IF Movie Review: John Krasinski’s film was a box office hit with a $35 million debut

John Krasinski Imaginary Friends movie “IF” It ranked first at the box office this weekend according to studio estimates on Sunday. Its North American debut of $35 million was slightly below some expectations.

Is this disappointing? An ominous sign for the box office times? Or is it the final story on if “Not Written Yet? It’s Just Not Your Imagination: In these bumpy first weeks of the 2024 summer box office season, where nothing is a hit and every new movie is under increasing pressure to succeed, “IF” has hit the nail on the head.

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Cailee Fleming, and an army of cameo voices including Steve Carell, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Louis Gossett Jr., Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Maya Rudolph, IF was an original idea from Krasinski, who wrote, directed and co-starred. .

Paramount premiered the film, which cost $110 million to produce, in 4,041 locations in North America. Internationally, the film grossed an estimated $20 million from 56 markets, bringing it to a $55 million worldwide debut.

“Families came out in droves and loved the movie,” said Chris Aronson, who heads up domestic distribution for Paramount.

There are several somewhat contradictory accounts revolving around her performance as well. With a PG rating, “IF” was the first major family film to hit theaters in weeks. And unlike superhero movies or horror films, family photos are often a marathon rather than a sprint. Last June, Pixar’s “Elemental” was supposed to be dead on arrival when it opened to $29.5 million domestically. But it continued to be profitable throughout the summer and eventually grossed nearly $500 million globally.

“IF” received middling reviews from critics (it currently sits at a “rotten” rating of 49% on Rotten Tomatoes), but as with “Elemental,” audiences gave it a strong cinema rating this weekend. The studio considers it a successful debut and is optimistic about its longevity as summer already begins for school-age children.

“I think this bodes well for movie viewing in general as we move into the summer movie season,” Aronson said. “Children will be out of school from next week, and I can’t think of a better film to bring to market than this one: it’s fresh, it’s fresh, it’s original and it’s heartwarming.”

” Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes “Continue being Bright spot. In just 10 days, it crossed $100 million domestically and $237 million globally. It came in second place in its second weekend with $26 million (down 55%).

But there also wasn’t a big cinematic moment similar to last year’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “Barbie,” or “Oppenheimer.” Last year, this weekend, Fast X opened to over $60 million.

“This is a very unusual summer. It’s off to an unusual start without a Marvel movie,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “The box office has been flat 20% from last year.”

“IF” wasn’t the only new movie opening this weekend, either. Lionsgate horror film “The Strangers—Chapter 1” has outperformed with $12 million debut at 2,856 locations. The innovative marketing campaign has seen some viral moments by bringing “outsiders” to major events, from the Trump impeachment trial to Coachella.

the Amy bar biography ” Back to black It opened in North America to an estimated $2.9 million from 2010 screens.

Documentary filmed for IMAX” Blue Angels It also grossed $1.3 million this weekend from 227 screens. It plays on premium large format screens through May 22 before traveling to Prime Video on May 23.

The summer of Hollywood It begins the first weekend in Mayis still in its infancy and could accelerate next weekend with the combination of “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and “The Garfield Movie.”

Dergarabedian noted that Memorial Day weekend is a time when moviegoers can play and catch up on movies they missed and heard about. For a movie like “IF,” which was very popular over the weekend, this could bode well. However, there’s no hiding the fact that 2024’s box office won’t build on 2023’s.

“On almost every level, this is an unconventional summer in our film lineup and box office trajectory,” Dergarbedian said. “But collectively these films should have a strong Memorial Day weekend.”

Estimated Friday-Sunday ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final local figures will be published on Monday.

1. “IF” $35 million.

2. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” $26 million.

3. “The Outsiders – Chapter One” $12 million.

4. “The Fall Guy” $8.5 million.

5. “The Challengers” movie, $2.9 million.

6. “Back to Black,” $2.9 million.

7. “Tarot,” 2 million.

8. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” $1.7 million.

9. “Blue Angels” $1.3 million.

10. “The Unsung Hero,” $1.1 million.