This weekend, we saw a sequel to a film that felt like another version of Swimming with Sharks, while we also got a film where people literally were forced to swim with sharks. There was also a film involving a witch, and another about the evils of capitalism and conformity. Feels like any of those descriptions could’ve fit the ultimate winner, that once upon a time held its own against franchises and superheroes, and now gets franchised itself and will become one of the year’s biggest hits.
King of the Crop: The Devil Wears Prada 2 Nearly Triples the Original at the Box Office
The Devil Wears Prada was what the pundit community used to refer to as a sleeper. Not a term you hear much anymore, up there with “counterprogramming.” But in the summer of 2006, filled with the likes of Superman and X-Men and Pirates of the Caribbean, a Meryl Streep/Anne Hathaway headliner about journalism and the fashion industry, even based on a bestseller, felt tucked into the big-budget, usually male-centric season. Though it never hit No. 1 at the box office and only spent five weeks in the top ten, that was more than enough time for it to gross $124.7 million domestically and over $326 million worldwide on just a $35 million budget.
20 years later, the sequel arrives, and where once the original opened to $27.5 million, The Devil Wears Prada 2 did reach No. 1 this weekend, making nearly three times that with $77 million. Apart from the Wicked films (and a case could be made for last year’s Lilo & Stitch as well as Black Widow), this is one of the best openings ever for a film with a female-centric cast. Streep, Hathaway, and Emily Blunt are top of mind before Tucci is even mentioned, amazing as he is. Maleficent, Pitch Perfect 2, Disney’s live-action Cinderella, and Scream 7 would be next on the list if we’re looking at women at the top of the call sheet. The first Prada ended up being the tenth highest-grossing film of the summer of 2006. Prada 2 is very likely going to be in the top ten of the season this year as well. Globally, the film is already over $233 million, and by next weekend likely to surpass the original.
Tales of the top 10: The Billion-Dollar Watch is On for Michael
Antoine Fuqua’s Michael dropped back to second this week, but with a still very impressive $54 million. That brings its 10-day total to $183.8 million. Those numbers are hovering over where Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was when it had a $51.3 million second weekend and a total of $187.7 million. That pace might not get Michael quite to $300 million domestically, but certainly somewhere in the $280-290 million region, though another small drop next weekend could change that. Even with the final budget figure anywhere from $150-200 million, at over $423 million worldwide, with still another $100+ million likely still coming domestically, this should hit half a billion and squash any doubts about turning a profit. By next weekend, Michael should achieve its own victory tour across the world.
The two biggest films of the year continue to rank in the top five. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie made $12.1 million in its fifth weekend. The first film had its biggest fall in its run on weekend five, dropping 54.6% to $18.5 million. That film was already at $518 million by day 33, while the sequel just crossed $400 million this weekend and resides at $402.6 million. It is the 26th film to cross that milestone by this point in its run. Last year’s A Minecraft Movie was at $13.7 million and had just missed it with $399.8 million. Mario Galaxy finishing between $430-440 million domestically appears to be the play. Globally, it is at $894 million, so the billion-dollar watch is on.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s Project Hail Mary, meanwhile, is the first film since Avatar: Fire and Ash to spend seven straight weeks in the top five. $8.5 million this weekend brings its total to $318.3 million. Weekend seven is close to the $8.1 million put up by both the first Guardians of the Galaxy and Zootopia films. Hail Mary is headed for a finish in the $340-350 million realm. Add in another $320 million overseas, and the film could be making a run at $700 million globally, a number only five Hollywood films reached in 2025. This could be the second of 2026.
