Audiences responded with a resounding yes to Jordan Peele’s sci-fi thriller No, which topped the box office with its $44 million debut.
Those ticket sales were slightly behind projections of $50 million and fell between the results of Peele’s first two films, 2017’s Get Out (which opened to $33 million) and 2019’s Us (which opened to 71 million dollars). “No” may not have set a new box office record for Peele, but it showcases the director’s popularity in movies and marks a strong start for an original R-rated horror film.
In fact, “No” stands as the highest opening weekend score for an original film since “We” debuted more than three years ago. Yes, that includes the Quentin Tarantino starrer Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which opened with $41 million in July 2019.
“The opening isn’t as big as ‘Us,’ but it’s still extremely impressive,” said David A. Gross, who heads the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “The weekend figure is well above the genre average.”
It’s worth noting that Peele’s sophomore film Us , a scary story about menacing doppelgangers, enjoyed a particularly huge opening weekend as it followed the runaway success of the Oscar-winning Get Out . After his directorial debut captured the zeitgeist by scaring audiences while encouraging audiences to think, the director’s fans were more than a little eager to watch Peele’s next mind-bending nightmare. While Peele still has immense goodwill among audiences, box office expectations for No, another angst-inducing social thriller, should have been comparatively a bit more Earth-bound.
“No” grossed $68 million, significantly more than “Disappear” (with its paltry $4.5 million budget) and “Us” (with its $20 million budget). So the film will require a bit more coin than Peele’s past films to turn a profit. Word of mouth will be the key. “Get Out” and “Us” were huge box office successes, each grossing $255 million at the worldwide box office. “No” doesn’t open at the international box office until mid-August.
“No” reunites Peele with “Get Out” star Daniel Kaluuya — and adds Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun to the mix — in the story of siblings who live in a California canyon and try to find video evidence of UFOs. Critics loved No, which holds an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences gave the film a “B” grade, the same CinemaScore as Us.
Universal’s president of domestic distribution Jim Orr points out that No appeals to all demographics; according to exit polls, 35% of ticket buyers were Caucasian, 20% Hispanic, 33% African American, and 8% Asian. He says that’s a good sign from a theatrical performance perspective.
“We are thrilled with the results this weekend,” said Orr. “Jordan Peele is an incredible talent. His films are multi-layered, thought-provoking and absurdly funny.”
With “No” being the only new film opening this weekend, several outdated titles rounded out the North American box office charts.
Disney’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” slipped to second place after two weeks in first place. The Marvel adventure added $22.1 million (down 53%) from 4,370 locations, bringing the film’s domestic total to $276.2 million. Globally, the fourth Thor movie has grossed $598 million and will soon cross the $600 million mark. It has already outsold at least one of its predecessors, 2011’s Thor ($449 million worldwide), and should soon surpass 2013’s Thor: The Dark World ($644 million worldwide). However, it still has a ways to go to match (or beat) 2017’s blockbuster Thor: Ragnarok ($853 million).
Another Universal film, “Minions: Rise of Gru,” came in third with $17.7 million from 3,816 locations. After four weeks on the big screen, the animated family film has earned $297.8 million in North America and $640.2 million worldwide.
Sony’s literary adaptation “Where the Crawdads Sing” landed at No. 4 with $10.33 million from 3,650 locations. With its better-than-expected debut last weekend, the mystery drama has amassed $38.3 million to date.
“Where the Crawdads Sing” narrowly beat “Top Gun: Maverick.” Paramount’s blockbuster sequel earned $10 million from 3,160 theaters in its ninth opening weekend, bringing its total to a whopping $635 million. “Maverick” recently surpassed “The Avengers” ($623.3 million) to become the ninth-highest-grossing film in domestic box office history. With the “Top Gun” sequel not earning less than $10 million in a single weekend, industry experts believe the film has enough juice to soon overtake the No. 7 and No. 8 positions that belong to “Titanic,” respectively. with $659 million and “Jurassic World” with $653 million.
At the independent box office, A24’s ‘Marcel the Shell With Shoes On’ continues to grow at a snail’s pace. The film, about a tough inch-tall clam (voiced by Jenny Slate), grossed $846,950 from 590 theaters, its widest theatrical opening to date. So far, Marcel has raised $2.8 million.
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