This weekend, the box office looked more like a Wasteland than the fruitful Green Place of Many Mothers. “ Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga ” underperformed in its box office debut with $25.6 million between Friday and Sunday and an estimated $31 million through Memorial Day on Monday.
Instead of ruling the box office as expected, it’s in a shockingly close race for first place with Sony’s animated “The Garfield Movie,” which collected $24.8 million over the weekend and an estimated $31 million through the four days. Neither could salvage the holiday weekend, which is the worst it’s been in nearly three decades.
It wasn’t just domestic audiences that failed to show up for “Furiosa.” The fifth entry in director George Miller’s post-apocalyptic series, starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth, is stalling at the international box office with $33.3 million from 75 territories, bringing its worldwide tally to $58.
9 million. It’s a tough start given the film cost $168 million to produce, not including a splashy global press tour with a stop at Cannes Film Festival. “This is a weak opening in spite of outstanding reviews and a good audience score,” says David A.
Gross of movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. Part of the problem is that prequels seldom do as well as direct sequels, especially when they don’t have stars from the original — just ask “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” Even last November’s “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Son.