Neon just had its best opening of the year with Damian McCarthy’s Hokum. The horror film starring Adam Scott, with a solid 86% approval from critics, started with $6.4 million in 1,885 theaters. That is actually the distributor’s best start since last summer’s Together ($6.7 million). Horror has certainly been Neon’s bread and butter over the past three years, with their best openings and total grosses the same. They include Longlegs ($22.4 million opening, $74.0 million total), The Monkey ($14.0 million, $39.7 million), Together ($6.7 million, $21.2 million), and Immaculate ($5.3 million, $15.66 million). Their Oscar-winning Anora made $15.68 million, and this year’s EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert has made $13.57 million. Neon’s hold over the horror community after the marketing secrecy of Longlegs appears to be waning a bit. Osgood Perkins’ Keeper only made $4.2 million total last November after his success with Longlegs and The Monkey. We’ll see if Hokum gets itself to $15 million.
Andy Serkis’ new animated adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm (with a screenplay by Nicholas Stoller) is not sitting well with critics. Scoring a 25% on the Tomatometer, it is amongst the 10 weakest-reviewed wide releases of the year. The $35 million budgeted family-friendly Angel Studios release of Orwell’s treasured political allegory began with $3.4 million and a Cinemascore of “C-” which is still probably a higher grade than most book reports will receive if they only see this movie.
The numbers may not be quite as big as Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise ($147.1 million worldwide in 2023), but Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is over $80 million globally, with $2.2 million of that added to its domestic total of $27.4 million this weekend. That should be more than good enough for Warner Bros. to put this one in the win column. Also in horror this week, Renny Harlin got back to planes and sharks with Deep Water. The Magenta Light release made $2.1 million in 1,675 theaters. The two biggest openings of Harlin’s career were Die Hard 2 ($21.7 million) and Deep Blue Sea ($19.1 million). His recent Strangers trilogy grossed a combined $58 million domestically and $80 million worldwide and was a success for Lionsgate. Deep Water surpasses Strange Darling ($1.14 million) as Magenta Light’s top opener in their three-year history.
Sony and Crunchyroll have certainly made their presence in theaters recently. Last year’s release of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle opened to over $70 million, and its $135.8 million domestic gross was one of the highest-grossing animated films in a pretty light year. It also added nearly $600 million internationally. Then, about a month later, they had Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, which opened to $18 million and finished with over $43 million plus nearly $116 million more globally. This weekend, they have That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea, and it opened with $1 million in 837 theaters. The first theatrical film, Scarlet Bond, opened to $1.58 million over 1,473 theaters in 2023.
The Drama has quietly turned into quite the little moneymaker for A24. $908,000 was added to a now domestic haul of $46.9 million, and with over $57 million on the international side, this is just the fifth film of theirs to hit $100 million globally. Last year’s Materialists made $107.8 million. The year before Civil War was over $122 million. Their Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All At Once made $139.3 million, and their all-time champion is Marty Supreme, which has made over $191 million. David Lowery’s Mother Mary, released by A24, fell to $225,000 to bring its total to $2.3 million.
On the Vine: Fans Gear Up for MK II; James Cameron and Billie Eilish Hit the Big Screen
It’s been over two years since Mortal Kombat II finished filming, but Warner Bros. is finally getting out there after Simon McQuoid’s first “R”-rated incarnation was released as part of their 2021 day-and-date pandemic strategy. It does battle with James Cameron and Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft – The Tour Live in 3-D. Where will it rank amongst the recent spate of cinematic concert films? Finally, for families and mystery lovers, The Sheep Detectives try to solve the murder of their handler, Hugh Jackman.
Full List of Box Office Results: April 24-26, 2026
- The Devil Wears Prada 2 – $77.0 million ($77.0 million total)
- Michael – $54.0 million ($183.8 million total)
- The Super Mario Galaxy Movie – $12.1 million ($402.6 million total)
- Project Hail Mary – $8.5 million ($318.3 million total)
- Hokum – $6.4 million ($6.4 million total)
- Animal Farm – $3.4 million ($3.4 million total)
- Lee Cronin’s The Mummy – $2.2 million ($27.4 million total)
- Deep Water – $2.1 million ($1.9 million total)
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea – $1.0 million ($1.0 million total)
- The Drama – $908,000 ($46.9 million total)
Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast. [box office figures via Box Office Mojo]
Thumbnail image by ©Lionsgate
