“Mortal Kombat” and “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” are battling for the top spot at U.S. box offices.
What Happened: The two releases had a combined opening day tally of $18.5 million on Friday, Variety reports, and come after AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) subsidiary Warner Bros. set a new pandemic-era record with its “Godzilla vs. Kong” debut in the first week of April.
Warner Bros.’ latest release, “Mortal Kombat,” earned $9.03 million from 3,073 locations on opening day Friday. The R-rated movie is headed towards an opening weekend of $18 million to $19 million.
“Mortal Kombat,” based on the ultraviolent fighting game series, was produced on a $55 million budget. It is being released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max.
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” from Funimation, a company in Sony Corp’s (NYSE: SONY) stable, earned $9.5 million from 1,598 locations on Friday. The anime film is estimated for a $20 million opening.
Before htting the U.S., “Demon Slayer” was a pandemic-era hit in Japan, where it brought in $400 million.
The original 26-episode anime series “Demon Slayer” was produced by Japanese animation studio Ufotable and was released on Netflix Inc‘s (NASDAQ: NFLX) service shortly after the COVID-19 lockdowns in Japan.
Warner Bros. aims to release films both on streaming service and in theaters in 2021.
“Godzilla vs. Kong” came in third on Friday with just over $1.1 million. The film has earned $83.5 million over its first four weeks.
Walt Disney Co‘s (NYSE: DIS) “Raya and the Last Dragon” earned $400,000 on Friday. Its U.S. box office total stands at $38.6 million after eight weeks.
Pandemic-Era Releases: Here are the top weekends for films released since March 2020:
The top U.S. opening weekends for films after March 2020 are:
- “Godzilla vs. Kong” with $48.1 million
- “Tenet” with $20 million
- “Wonder Woman 1984” with $16.7 million
- “The Croods: A New Age” with $14.3 million
- “Tom & Jerry” with $14.1 million
- “Demon Slayer” with $9.5 million
- “Mortal Kombat with $9 million
- “Raya and the Last Dragon” with $8.5 million
- “The New Mutants” with $7 million
- “Nobody” with $6.8 million
Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures International.
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