Weapons’ $42.5M Opening Crushes Disney Sequel and Extends Warner Bros.’ Winning Streak

Weapons, the new horror film from Barbarian writer-director Zach Cregger, opened to a $42.5 million domestic debut. According to Box Office Mojo, that total placed it above Disney’s comedy Freakier Friday, which opened to $29 million, and ahead of Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps, which slid to third place with $15.5 million after a roughly 60% drop from the prior weekend.

Opening weekend grosses and chart positions for major releases.
How Warner Bros.’ recent run of hits has developed.
Box office context for horror releases tied to Warner Bros.

Weekend box office numbers

Weapons earned $42.5 million in its opening weekend. In comparison, Freakier Friday opened to $29 million. Meanwhile, Fantastic Four: First Steps posted $15.5 million this weekend, down about 60% from the $40 million it earned the previous weekend.

Other recent openings

Earlier this month, Akiva Schafer’s The Naked Gun reboot opened to $16.8 million on Aug. 1. Last year’s update of Mean Girls opened to $28.6 million.

Warner Bros.’ recent streak

Warner Bros. has now recorded six consecutive hits that include Weapons. The studio’s April release, Jared Hess’ A Minecraft Movie, opened domestically to $162.7 million, a figure noted by The New York Times while reporting on the studio’s turnaround after a weak market share in March.

Other recent Warner Bros. successes include James Gunn’s Superman, which became the biggest superhero film of the year, and the Brad Pitt vehicle F1 The Movie, which is the highest-grossing original feature of the year and was returned to IMAX on Aug. 8.

Horror as a bright spot

Horror titles have contributed strongly to Warner Bros.’ totals. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners reached a milestone as the fifth highest-grossing horror movie of all time, and Final Destination: Bloodlines became the most successful entry in that 15-year-old franchise. Weapons has already surpassed the lifetime earnings of 2022’s Barbarian.