Warner Bros. has received a lot of warranted scrutiny over some of their release (or non-release) tactics of late. Whether it be the handling of Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2 or the shelving of Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme, they have not exactly ingratiated themselves into the minds of moviegoers, industry watchers, and, probably worst of all, the filmmakers themselves. All things being equal, though, they are having a heckuva month, not only singlehandedly pushing back the Chicken Littles on the state of theatrical exhibition, but doing it with both massive IP reach and an original big budget, multi-genre project from an acclaimed filmmaker that ruled the weekend.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, with Michael B. Jordan playing twins, came out on top in a number of ways this weekend and not only for being tops among Warner Bros.’ recent spate of dual role cinema (i.e. Mickey 17, The Alto Knights). Coming into the weekend, the reviews were already solid, earning Certified Fresh status with critics to make this one of the most acclaimed wide releases of 2025. While it is also being reported that Sinners is the first horror film to ever receive an A Cinemascore, James Cameron’s Aliens would like to have a word. Let the debate begin, but by the end of the weekend moviegoers spent $48 million on it — just the kind of number a studio would like to see for an original hybrid genre film (like the horror/sci-fi/action/war film that is Aliens) that cost in the $90+ million region. Coogler has already broken a few records and glass ceilings with both Creed and his Black Panther films. This number is an even more promising one in a world where name recognition is a more powerful force with audiences than taking a chance on a film that may take more than 10 words to describe. Then again, “a Jim Crow-era vampire film” does kind of do the trick.
Here are some other numbers to look out for in the future. The bulk of this film’s success is likely going to be homegrown here in North America, so theaters and Warner Bros. are hoping word-of-mouth will sustain it for a few weeks. It might surprise you to learn that the only R-rated film to open in April and gross over $100 million was Indecent Proposal back in 1993. The second-highest R-rated grosser was Flashdance back in 1983. Adrian Lyne has certainly owned a niche this month, hasn’t he? Barring a major dropoff next week, Sinners has the opportunity to best both of those and cement that place in the record books.
Its also another solid showing this year for a film with a primarily black cast, the other being One of Them Days, which crossed $50 million and was also notable for being one of the most successful films to feature black women at the forefront. These two films already are the two highest-grossing original screenplays of 2025 with no others grossing $40 million yet. Warner Bros. may judge Sinners ultimately by the bottom line in its books (its international haul is only at $15.4 million thus far), but audiences have already made this film a success in its own right.
Briarcliff Entertainment hit a new low in their wide release history. In 2023, they opened five films on over 1,000 screens. Their most successful was the twice Oscar-nominated Donald Trump origin story The Apprentice, which opened to $1.61 million in 1,740 theaters and grossed over $3 million. This list also includes Werewolves ($1.05 million opening / 1351 theaters / $779 per-theater average), Valiant One ($735,099 / 1275 theaters / $577 PTA), Not Another Church Movie ($391,776 / 1108 theaters / $354 PTA), and Sweetwater ($351,010 / 1204 theaters / $292 PTA). This weekend they released the animated Sneaks, which earned not only a mediocre score with critics but grossed just $240,000 in 1,500 theaters for a miniscule PTA of $160.
Warner Bros. also has to be feeling really good about the continued success of A Minecraft Movie. Despite theaters having to put up notices about the consequences of rowdy behavior, they have to be enjoying it somewhat, too, as it pulled in another $40.5 million this weekend. That’s the 25th-best third weekend of all time, in between Wonder Woman ($41.2 million) and Avengers: Age of Ultron ($38.8 million). It now also ranks 27th on the all-time 17-day chart with $343.8 million, between Captain America: Civil War ($347.2 million) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($342.7 million). Minecraft may not be hitting Frozen II and Wicked numbers, but it does appear to be approaching the $450-460 million domestic range. Globally the film is over $720 million, which puts it among the top 10 global releases from 2024-25.
It was Easter weekend and families were checking out the life and death of Christ in the animated The King of Kings. Angel Studios’ release fell just 9% to $17.5 million to get itself to $45.6 million. Looking at other Easter season faith-based releases after 10 days, we see Heaven is for Real ($42.1 million), Son of God ($41.8 million), I Can Only Imagine ($38.0 million), The Shack ($32.2 million), Miracles from Heaven ($27.9 million), and God’s Not Dead ($21.7 million). These are all films that grossed between $57-92 million, and The King of Kings is looking to join that range.
Last week’s remake/fresh adaptation of 1981’s The Amateur, now with Rami Malek, dropped 51.4% in weekend two down to $7 million. At $27.1 million to date, it’s got a long way to go to recoup its $60 million production cost. The numbers right now are very much in line with another conspiracy thriller, State of Play, which had $25 million in the bank after a $6.8 million second go. The Amateur is looking at a final domestic range around $40 million. Currently it has made $64 million globally.
Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s harrowing combat drama, Warfare, is in fifth place with $4.8 million. Its total now sits at $17 million. That’s a bit better than 2004’s The Alamo, which sat at $16.4 million after 10 days and just a $4.1 million second weekend. Warfare is looking at around $23-25 million at this point. Last week’s Drop did just that, dropping about 55% to $3.3 million to bring its take to $13.4 million. The $11 million production looks like it will not hit $20 million, at least not domestically. Globally the film has added only $3+ million to its haul.
Rounding out the top 10 we have songs, parties, meals, and weddings gone wrong. Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing grossed $2.82 million in 800 theaters for GKids. Jumping into the top 10 is the re-release of 2005’s Pride & Prejudice with Kiera Knightley and Matthew MacFadyen. Joe Wright’s feature directorial debut made $2.8 million. Full disclosure: Back in February, Morgan Gire and I hosted a sold-out screening of the film at Elk Grove Cinema; someone must have gotten the memo. In eighth place, The Chosen: Last Supper – Part 3 made $1.53 million to bring its total to nearly $11 million and The Last Supper episodes in general to over $43 million. Finally, we sing a farewell to Disney’s Snow White for its final week in the top 10. The film grossed $1.23 million for a domestic total of just $84.6 million and global total of $180 million. It could officially go down as the biggest theatrical bomb of the modern era, if not ever.
A Working Man pretty much duplicated Snow White’s numbers with $1.17 million. It has grossed $35.8 million and over $81 million worldwide, which is not quite enough to call it a success, but it still pretty solid for a solo Statham vehicle. Bleecker Street and Andrew Ahn’s remake of Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet opened to just $922,000 in 1,400 theaters. The last Bleecker release to open to a million dollars was last July’s The Fabulous Four. Lee’s 1993 original opened to $134,870 in just 7 theaters and went on to gross $6.9 million. Let’s see how well they manage their release of Spinal Tap II in September. David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds opened in three theaters and the Sideshow/Janus release made $52,100. It expands to over 250 theaters next week. A24’s family fantasy The Legend of Ochi grossed $52,514 in only four theaters, while IFC Films’ release of the decidedly un-family-friendly take on Cinderella, The Ugly Stepsister, grossed $175,000 in 501 theaters.
April ends with one more bit of IP, albeit one nine years in the making. Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal and director Gavin O’Connor return for The Accountant 2. Now with Amazon/MGM getting first billing over Warner Bros., they are hoping to cash in on what demand there has been for a sequel to the surprise 2016 hit. Horror fans get another shot next week with the video game adaptation, Until Dawn. In limited release look for Neighborhood Watch from IFC with Jack Quaid and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Metrograph is releasing the acclaimed and harrowing drama April, which has so far impressed critics. Oh, and Disney is re-releasing Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith for its 20th Anniversary.
Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast. [box office figures via Box Office Mojo]
Thumbnail image by ©Warner Bros.
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