cumulative: $807,360