There’s a new biggest movie right now at the domestic box office after the April 25th weekend. Over two years after COVID-19 shut down every theater in the country, the box office is still attempting to return to what was previously considered to be “normal.” Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s nearly $2 billion gross worldwide is the biggest injection of life the box office has seen since Avengers: Endgame in 2019. 2022’s box office domestically has still been partially dominated by Sony and Marvel Studios’ 2021 superhero movies, earning over $230 million since the new year, but plenty of new releases have also performed well.
The biggest movie domestically of the year overall is Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson’s The Batman. The highly-anticipated DC movie is now available on HBO Max after accumulating over $360 million at the box office. In addition to what Warner Bros. accomplished with the standalone Batman film, Sony delivered another big hit with Tom Holland’s Uncharted in February. The video game movie franchise launcher has made over $145M domestically, but an official Uncharted sequel announcement hasn’t come. Despite hits like these and Paramount’s Scream and The Lost City, there have also been several box office misfires.
April has been a big month for the box office, as many studios prepared for the typically bountiful summer season by releasing high-profile films. Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has continued the franchise’s financial success, while, conversely Michael Bay’s Ambulance has underwhelmed. Last weekend saw Warner Bros. put Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in theaters, where it had the lowest opening weekend of the Harry Potter franchise even as it topped the box office. But, it didn’t hold that position for very long. Here’s the biggest movie right now at the box office as of April 25, 2022.
What Movie Is #1 At The Box Office This Weekend (April 25)?
Universal Pictures gets its best hit of the year so far, thanks to The Bad Guys, as the animated adventure is the biggest movie right now. The family-friendly animated movie won the weekend at the box office for April 25, 2022. The latest estimates for The Bad Guys‘ box office gave it a $24 million opening weekend. It will have the eighth-highest opening weekend domestically in 2022 so far. The Bad Guys follows a group of animal outlaws trying to pull off their biggest heist yet, making the world think they are good in the process.
With Sam Rockwell, Anthony Ramos, and Awkwafina among the main cast members and very positive reviews, The Bad Guys is a welcome win for Universal, which has otherwise had a string of underwhelming movies in Ambulance, Marry Me, and The 355 in 2022. The movie could also be another new franchise for DreamWorks Animation, potentially. The Bad Guys‘ opening weekend aligns with non-franchise starters like Rise of the Guardians ($23.7M) and Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie ($23.8M). However, if the positive word of mouth continues, it could have a chance to get a sequel.
The Northman’s Box Office Explained
Another highly anticipated original movie debuted in theaters for the April 22-24th weekend, as Robert Eggers’ The Northman finally arrived. The Northman hit the top end of its box office projections in its opening weekend, earning an estimated $12 million as of April 25th. It’s the biggest opening weekend for director Robert Eggers, as it toppled The Witch‘s $8M opening in 2015. However, The Northman‘s box office needs to climb much higher for Focus Features to feel a bit better about its investment. The studio gave Eggers a $70M budget to make his primal revenge epic starring Alexander Skarsgård as Amleth. Traditional box office math suggests a film needs to double its budget (at least) to break even. Thanks to international theaters, The Northman sits at over $23M to this point – a far cry from the $140M it needs to not lose money for Focus.
Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent’s Box Office Explained
Nicolas Cage’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent had a soft opening weekend. The $7M opening weekend is potentially a disappointing outcome for Lionsgate, as the film carries a $30M budget. The movie pairs Cage with Pedro Pascal for an amusing story where Cage plays a fictionalized version of himself struggling with his family life and fame. Despite The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent‘s great reviews and positive word of mouth, the movie met the high end of box office expectations but didn’t exceed them. There is a chance that The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent‘s box office has good legs if audiences become more interested in Cage’s meta-comedy as time goes on.
Fantastic Beasts 3’s Box Office Drop Explained
In just its second weekend of release, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore suffered a major box office drop. The movie had the franchise’s lowest opening weekend ($42M) just a week ago, which ignited more questions about the future of the Wizarding World. Fantastic Beasts 3‘s box office dropped to $14M, as the film lost two-thirds of its business in a single week, which is not a great sign for the film’s longevity at the box office. This is one of many reasons why the Fantastic Beasts franchise’s future is in doubt. It has performed much better internationally, raising the worldwide total to nearly $300M. However, the box office drop shows disinterest in the franchise domestically, even after Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore received better reviews. It’s also a disappointing drop for WB, considering it fell to the third spot in the weekend box office standings, including behind a movie that has been out a whole week longer.
Sonic 2’s Box Office Performance Explained
While Fantastic Beasts 3 continues to falter at the box office, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 remains a big winner for Paramount. The video game movie franchise earned an estimated $15M in its third weekend, which is a less than 50% drop from its second weekend. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has already outgrossed the first film at the domestic box office after three weekends. It is quite clear that the movie is still a strong choice for families going to theaters. Sonic 2‘s Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 96% speaks volumes for how many general viewers are enjoying the sequel, and the box office performance continues to reflect this. It has also now passed Uncharted to become the second highest-grossing movie domestically in 2022. Unsurprisingly, Paramount already has plans for a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 sequel and spinoff.
What Other Movies Performed At The Box Office This Weekend
Out of the other notable box office stories that come from the April 22-24th weekend, the success of Everything Everywhere All at Once is the biggest. A24’s movie starring Michelle Yeoh is one of the best-reviewed movies of the year, but it is now on the cusp of entering an upper echelon in terms of box office performance for A24. Everything Everywhere All at Once has seen a minimal 12% drop in its fifth weekend, allowing it to make another $5.4M. With a collective gross of $26.9M, A24’s multiverse movie is on the verge of passing Midsommar ($27.4M) and Moonlight ($27.8M) to become the fourth highest-grossing A24 movie domestically.
The other notable box office stories as of April 25th pertain to The Lost City, Father Stu, Morbius, and Ambulance, which round out the top 10. The Lost City dipped a bit in its fifth weekend thanks to an influx of competition, but it still made more than $4M this weekend, pushing its domestic total past $85M. That makes the Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum rom-com the fourth highest-grossing movie domestically in 2022. Father Stu pulled in another $3.3M, as Mark Wahlberg’s faith-based drama has made over $13M through its second weekend. Morbius dropped another 50% as it made barely more than $2M for Sony’s hopeful cinematic universe. Finally, Michael Bay’s Ambulance still can’t find much of an audience, as it made less than $2M in its third weekend and has yet to earn $20M domestically overall.
