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 Robert Lorenz directed "The
Marksman," about a rancher and retired Marine
living in Arizona who helps a young boy escape a
Mexican drug cartel. The film, which premiered
in 1,975 locations, should rake in $3.7 million
through the Martin Luther King holiday on
Monday. Open Road, the distributor behind "The
Marksman," also backed "Honest Thief." That film
bowed to $3.7 million last October and ended its
theatrical run with $14 million in the U.S. and
$28 million globally.
"The Marksman" joins the company of "Honest
Thief" and Robert De Niro's "The War With
Grandpa" as some of the lowest-grossing box
office toppers in modern history, highlighting
the bleak reality that movie theaters are facing
amid the country's latest COVID-19 surge.
Overall, around 65% of U.S. theaters are closed
due to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, "Wonder Woman 1984" slid to second
place after besting the (albeit muted)
competition for three straights weekends. Warner
Bros. did not provide a three-day total, but the
studio projects the Gal Gadot-led superhero
sequel will generate $2.6 million through the
extended holiday weekend. However, "Wonder Woman
1984" could drop to third place behind "The
Croods: A New Age" when Martin Luther King day
sales are finalized on Monday.
"Wonder Woman 1984," a DC Comics adaptation that
cost $200 million to produce, released
simultaneously on the fledgling streaming
service HBO Max. It will be taken off the
platform next Sunday, and the film will only be
available to watch in theaters until it reaches
its traditional home entertainment window. It's
expected to return to the streaming platform a
few months later. Internationally, where HBO Max
has yet to launch, the fantastical follow-up
brought in $5.2 million, boosting foreign
revenues to $105.9 million for a worldwide total
of $141.7 million.
For now, Universal and DreamWorks' sequel to
"The Croods" placed third, amassing $2.04
million this weekend and looking to cross the
long weekend with $2.9 million. The animated
family film actually improved upon last week's
grosses by 13%, which is impressive considering
it's currently available to watch on home
entertainment. Last year, Universal forged an
agreement with major theater chains such as AMC
and Cinemark to allow the studio to put new
releases on demand after 17 days in theaters. In
return, select exhibitors are getting an
undisclosed cut of digital profits. After two
months in theaters, "The Croods: A New Age" has
made $40 million at the domestic box office.
Overseas, the movie added another $2.2 million
from 17 countries for an international total of
$94.7 million and a global tally of $134.8
million.
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 Another Universal title, "News
of the World" with Tom Hanks, landed in fourth
place with three-day total of $1.05 million and
an expected four-day tally of $1.27 million. The
Western drama, which is also available to watch
on-demand, has collected $8.72 million on the
big screen. Rounding out the top five is Sony's
thriller "Monster Hunter." The video game
adaptation with Milla Jovovich generated
$920,000 over the weekend and should reach $1.09
million through MLK day. By Monday, it will have
made $9.2 million to date.
Though "Promising Young Woman" fell to seventh
place on box office charts, the film all but
dominated social media chatter as the acclaimed
revenge thriller hit premium-on-demand platforms
this weekend. (Focus Features, the company
distributing the movie, falls under its parent
company Universal's early VOD agreement.) It
played in more than 1,000 theaters and collected
$430,000 over the weekend, most of which came
from drive-in locations. Directed by Emerald
Fennell and starring Carey Mulligan, "Promising
Young Woman" has grossed $3.4 million in
theaters so far. However, the studio has not
reported how many watched online.
At the specialty box office, IFC Films opened "MLK/
FBI" -- a documentary directed by Sam Pollard --
on demand and in over 120 theaters nationwide.
The film generated $27,500 over the three-day
weekend and expects to make $33,250 through
Monday. Though IFC didn't provide tangible
rental stats, the company said the documentary
ranked within the top 10 on Apple Movies'
independent charts and on the top 5 for
documentaries.
"We are so thrilled that the best reviewed and
most important documentary of the year is
connecting so strongly with audiences on all
platforms," said IFC Films president Arianna
Bocco.
Overseas, Disney and Pixar's "Soul" continued to
chug along at the international box office,
particularly in China where it now stands as the
third highest-grossing Pixar movie of all time
with $43.1 million. The critically loved
animated family film isn't playing in U.S.
theaters. Instead, it premiered on the company's
streaming service Disney Plus on Christmas Day.
In total, "Soul" has made $57.4 million from 11
countries.
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