A look at box office performance of M Night Shyamalan’s Old and GI Joe spin-off Snake Eyes

M Night Shyamalan’s Old easily won a slower weekend at the North American box office, while the GI Joe pic Snake Eyes lived up to its name.

Although both fresh offerings from major studios, moviegoers turned out in modest numbers on a weekend where there was the notable distraction of the Olympics as well as rising concerns about the delta variant.

[caption id=“attachment_9836941” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Henry Golding in Snake Eyes[/caption]

Old leads the weekend box office

• Universal on Sunday said that Old grossed an estimated $16.5 million. Paramount’s Snake Eyes origin story brought in an estimated $13.4 million in ticket sales.
• While not wildly far apart in grosses, Snake Eyes, starring Henry Golding as the warrior-in-training, cost significantly more with a reported $88 million price tag, excluding advertising.
• Meanwhile Old, starring Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps as the heads of a family whose tropical vacation turns into a horror when they begin to rapidly age, was independently financed for around $18 million.
• Including international grosses, Old, which is based on the graphic novel Sandcastle, grossed $23 million worldwide in its first weekend.
• In third place was Disney superhero flick Black Widow starring Scarlett Johansson, which earned an estimated $11.6 million.
• Last week’s top earner, the Warner Bros live action/animated Space Jam: A New Legacy, fell to fourth with $9.6 million.
• And in fifth was Universal’s F9: The Fast Saga, at $4.6 million, bringing the five-week domestic total of the Vin Diesel/John Cena action thriller to more than $160 million.

Old and Snake Eyes get mixed reviews from both the audience and critics

• Neither audiences nor critics reviewed the two new films especially well.
• Old has a 52 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and got a C+ CinemaScore.
• Snake Eyes is currently at 42 percent on Rotten Tomatoes with a B- CinemaScore, which historically does not bode well for long-term potential.

Rounding out the top 10 films were Escape Room: Tournament of Champions ($3.4 million) Boss Baby: Family Business ($2.7 million) The Forever Purge ($2.3 million) A Quiet Place: Part II ($1.3 million) Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain ($830,000) (With inputs from agencies)