Mickey 17, a black comedy from Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho, topped the North American box office this weekend with an estimated take of $19.1 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.
But Warner Bros. and Plan B are not celebrating yet, given the film’s production cost of a reported $118 million.
The film—the director’s first since his Parasite became the first foreign language film to win a best-picture Oscar—had been eagerly awaited.
Robert Pattinson plays Mickey, who volunteers for hazardous space missions and, when killed, is repeatedly “reprinted” to be sent out again. Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo also star.
Marvel and Disney’s Captain America: Brave New World slipped one spot to second, earning $8.5 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period. In four weeks, the superhero flick has taken in $176.6 million domestically and an additional $194 million abroad.
Focus Features’ Last Breath earned $4.2 million for third place. Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, and Finn Cole play a team of deep-sea divers racing to save a stranded teammate.
In fourth was Neon Studio’s comedy-horror film The Monkey, based on a Stephen King story, at $3.9 million. Theo James, Rohan Campbell, and Elijah Wood star in the tale of a toy monkey with a homicidal gleam in its eye.
And in fifth was Sony and Columbia’s Paddington in Peru, about the lovable red-hatted teddy bear, at $3.85 million.
It was a notably slow theatrical weekend, coming just a week after Oscar-winning director Sean Baker (Anora) made an impassioned plea at the Academy Awards ceremony for people to support the big-screen experience.
Rounding out the top 10 were Dog Man with $3.5 million, Anora with $1.9 million, Mufasa: The Lion King with $1.7 million, Rule Breakers with $1.6 million, and In the Lost Lands with $1 million. AFP
