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The 2024 Memorial Day weekend represented a sluggish period at the North American box office, with two new releases – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Garfield Movie – locked in an unusually close duel for the top spot with underwhelming numbers.
When final data updates on Monday, projections indicate the post-apocalyptic action spectacle Furiosa will narrowly claim the #1 position with around $31 million over the four-day extended weekend. However, Sony’s family-friendly Garfield adaptation proved to be tight competition, trailing just behind at approximately $30.5 million.
Whichever film officially tops the charts, it will mark the lowest-grossing Memorial Day weekend winner in nearly 30 years. This anemic performance stands in stark contrast to the previous two years, when Halle Bailey’s The Little Mermaid and Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick soared with over $100 million holiday frame debuts.
“It was simply a disappointing weekend all around for the box office,” said David Gross, who runs movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “Between the lack of strong new releases and rising costs deterring casual viewers, theaters failed to generate the excitement we typically see over Memorial Day.”
For Furiosa, the muted numbers represented a sizable missed opportunity for director George Miller’s hugely budgeted $168 million prequel set before the events of 2015’s critically acclaimed Mad Max: Fury Road. Projected to open north of $40 million, the film has mustered just $58.9 million globally so far against lofty expectations.
Critical reception has been largely positive, albeit polarized, leaving its long-term prospects uncertain based on audience passion alone. If Furiosa fails to gain traction quickly, recouping its lofty pricetag may prove challenging even with lucrative international markets like China still to open.
While The Garfield Movie’s box office start was relatively modest compared to Furiosa’s gargantuan budget, the $60 million production is in healthier shape out of the gate. The family comedy has already amassed over $91 million worldwide, buoyed by an appealing voice cast led by Chris Pratt. Positive audience scores bode well for its holding power over the weeks ahead.
Among holdovers, the horror film The Strangers: Chapter 1 fell 53% to $5.6 million, while Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black plummeted 63% to $1 million. On a brighter note, IF continued displaying impressive legs, projecting to cross $100 million globally soon after hitting $50 million domestically.
As the summer movie season kicks into high gear, the underwhelming Memorial Day returns only accentuate the rising pressures facing theatrical releases. Increasingly home-bound audiences and ever-escalating budgetary risks are squeezing profit margins tighter for cinemas this summer.
