While Universal’s Ma won’t reach the financial heights of Godzilla: King of Monsters, when all is said and done this summer, the Octavia Spencer lead thriller may be the more profitable of the two films.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters fell into fourth place, dropping the entire length of a skyscraper (a -67.5% drop from last week) for an estimated $15.5 million in its second weekend. For comparison’s sake, 2014’s relaunch dropped a similar amount, but it also made over $30 million during its second weekend of release. This fact could hinder the sequel’s chance for $100 million in the domestic market which currently stands at $78.6 million.
Internationally, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is faring somewhat better (and added $47.1 million this weekend for an overseas total that comes in at $213.7 million), but it still has a big hill to climb to top 2014’s Godzilla. With a budget in the $170 million range, international audiences better start seeing the film a second or third time to pay off those production costs.
Ma, whose expectations were much less lofty than Godzilla’s, has proved to be a strong counter-programmer for Universal. Ma finished in sixth place this weekend with almost $8 million at the box office, bringing its total to $32 million domestically (and $40 worldwide). While a $4o million dollar gross is nothing to do back flips over, if your film cost an estimated $5 million, people may forgive you for doing a little bragging.
With no traditional horror stories on the schedule until the Child’s Play re-make on June 21, Ma should be able to carve out some more dollars from teen audiences that want to do a little screaming in the theater.
Be sure to watch for HNN’s official Summer Movie Guide next week for all of the horror releases coming your way in June, July, and August!
