A scene from ‘IF’. , Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures/Youtube

John Krasinski’s imaginary friend film If It topped the box office this weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday. Its North American debut of $35 million was also slightly below some projections.

Is it disappointment? An ominous sign of the box office times? or the final story continues If Still to be written? It’s not just your imagination: In these tumultuous early weeks of the 2024 summer box office season, in which nothing has been a smash hit and every new movie is under more and more pressure to succeed, If Injury to nerve.

It stars Ryan Reynolds, Kelly Fleming and an army of A-list voices including Steve Carell, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Louis Gossett Jr., Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Maya Rudolph. If It was an original idea by Krasinski, who wrote, directed and co-starred.

Paramount opened the film, which reportedly cost $110 million to produce, in 4,041 locations in North America. Internationally, it grossed an estimated $20 million from 56 markets, amounting to a worldwide gross of $55 million.

Chris Aronson, Paramount’s head of domestic distribution, said, “Families came out united and they loved the movie.” There are many contradictory stories circulating regarding its performance.

With its PG-rating, If It was the first major family film to be released in theaters in just a few weeks. And unlike a front-loaded superhero or horror movie, family photos are often a marathon, not a sprint. Last June, Pixar’s fundamental When it opened to $29.5 million domestically it was considered dead on arrival. But it continued to gross throughout the summer and eventually grossed nearly $500 million globally.

If received moderate reviews from critics (it currently stands at “Rotten” 49% on Rotten Tomatoes), but, as with fundamental, the audience gave it full support. The studio considers it a successful debut and is optimistic about its long-term run as summer actually begins for school-age children.

Aronson said, “I think it’s a good sign for movie watching in general as we enter the summer movie season.” A: It’s new, it’s fresh, it’s original, and it’s a very touching film.”

kingdom of the planet of the apes One bright spot remains. In just 10 days, it crossed $100 million domestically and $237 million globally. It remained in second place with $26 million in its second weekend. But there hasn’t been a big film moment like last year super mario bros movie, barbie Or oppenheimer In quite some time. last year on this weekend fast x Opened to over $60 million.

“This is a very unusual heat. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore, said, “It’s an unusual start without a Marvel movie. The box office has been in a holding pattern, down 20% from last year.”

If It wasn’t the only new film being released this weekend. Lionsgate terror The Stranger-Chapter 1 performed better with a debut of $12 million from 2,856 locations. The innovative marketing campaign staged some viral moments by bringing “strangers” to major events from the Trump trial to Coachella.

Amy Winehouse biopic back to Black It grossed an estimated $2.9 million on 2,010 screens in North America. Documentary filmed for IMAX blue angel It also grossed $1.3 million from 227 screens this weekend. It will run on premium large format screens until May 22 before coming to Prime Video on May 23.

Summer for Hollywood, which starts the first weekend of May, is still getting started and may get hotter next weekend. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga And garfield movie,

Dergarabedian said Memorial Day weekend is a time when moviegoers can catch up on movies they’ve missed or heard about. If, which grew with word of mouth over the weekend, could be a good sign. Still, there’s no doubting the reality that 2024’s box office isn’t going to be 2023’s.

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Dergarabedian said, “On almost every level this is a non-traditional summer in the lineup of films and the trajectory of the box office.” “But collectively these films should have a solid Memorial weekend.” Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.