Score one for Michael B. Jordan as his directorial debut, Creed III, just rocketed past expectations and opened with a sensational $58.6 million — a franchise record, according to Deadline, and the best opening for a sports movie ever. Internationally, the Rocky sequel (the first without Sylvester Stallone) earned $41.8M en route to a $100.4 million global debut.
Comparatively, the original Creed finished with a $173.5M global take ($109M domestic, $63M international) in 2015, while Creed II earned a respectable $214M worldwide ($115.7M/$98M) in 2018. Creed III will easily overtake those total to become the highest-grossing entry in the Creed trilogy, and might actually surpass the $300M (unadjusted for inflation) total of Rocky IV to become the highest-grossing Rocky flick.
Word of mouth should help as audiences awarded Creed III with a 96% score on RottenTomatoes and an A- CinemaScore. We loved it too, as you can tell by our review and Rocky rankings.
Meanwhile, Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania dipped another 62% to bring its domestic total to $186.3M. Worldwide, the Marvel threequel has collected $419.5M and has a ways to go if it hopes to beat Ant-Man ($519.3M) and Ant-Man and the Wasp ($622.6M). That’ll be tough with Creed III performing above expectations and an upcoming docket that includes Scream VI, 65, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and John Wick: Chapter 4.
Cocaine Bear held well, dipping just 54% in its sophomore frame to bring its domestic total to $41.2M. Worldwide, Elizabeth Banks’ horror comedy has collected $52M.
Also, for those of you keeping track at home, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water ($670.6M) needs just $4M to surpass Titanic ($674.3M) as the eighth highest-grossing domestic film of all time and $8M to top Avengers: Infinity War ($678.8M). Not bad for a film the internet claimed no one wanted. Worldwide, Cameron’s epic sits at No. 3 with $2.281 billion. Adjusted for inflation, The Way of Water lands at No. 22 on the domestic release chart, just behind The Dark Knight and Infinity War. No matter how you slice it, the sequel was huge, though, admittedly, not as huge as its predecessor ($929M when adjusted). A lot has changed since 2009, but it’s still interesting to view how moviegoing has shifted over the last decade or so.
Box Office Results: Domestic Top 10
1.) Creed III (UAR) 4,007 Fri $22.1M, Sat $21.4M, Sun $15M 3-day $58.6M/Wk 1
2.) Ant-man and the Wasp Quantumania (Dis) 3,825 (-520) theaters, Fri $3.1M (-63%) Sat $5.86M Sun $3.49M 3-day $12.4M (-61%), Total $186.7M/Wk 3
3.) Cocaine Bear (Uni) 3,571 (+37) theaters, Fri $3.1M (-64%), $4.8M, Sun $2.9M 3-day $11M (-54%), Total $41.2M/Wk 2
4.) Demon Slayer To the Swordsmith Village (Cru) 1,753 theaters, Fri $4.2M, Sat $3.4M Sun $2.45M 3-day $10.1M/Wk 1
5.) Jesus Revolution (LG) 2,575 theaters (+100), Fri $2.2M (-68%), Sat $3.4M Sun $2.97M 3-day $8.65M (-52%), Total $30.5M/ Wk 2
6.) Avatar: The Way of Water (Dis) 2,300 theaters (-195), Fri $776K (-30%) Sat $1.7M Sun $1M 3-day $3.57M (-27%), Total $670.6M /Wk 12
7.) Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre(LG) 2,168 theaters, Fri $1M, Sat $1.26M Sun $821K 3-day $3.1M/Wk 1
8.) Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Uni) 2,588 theaters (-252), Fri $550K (-39%) Sat $1.3M Sun $840K 3-day $2.72M (-34%), Total $177.1M/Wk 11
9.) Magic Mike’s Last Dance (WB) 1,737 (-1,181) theaters,Fri $355K (-61%), Sat $500K, Sun $325K 3-day $1.18M (-59%), Total $25.3M/Wk 4
10.) 80 for Brady (Par) 1,495 (-902) theaters, Fri $215K (-55%) Sat $370K Sun $260K 3-day $845K (-56%), Total $38.3M/Wk 5