‘Wonder Woman’ easily buries ‘The Mummy’
Cruise’s monster movie marks a poor start for the Dark Universe franchise
Tom Cruise was no match for Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman wrapped up Cruise’s The Mummy at the weekend box office, pulling in an estimated $57.2 million in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Mummy looked its age, selling a relatively feeble $32.2 million in tickets for the movie’s debut weekend. That couldn’t compete with Wonder Woman. The Gal Gadot superhero film, directed by Patty Jenkins, has earned more than $205 million domestically in just two weeks. The poor opening for The Mummy, which cost an estimated $125 million to produce, meant a weak start for Universal’s ballyhooed Dark Universe.
The Mummy is intended to launch a new connected franchise that resurrects many famous monster characters — including Frankenstein, Dracula and the Invisible Man — from the studio’s vaults.
Universal could still point to strong ticket sales overseas, where The Mummy grossed $141.8 million in 63 territories, including $52.2 million in China. It’s the biggest worldwide opening for Cruise, whose star power shines brightest internationally.
But critics largely slammed the film (USA TODAY gave it eee out of four) directed by Alex Kurtzman; it has a dismal 17% “fresh” rating on the review site Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences agreed, giving The Mummy a Bminus grade on CinemaScore.
Still, it’s still full steam ahead for the Dark Universe. Johnny Depp is already signed up to play the Invisible Man, and Javier Bardem is to play Frankenstein’s monster. Live-action Beauty and the Beast director Bill Condon is set to helm Bride of Frankenstein.
Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore, says The Mummy’s opening showed the challenge of launching a franchise with North American audiences, who are more deterred by bad reviews.
“But the Dark Universe has to start somewhere,” Dergarabedian says. “It’s worth pursuing because the creative possibilities are endless. Lessons are learned from every movie. I don’t think this should deter them from moving forward.” Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, based on the popular children’s books, slid to third with $12.3 million, and the fifth installment of Johnny Depp’s Pirates of the Caribbean finished fourth with $10.7 million. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, summer’s top-grossing movie to date, fell to fifth with $6.2 million ($366.4 million total).
Final numbers are out Monday.