Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire easily took the top spot this weekend at the box office, posting a much stronger-than-expected $31.7 million second weekend. We predicted about $25 million, so this is a significantly more extensive haul than expected for the MonsterVerse sequel, with it falling about 60% in week 2. That’s decent for a tentpole blockbuster like this. Everyone assumed the movie would be front-loaded, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, with it now on its way to at least a $200 million domestic haul – maybe more. 

However, Godzilla and Kong’s good fortune at the multiplex spelled doom for two new genre titles – Monkey Man and The First Omen, both of which were gunning for some of that movie’s audience. Of the two, Monkey Man’s $10.1 million haul isn’t half bad if you consider that Universal picked it up for only about $10 million after Netflix opted to dump it. The film ended up getting a theatrical makeover courtesy of new exec producer Jordan Peele, and I’ve got to say, I liked Dev Patel’s debut as an action auteur and star. This flick should make a nice profit for Universal, and it will likely play very well on streaming and home video, where it could become a cult fave.

But, The First Omen really underperformed, with the Disney/ 20th Century Studios would-be restart for the Omen franchise whiffing with an $8.36 million opening. It was open on 300 more screens than Monkey Man and had the full might of Disney’s marketing muscle behind it. What happened? Despite good reviews (including ours) it could be that horror audiences found the movie looked too similar to the recently released Immaculate, or are maybe burned-out by unnecessary prequels. Whatever the case, I think it’s well worth watching.

Notably, it was beaten this weekend at the box office by Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which, in its third week, is starting to show signs of life at the box office. While it can’t be denied that the film has underperformed for Sony and may have doomed the franchise, at least now, it will likely finish over $100 million domestically. Whether or not that’s enough for Sony to kick the can again with another entry remains to be seen, but if the franchise continues, it will likely be on streaming.

Kung Fu Panda 4 and Dune: Part Two also continued to hold up well in fifth and sixth place, respectively, with both earning over $7 million. Panda’s domestic total is at $166 million now (it’s already the second-highest-grossing film in the franchise), while Dune 2 is at an impressive $264 million, on its way to potentially $300 million.

In seventh place is a specialty title, Someone Like You, a faith-based film by Fathom. It managed to make $3 million despite not having any recognizable stars. In contrast, the arthouse comedy Wicked Little Letters, with Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley, made about $1.56 million in a semi-wide release (just over 1000 screens). 

Rounding out the chart is Mark Wahlberg’s family movie, Arthur the King, which has struggled to find an audience and is on the verge of ending its run with $1.54 million for the weekend and a $22 million total. Finally, Neon’s horror flick Immaculate made $1.4 million for $14.1 million. It’s actually Neon’s fourth highest-grossing movie ever and has become a modest arthouse hit, even if it never entirely capitalized on star Sydney Sweeney’s mainstream appeal.

Next weekend sees the release of Alex Garland’s controversial (but excellent) Civil War, which is booting Godzilla x Kong from its IMAX run. Do you think it will be able to take first place? Let us know in the comments!

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